Expert: Ali - 2/27/2010

Question
i have a cat about 15 years old, which is old, but hes in pretty good shape. just a few minutes ago i heard him meowing in pain. when i went to see him he seemed to be panicking. when i picked him up i noticed he was having alot of difficuly breathing. i have calmed him down now but he still seems to be having difficulty ( heavy fast sudden breathing, more difficuly on the exhale it would seem on the inhale.) if anyone has any idea what might be wrong please tell me soon

Answer
Jesse,

Anytime a cat is having any kind of difficulty breathing or shows any kind of distress with his ability to breath comfortably it should be considered a medical emergency and that cat should see a vet immediately to be stabilized with supplemental oxygen and IV fluids if necessary. The sooner that a vet can diagnose and treat your kitty's condition in some cases the better the outcome. Unfortunately I am not a veterinarian and I can't offer you any diagnosis or treatment recommendations. Based on my experiences with sick kitties over the years there are a number of potential problems that could be causing this kitty's distress ranging from something that's relatively easy to treat such as having something small enough that it allows him to breath but big enough to disrupt the air flow into and out of his lungs. Your kitty could also have more serious issues happening that are causing his difficulties ranging from problems with his heart (such as heart attack, heart failure, etc), asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis/emphysema (especially for kitties living in a household where there are one or more smokers who smoke indoors) and it's also quite possible that your kitty has some sort of viral or bacterial infection that is causing him to have trouble breathing well - this short list is very general, there are plenty of possible causes for your kitty's sudden symptoms, however this is by no means an exhaustive list of possibilities. In a situation like this time is of the essence, ideally it's best to assume that your cat is seriously ill until a vet has done all of the necessary diagnostic testing and gotten back normal test results that can reassure you and your vet that his condition isn't serious.

Contrary to popular belief fifteen years old isn't all that old for a well cared for indoor cat who is fed a high quality species appropriate diet and received minimal vaccines over the course of his lifetime can potentially live into his/her twenties in relatively good health. If you're interested in learning more about species appropriate feline nutrition and minimizing your kitty's exposure to vaccines I'd be happy to refer you to some good online sources where you can learn more about his dietary and vaccine needs so that he can continue to live a long, healthy life. Hopefully your vet won't find anything too serious wrong with your kitty, but in a situation like this it's best not to wait too long, after all if your kitty can't breathe properly and send oxygen throughout his body on his own the rest of his body can't function. You and your kitty will be in my thoughts and prayers, please do feel free to contact me again and let me know how your little guy is doing - I hope all will be well. If you have any further cat related questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me again, I'll be more than happy to help you out to the best of my ability.