Rapid breath/purring/anxiety

Hannah518

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Hello. I have quite the anxious kitty. We lost his brother last weekend so my focus has been making sure Taco is okay. I know cats are supposed to breathe 20-30 bpm, but on and off I noticed my cats breath is rapid. When he is purring, stimulated, or even if I’m just watching him. (He also tends to not go the bathroom if I watch him, he’s a bit strange And shy) This isn’t really a new development, but after his brother got sick last November I began to wonder if it was normal or just his anxiety or excitement. He tends to breath faster when He sits in the window and watches people and animals.

When he’s sleeping it’s normal.
He has no cough, is eating, peeing, and pooping. But he’s 13 so I’m just on hyper alert.
The only other thing he does his take a exhale like a bull once in a while through his nose. No open mouth breathing.

He had a senior blood panel done in October and physical and everything was normal, he had his vitals taken in November and everything was normal, and I just took him in last Wednesday for a check up and everything seemed okay on the exterior. He Was just put back on prozac and has blood work scheduled in about 5 weeks.
 

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di and bob

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Sitting in the window and getting excited would account for increased breathing, as would anxiety. If it is normal when he is sleeping, it must be something that points towards anxiety. It's probably a good thing he was put back on Prozac, but since any antidepressant takes several weeks to start working, it might take a while. You could probably get him off of it when he feels better and time has passed since his brother died. As long as his bloodwork, exams, etc. are OK, he should be fine. Sick cats stop eating and tend to hide, so as long as he isn't doing that, he should be OK. I have a cat that breathes 60 times a minute, he has scarred lungs. i have tried a lot to help him, but havn't found anything yet. I am just thankful he isn't getting worse.
 
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Hannah518

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Sitting in the window and getting excited would account for increased breathing, as would anxiety. If it is normal when he is sleeping, it must be something that points towards anxiety. It's probably a good thing he was put back on Prozac, but since any antidepressant takes several weeks to start working, it might take a while. You could probably get him off of it when he feels better and time has passed since his brother died. As long as his bloodwork, exams, etc. are OK, he should be fine. Sick cats stop eating and tend to hide, so as long as he isn't doing that, he should be OK. I have a cat that breathes 60 times a minute, he has scarred lungs. i have tried a lot to help him, but havn't found anything yet. I am just thankful he isn't getting worse.
Thank you! Yeah he has kind of always been like this for the past 10 years but since his breathing was always steady in sleep I had never been too worried about it but then after these past few months I just started to. He is sleeping right now away from the window and it seems to be steady. I’ve taken several videos to email my vet. When he knows I’m videoing him he get anxious. Stage fright haha
 

WMM201

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I agree with di and bob di and bob that Taco is proabably okay as long as his eating and litter box habits are normal. It's good that you took a video to show that vet. When my cat wasnt feeling well (crouching, not eating, rapid amd short breathing), i also took a video to show the vet and I think it helped them understand more than just me describing. I hope Taco's blood tests come back normal, and hugs as you get used to not having your other kitty.
 

FeebysOwner

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I agree with all of the above! The more rapid breathing occurs in Feeby too when she purrs or gets excited about something. Because she is older (15+ yo) I also see it when she jumps up onto things as well, but after 30 seconds or so, it is almost always back to normal. Resting or sleeping is the best time to monitor your cat's respirations!!
 
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Hannah518

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Okay this makes me feel a bit better. :hearthrob: I didn’t want to jump into a bunch of xrays and ultrasounds unless there was more cause for alarm. I’m already about 3,000 in debt from Iagos medical bills I don’t want to go down a paranoid rabbit hole.
Although if Taki (we call him Taco too lol) did end up needing the tests I would for sure do them, money no question.
He’s also a 17.5 lb cat so jumping and moving will cause increase. I think when he sleeps he has the least amount of anxiety so it’s probably the best to measure his actual breath.
 
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Hannah518

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Thanks! I’ve been watching him and it does seem normal when he’s sleeping so I’ll just keep a look out if anything changes. 🥰
 
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