Kittens breathing hard with mouth open, HELP!

[simone4]

I have 4 kittens that are 4 days old. They are all nursing well, little round milk bellies and sleep peacefully in between feedings with the exeption of this weird panting thing. There are times they all are breathing hard with their mouths open. They don't seem to be in distress otherwise. What could this be?

 

[catsallover]

I don't know, but I would call my vet to be safe. Most have an emergency number, or a referal number to the all night emergency vet. They should be able to tell you.

Did think of one thing- are they all pretty much doing it at the same time? And do they just do it in almost short little bursts? They may be hissing at you!

 

[mommaoftwo2006]

are you sure they are not hissing at you?

my babies are 5 days old and they hiss at me..it looks like they are panting with their mouths open but they are hissing. it is because their eyes are closed and you are a new scent. 3 of my 4 have stopped hissing but I have 1 a tabby girl that everytime I walk in the closet she smells me and hisses at me its really funny! I will try and get a video of her hissing and post it and then you will know if it is that or if it is something else!

 

[momof3rugratz]

Originally Posted by Simone4

I have 4 kittens that are 4 days old. They are all nursing well, little round milk bellies and sleep peacefully in between feedings with the exeption of this weird panting thing. There are times they all are breathing hard with their mouths open. They don't seem to be in distress otherwise. What could this be?

I would call the vet.. Could be a URI and maybe a stuffy nose.

 

[mklija]

I am by no means a cat expert, but I do have 4 four week old kittens and experienced the same thing you are.

First of all i want to say that this is my first time posting here, but I have been following the catsite forums for the past month and everyone on this site has been really helpful when it comes to kitten dilemmas. It seems as though anytime I have had a question about my kittens, I come to this site and my questions are answered. So, I wanted to say thank you to everyone!!!

Back to your question. I had one kitten that for the first week or so of its life seemed to be wheezing, at first I thought it maybe had asthma or something. It seems to be similar to what you are talking about. It would open its mouth and breeth really hard and really fast. It was terrifying! It eventually went away and is my strongest kitten. They went to the vet today and got a good bill of health!!! My guess is that its little lungs just weren't developed enough.

I do not want discourage you from contacting the vet. They are there to answer questions. I just wanted you to know that someone else has experienced something similar. Good Luck with your kittens.

 

[commonoddity042]

Young kittens will hiss at you if they do not recognize your scent. It looks like they're panting with their mouths wide open for a few seconds, then they will stop.

 

[lilicat]

Hi there,

Have four two week old kittens, one was doing exactly as you described almost from birth,I was extremely worried,because she was the only one doing it,and thought she was ill,but she is fine .I did see the vet,thinking it was her breathing,but it wasnt.
If you are still worried, I would speak to a vet,but it might be a similar thing to mine,{she was hissing,at four days old

}
Hope this helps

Lilicat

 

[momof3rugratz]

Hissing. AWW too cute.

 

[tnr1]

Originally Posted by Simone4

I have 4 kittens that are 4 days old. They are all nursing well, little round milk bellies and sleep peacefully in between feedings with the exeption of this weird panting thing. There are times they all are breathing hard with their mouths open. They don't seem to be in distress otherwise. What could this be?

Hi Simone...welcome to TCS...I think your question has been well answered, but I wanted to quickly remind you to keep mom cat indoors only and away from intact males until the kittens are weaned and she can be spayed. Cats can become pregnant again as early as a week after giving birth and we would like this to be her only litter.

If you need a list of low cost spay/neuter clinics for when the time is right, let me know.

Katie

 

[megmar6853]

It is definately hissing. They seem to do that alot in the first two week of life. Once they relize that you wont hurt them they will stop.

 

[tnr1]

Originally Posted by mklija

I am by no means a cat expert, but I do have 4 four week old kittens and experienced the same thing you are.

First of all i want to say that this is my first time posting here, but I have been following the catsite forums for the past month and everyone on this site has been really helpful when it comes to kitten dilemmas. It seems as though anytime I have had a question about my kittens, I come to this site and my questions are answered. So, I wanted to say thank you to everyone!!!

Back to your question. I had one kitten that for the first week or so of its life seemed to be wheezing, at first I thought it maybe had asthma or something. It seems to be similar to what you are talking about. It would open its mouth and breeth really hard and really fast. It was terrifying! It eventually went away and is my strongest kitten. They went to the vet today and got a good bill of health!!! My guess is that its little lungs just weren't developed enough.

I do not want discourage you from contacting the vet. They are there to answer questions. I just wanted you to know that someone else has experienced something similar. Good Luck with your kittens.

A bit on the late side, but welcome to TCS!!

