? Cat breathing fast and hard, what should I do?

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I left my vet a message, they are not open today. His breathing seems to have slowed a little bit. It might be a reaction to low BG numbers from earlier.
 
Hi Lisa. I hope Smoky will be okay and that his symptoms will ease soon. I know how worrying it can be when your cat has symptoms and you don't know what is causing them.
 
Smoky seems a little warm and the fast breathing has slowed down a little. He is not on steroids but does have severe food allergies and allergies to mold and dust mites. Thanks for the link Mogs, it was very helpful. He doesn't seem to be dehydrated but I left a message for his vet to call me back in the morning.
 
Voula said:
Hi Lisa. I hope Smoky will be okay and that his symptoms will ease soon. I know how worrying it can be when your cat has symptoms and you don't know what is causing them.
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Thank you so much. I left a message for his vet to call me back in morning.
 
It is fast breathing and his mouth is closed. I can see his sides go in and nostrils flare a little. I left my vet a message but will call in the morning when they open. His BG's dropped very low today, see SS, so don't know if that has anything to do with it.
 
Lisa and Smoky said:
Smoky seems a little warm and
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Sorry to ask what may seem like a silly question, but did you take his temperature to confirm he is "warm"? I thought my cat felt hot too when he came home from hospital and was rubbing all over him and my non-sick cat to compare their body temperatures. Cats normal temperatures run higher than humans. The normal body temp for a cat is 99.5 - 102.5 degrees Fahrenheit. A fever in a cat is a temperature of at least 103.5 degrees Fahrenheit, way higher than what would be safe for human temps.

Hope this helps. Good luck with your sweet kitty!! :bighug:
 
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I did try that with our other two cats who feel mostly cool with a little bit of warmth. He is still breathing fast but it has slowed considerably. I am still concerned about how hot he feels though.
His vet opens in about 30 minutes.
 
Fingers and paws crossed that the vet will be able to sort things out quickly for Smoky. Wouldn't it be great if our little ones could just tell us what's up?

(((Lisa)))

Be sure to let us know how things go. Prayers and healing thoughts on their way to you.

:bighug:


Mogs
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Smoky is still breathing a little fast this morning and still feels a bit hot. His breathing has slowed down since last night but still want to take him to vet just in case
 
I'm glad you've been getting good advice here, Lisa. I posted on your other thread. However, your focus today is Smoky's breathing and I'm glad you're having him checked out. Good thing you're off today. Let us know how it goes ... deep breaths. :bighug:
 
Hopefully with the X-rays the vet will be able to sort out what's up and help Smoky feel more comfortable very soon.

The wait is nerve-wracking, isn't it. :nailbiting:

((((((((Lisa))))))))


:bighug:


Mogs
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The X-ray's show a spot on his lungs but they can't tell what it is. The vet wants to send film to a radiologist, can't even begin to imagine what that will cost.:( They also took blood to do another CBC.
 
Lisa and Smoky said:
The X-ray's show a spot on his lungs but they can't tell what it is. The vet wants to send film to a radiologist, can't even begin to imagine what that will cost.:( They also took blood to do another CBC.
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Very worrying for you, Lisa. We're here to help/support in any way we can.
 
Lisa and Smoky said:
They have to send it out and have it read.
Today was almost $300 and have no idea what consult with radiologist will be
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Ouch! Any chance of you picking up extra hours at work? Rock and a hard place situation: need to know what's going on and money has to be spent to get there.

Do they have any advice for you while you wait?
 
Waiting is the hardest. I know when Smokey had xrays (at ER), they were sent electronically and we had results within the hour and it was usually in the middle of the night. We weren't charged extra the price included it.

Keep strong. :bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Three times we've had a radiology tech come to our vet with a portable ultrasound machine. Yow! $500 a pop but you get the results on the spot. We had a family of six cats that all had cardiomyopathy, which can mean a lot of things but distressed breathing is one symptom. Maine Coons are most prone as are cats with a taurine deficiency. Taurine is found in store bought food and I've never seen it as an additive for home made food. Anyone else? The allergies... we change our furnace filter a lot, vacuum a lot and two of our kits enjoy getting a warm water-paper towel bath. The dust mites, we have a built in vac but we find dragging and pressing a wet beach towel on carpet really gets out a lot of crap. Those little buggers are on your pillows, bed and everything soft but you knew that already. Remember everything in the air floats down to floor level, where your cat food and water are. Sincerely hope your vet finds out fast, best of luck!
 
