Weird meow thing..

[peeka73]

My cat Smokey is a big love-meower. She would usually come by, give me a pitiful meow and immediately leap on and start drooling and kneading. She is still like that, however lately her meows are odd?

She would come up, meow, and her mouth remains open with that odd grimace expression. Sometimes it appears that she pants a little and then goes about normally. No sluggishness, no changes in behavior, appears to be normal.

Thoughts?? Just very bizarre.

- Grace

 

[darkmavis]

Hmm, I don't know, is it hot where you are? I wonder the same thing with the neighbor cat "Mister" who visits us in our yard a lot. He meooooooooows so much! And sometimes he keeps his mouth hanging open a bit, almost like panting, but i've only noticed him do it when it's pretty hot out. So, I'd be interested to see if anyone else has any thoughts on it too.

 

[peeka73]

Nope, not hot here. I have central AC on. Plus, she does this while walking into a room, not running.

I'm going to bring her into the vet to get her checked out, just in case. She does have shorter muzzle, so I wonder if that could be a contributing factor?

 

[jinxywinx]

Wow, I don't think I've ever seen anything like that.
Is it like actual panting or just a momentary thing? Is it integrated into the meow?
I'm having a hard time picturing what exactly is going on. You will have to let us know what the vet says!

 

[peeka73]

Smokey's weird grimace + panting after meowing is weird alright.. vet never heard of any cat that would do that. She thinks it may be just a behavioral thing. However, she also took an xray and found that Smokey has asthma. Very minor at this point, but something I need to keep an eye on. If it gets worse, she'll need to be on meds.

Not serious yet, but still very scary. One needs to keep a sharp eye for strange cat symptoms. You never know!

 

[Draco]

Monet had added new variations of meows when I brought Picasso home. I thought something was wrong with him, but he's discovered new meanings to different meows an dis using them.

I am glad you brought your guy to the vet.. at least you know whats going on!

 

[sassy&angel]

How old is the cat? Since she has asthma she could have other chronic problems. Have you had her checked for diabetes?

 

[lilcarmen3]

I have fairly new kitten (6 months old), got her when she was 7 weeks. The last two weeks she has been doing this too and I thought it was so weird! It worried me, like maybe she was hurt or there was something wrong, but I have asked others and no one knew. Were there any other symptoms that maybe indicated asthma? Would you suggest I get her checked out, because otherwise she is fine. She's only done it three times.

 

[mrblanche]

I wonder if we are talking about the "flehman response" here?