Katie

 

[semiferal]

If kittens do this when they are disturbed or handled, and are otherwise nursing well and seem healthy, then they are hissing at you! It's really very funny - they're two inches long, they can't see or hear, they have no teeth, but they are soooooo ferocious and they'll let you know it!

Kittens who are in respiratory distress refuse to eat, are very lethargic, lay on their sides, and usually you can see the skin suck in around their ribs when they breathe. At the very end they sound like they are crying when they try to breathe. It's not like hissing kittens, who are bright and alert and active and hungry. When a newborn kitten is in distress, it is very obvious that things are not right.

 

[pluna111]

I just had the same issue with two of my 3-day old kittens and was concerned. THANK YOU for posting this and thank you for creating this site - the babies are all otherwise very active with good appetite so I guess they are just not too happy with me picking them up, haha. Now that I know about this site I'll visit more often. 

 

[romsoccer126]

Same here my 5 day olds are doing the same thing and I was worried, but they are eating fine and in good health, so this thread makes me feel better. Ill keep an eye out on them but I definitely think it is hissing! Normally it happens when they are being picked up or wrestling for a spot with each other now that Im noticing

 

[giuliano81]

Thanks for posting this, my 4 day old kittens are doing this even though they are nursing well and otherwise seem fine. So amusing to know I've been getting hissed at, lol.

 

[mick528]

Baby kittens that breath heavy like that are panting not hissing. I have seen this same misinformation on ever cat site that I have gone to. My little babies are doing the same thing. They are putting there heads up opening their mouths and breathing fast and heavy. They are perfectly healthy and I'm guessing this is something kittens just do naturally do to the amount of people I see asking the same question. One of the babies at 3 days old hist at the uncle cat who came over to check them out and it was a clear hiss. There was no confusing it, it sounded exactly like a full grown cat hiss only not as loud. When people are asking why their kittens are breathing heavy it had nothing to do with hissing, that is just bad information.
When those babies hiss you will know it, it's unmistakable. Breathing heavy is panting, not hissing.

 

[8meowzers]

READ THIS!! I hope people see my reply way down here at the bottom but the last reply is correct. The kittens are panting, not hissing. Hissing sounds just like an adult cat. They say to make a cool spot in the nesting box, where there is no blanket. Just a small corner is fine so that a hot kitten can cool down. Be careful not to have the kittens get caught under the bedding though or be there too long when they are not hot because it is of course crucial that they stay warm. Normally they can work unless it is an extreme temperature environment. Alas a little fear comes with love of newborns...happy worrying! lol  >^..^<

 

[nefzaoui]

I signed up specifically to tell a different story than of the comments.
My cat has given birth to 3 beautiful kittens, on the 4th day at around 9pm one of them started heavily breathing, or panting like the comments said. I was extremely worried and but living in a remote village I couldn't take it anywhere so I searched the Internet until I found this thread.
I got a little less worried and after a couple of hours staying near it it was 1am I decided I should get some sleep knowing that he's probably going to be fine.

It's now 3am (European timezone), I woke up to check on the little one and he was dead. I don't know what else I could have done to save the poor soul but I just want to say if anyone is reading this: please take your kitten or cat to the vet, don't assume everything is probably going to be okay, the least a vet can do is diagnose if not at all touching him/her.

If your kitten is breathing heavily that's a sign you should take it to a vet.

Poor little soul, I'm sorry.

 

[StefanZ]

Yes. Tx for reminding. Yes, you have right, these symptoms are usually signs of pneumonia, or other heavy condition with dying nearing. Usually deadly. Massive amounts of antibiotics can sometimes save such a kitten, but a severe pneumonia is almost always deadly. The most common cause healthy born kittens dies. so its always Red Alert, as you remind us.

Nay, what this thread gave, is, what seems to be panting isnt always panting. Sometimes its hissing...
-

I signed up specifically to tell a different story than of the comments.
My cat has given birth to 3 beautiful kittens, on the 4th day at around 9pm one of them started heavily breathing, or panting like the comments said. I was extremely worried and but living in a remote village I couldn't take it anywhere so I searched the Internet until I found this thread.
I got a little less worried and after a couple of hours staying near it it was 1am I decided I should get some sleep knowing that he's probably going to be fine.

It's now 3am (European timezone), I woke up to check on the little one and he was dead. I don't know what else I could have done to save the poor soul but I just want to say if anyone is reading this: please take your kitten or cat to the vet, don't assume everything is probably going to be okay, the least a vet can do is diagnose if not at all touching him/her.

If your kitten is breathing heavily that's a sign you should take it to a vet.

Poor little soul, I'm sorry.