Cat Chat Feline Forum

Hi,

I have a 16 week old ragdoll. The other day he was breathing really fast whilst sleeping - over a 100 breaths a minute. I took him to vet and she checked him over - she said he was fine and only question she asked was whether house was hot.

He’s doing it again now and it is incredibly hot! He’s perfectly fine otherwise but am worried there is something else wrong.

He has a loud heart murmur - vet said breathing was not related but, of course, this is what I’m worried about!

Has anyone else had experience of fast breathing in kitten/cat due to it being warm?

Heart murmur is being followed up next month to see if it has gone.

Has your kitten been tested for HCM? Do you know if his breeding lines are clear of it? Given that HCM is common in the breed I would have expected your vet to be looking at this before announcing that one of the main symptoms of it has nothing to do with another red flag pointer to test for the same condition.

Yes his breeding lines are clear. We’re going back in two weeks to follow up heart murmur.

If it's just the heat and he's fine otherwise, then keep your place cool. I adopted a 7 month old cat and he was like that. He was so excited when I brought him home and played a lot. Too much playing and he started heavy breathing. Also had him wrapped in a blanket taking him to the vet because my other cat was using the carrier and he was too hot and breathing heavy. He breathes very loudly especially when he's excited and sometimes snores in his sleep. He's two now and doesn't do the heavy breathing when he plays hard anymore but still breaths very fast and loud when sleeping.