I'm Not Sure But..

[deathecatlover]

May I repeat, Luna does not pant regularly, or cough, or anything similar. in fact her breathing is perfectly normal all the time, and this was one of the first times she ever panted. since that occurrence she does not push herself to play as hard, either.

And the lethargic state may have been just her being scared, since she also had a bath right after her seizure, so she may have been spooked and just scared to make herself apparent, since I've noticed that's how Luna (and BK used to as well) acts when nervous or scared. she'll become very lazy and hide. she won't come out for toys or anything until the threat is gone.

 

[deathecatlover]

And luna does tend to run around a lot, and will show no signs of panting/coughing/breathing problems, so I do think it was probably a one time thing, possibly because I was waving the feather ty around too much and it just overworked her brain and caused it? since I noticed before she actually started panting she became much more jittery in the actual running. And she wasn't panting really hard, it was pretty light. So I think it may have just been something with how I was playing with her, or simply the amount of time..

 

[duckpond]

I hope it was a one time thing, for her sake. But i really do not think from light panting, or paying , or that you can over work her brain during play. I think a seizure is very abnormal, and definitely warrants a vet check. Trying to figure out why it happened without some test to check something, such as heart and lungs is just a shot in the dark. and there is no way to tell when and if it will happen again.

I would not say a seizure was do to over stimulation, or play, please have the vet check her.

I just realized you said you had her declawed? I didn't realize people even did that to cats anymore, sorry but i am not a fan of declawing. How long has it been since that was done? Declawing can cause pain for cats, for a long time. Cats are masters at hiding pain, and young cats will play even when in a lot of pain. It could be that she is having a problem with her feet, and played past her pain tolerance. This is something else i think the vet would need to check her feet.

 

[Brian007]

I noticed that you mentioned declawing too but also saw that you posted in your other thread that she claws the curtains. I was wondering whether you meant that she'd had her claws clipped by the vet rather than her toes amputated?

If she has been declawed then there are lots of issues that accompany it and you should do thorough research on all areas for her sake. It is a MAJOR thing to not have any toes, as I'm sure you can imagine.

 

[orange&white]

(I think she was talking about BK being declawed, not the current kitten.)

Anyway, I see that there is about a 50/50 debate whether it is normal for a cat to ever pant, regardless of the context. I do think hard play and in extreme heat is ok at long as the cat stops fairly quickly after resting. I read that if the panting cat's tongue is the normal light pink, then its "cooling system" is functioning properly. If the cat is panting and it's tongue turns deep red or purple, the cat likely has an underlying condition and is in trouble.

Regardless of the panting debate, having a seizure is never a normal thing. I hope your kitty did just have a one-time episode and will be all right, but I do suspect something else is going on with her that a vet may be able to identify and treat.

 

[Kelise]

I just skimmed through this thread, but I'm finding it strange.

Cats don't sweat other than through their paw pads. How do you expect them to cool down if they don't pant?

My female cat will pant in the car. Obviously stress, and not a great thing, but she is okay medically.

One of my male cats is a toy lunatic and he will happily play until he is hot and tired, pant for a few minutes, and then stop.

I mean, if your cat is panting from low level activity, then I think it could be an issue. Like if a cat walks up the stairs and pants from that, than that could be a sign of heart failure or breathing issues. But a cat panting after engaging in a lot of physical activity seems just fine to me.

I don't at all think that playing with a cat too much would make it have a seizure. That sounds like the exception, not the rule. I would have that kitty checked over thoroughly.

 

[Brian007]

I think that as long as you stop the exercise as soon as your cat starts panting then it is ok. But it is not ok to continue exercising a panting cat.

 

[EmmiTemmi]

I was told by a vet that panting (even after play) isn’t normal for a cat and can indicate an underlying heart condition.

What?! Oh gosh. My orange boy always plays until he's panting (at which point I stop immediately even though he doesn't want to stop). I asked my vet about this when I first got him and he'd play until panting (4 months old), and the vet said it was fine as long as I stop right away, so that's what I've been doing. Even after panting for a couple seconds, and I've put the wand toy away, he'll bounce right back up and start chasing his play-by-yourself toys (but not to the point of panting). He's just got a lot of energy. But if panting could be a heart condition symptom, I think I might get a second opinion from another vet in my area. I know there's one that specializes in cats only, and although they're more expensive, maybe they would know better about cats panting...

 

[Kelise]

Guys, I really don't think that cats panting when they are playing is a problem. They are being physically exerted, their bodies require more oxygen to fuel their muscles, and they need to blow off heat and carbon dioxide. I'm pretty sure feral cats pants when it's 100 degrees outside or they have to run from predators.

Heavy breathing is a sign of heart disease in humans, too. That doesn't mean you have heart disease if you go for a run and get out of breath.

I'm all for clearing cat health with a vet, but taking a cat to the vet because it pants when it plays seems excessive to me. I would be concerned if climbing the cat tree resulted in panting, or very mild play. But young, energetic cats dashing after toys and getting all worked up? I think panting is fine as long as the level of panting matches the level of exercise, and it stops when the cat has rested.

 

[deathecatlover]

Aaa, I didn't declaw luna! I declawed Bk, which was around 12 years ago, and my mother's idea.

 

[Shar371]

EmmiTemmi, I'm glad to hear someone else has a kitty that will wear themselves out to the point of panting, and then immediately spring back up! Hank (a little over a year old, we think) will play until he is full-bore dog-panting, at which point I'll stop and hide his toy. He gets really upset and, while panting, will beg me for the toy back, or spring after something else (string, feather, sunbeam, sock...)

I'm not going to rush out to the vet, but given that he was having issues during the winter with the dry air (vet said allergies... normally, we have a hot, humid climate, but it got unusually cold and dry this winter), I'm keeping this on my "to ask" list. At his initial visit, they didn't detect an arrhythmia, so I'm taking the "wait and watch" approach. He also tends to get to this "winded" phase more quickly some days than others, so I'm keeping my eyeballs on him.