Update for Smoky: Vet called about bloodwork and results from radiologist.
His bloodwork results have improved from last time. I'll post details for that later. Radiologist thinks that the spots on lungs, one on each lung is trapped air. There is a slight possibility that the air could simply reabsorb back into his lungs. Otherwise he will have to go to the vet and they will get a catheter and needle and insert it into the chest and pull the trapped air out.

The only problem that may occur would be if the air comes back again. The vet said to monitor him for the next day and count his breaths for 10 seconds and multiply by six to get his respiration rate. I did that tonight and it was 36, normal is 28 to 30.
The most common reason for this to occur is some kind of trauma: fight with another cat, hit by a car, or a fall for example. It can happen spontaneously but that's not common. He fell off the armchair and hit the floor pretty hard last week but I don't think that would cause that.
 
Lisa and Smoky said:
Update for Smoky: Vet called about bloodwork and results from radiologist.
His bloodwork results have improved from last time. I'll post details for that later. Radiologist thinks that the spots on lungs, one on each lung is trapped air. There is a slight possibility that the air could simply reabsorb back into his lungs. Otherwise he will have to go to the vet and they will get a catheter and needle and insert it into the chest and pull the trapped air out.

The only problem that may occur would be if the air comes back again. The vet said to monitor him for the next day and count his breaths for 10 seconds and multiply by six to get his respiration rate. I did that tonight and it was 36, normal is 28 to 30.
The most common reason for this to occur is some kind of trauma: fight with another cat, hit by a car, or a fall for example. It can happen spontaneously but that's not common. He fell off the armchair and hit the floor pretty hard last week but I don't think that would cause that.
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Well hallelujah!! This is good news! :D:joyful::):smuggrin: So glad the bloodwork is better. As for the air in his lungs - that's strange but it's treatable if it doesn't resolve on its own. The fall might not seem to be the culprit but you never know ... stranger things, etc.

You must feel very relieved, Lisa. :bighug:
 
Oh I do. I forgot to mention one other scenario because I'm trying not to think about it. If I shld have to take him in and have the air pulled out and it keeps coming back, next step would be ultrasounds of the abdomen and chest.
 
Lisa and Smoky said:
Oh I do. I forgot to mention one other scenario because I'm trying not to think about it. If I shld have to take him in and have the air pulled out and it keeps coming back, next step would be ultrasounds of the abdomen and chest.
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No jumping ahead allowed. Focus on today and enjoy the relief. :)
 
I'm trying to think if I shld give him 2.5 units tonight instead of the 2.25 I gave him for am. Smokys PMPS was in the pinks and up from this morning.
 
Lisa and Smoky said:
He fell off the armchair and hit the floor pretty hard last week
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I can imagine a scenario in which this fall caused the air to build up slowly over the week until it reached a point where it finally began to interfere with his breathing. Doesn't seem that farfetched to me. Did they call it pneumothorax?
 
I talked to the vet tonight and it's not pneumothorax. It's air trapped in the lung and not between the lung and chest wall.
He can breathe air in but can't get all the air back out again.
 
Praying that the vets will be able to make Smoky more comfortable and that he will be better very soon, Lisa.

(((Lisa and Smoky)))


Mogs
.
 
Lisa and Smoky said:
I talked to the vet tonight and it's not
It's air trapped in the lung and not between the lung and chest wall.
He can breathe air in but can't get all the air back out again.
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I do not understand how air can be trapped in a lung and be able to breath in but not out.

I had a spontaneous pneumothorax in the 80's
 
All I know is what the vet told me.
Smoky seems to be having trouble getting enough air in. The trapped air shows up on the chest X-ray's. I knew someone once who had to have trapped air pulled out. It may resolve by itself.
 
He doesn't have a collapsed lung, he had a fall which caused some damage. He has to breath faster to get enough air in. I'll check his respiration later on tonight when he is relaxed and sleeping. The goal is for him to go down from 36 breaths per minutes to about 20-30 which is normal.
 
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