Slightly Heavy Breathing

[ArieFinstrom]

Hi there, I have an ~4 year old russian blue who is as of a few months ago an indoor only cat. I live in the pacific north west and it’s summer, so temperatures are in the 90s and it’s a bit humid, but it’s not That hot inside. Anyways, yesterday I noticed my cat, mimi, breathing slightly heavily when I came inside from watering. She was sitting like a loaf, which is common for her, but I could see her breathing and her head was bobbin slightly with each breath. Her nose was also twitching as she breathed. I turned the air conditioning on, but no change. She then went to sleep in her favorite place under my bed and fell asleep, but her breathing remained the same. Usually I have to look very hard to see if she is breathing while she sleeps. Because I’m a huge worrywart, I immediately panicked and took her to the animal hospital. They told me her heart rate was normal and her lungs looked fine. Then they ran a blood test to check her kidneys and liver etc. but that came out normal too. I was forced to conclude that I freaked out and wasted $300 on nothing. Between then and now her breathing seeemed normal again, slow and deep and steady. But now it’s the next day and she’s asleep and her breathing is the same as yesterday; even while resting she’s breathing ~55 breaths per minute and every once in a while i can hear her breathing a little raspy. But not most of the time. And she’s not breathing through her mouth or anything. No loss of appetite and she was running around chasing her toys earlier. She was purring earlier. She is sleeping a lot but all cats do right? Especially in the heat. Do I have any reason to be concerned? Could she possibly have asthma? This seems to only be happening in the afternoon, is it just the heat? Worrying about this has taken over my life a bit and I need to take care of myself but I’m very worried about her, she’s my angel. Please help me figure out what to do. I can’t really afford another vet trip. If there are no other symptoms should I just ignore it? Thank you!!

 

[ArieFinstrom]

It’s been about half an hour since I last checked her breathing rate, she’s in a deep sleep now and she’s at about 40 breaths per minute. She seems comfortable.. just breathing still a bit shallow and fast. Am I just a nervous wreck? Is it possible this happens all the time and I’ve just never seen it?

 

[ArieFinstrom]

Her breathing is now back down to about 30 bpm while resting in an air conditioned room. The faster breathing lasted over an hour, but seems to only happen intermittently. Unless anyone says I should be concerned I think this may be normal or at least not critically life threatening. Possibly just the heat. Please let me know if you have any advice though!! I am planning to buy less dusty litter and hold off on giving her any fish flavored food.

 

[mani]

Hi A ArieFinstrom and welcome to TCS!

I also have Russians. I think they really feel the heat with their double coat, and it wouldn't surprise me if that isn't the case with your girl.
Since you've had her checked, I'd just work on keeping her cool and loving her madly, as you obviously do.

Would you like to introduce yourself and her in our New Cats On The Block forum?