The cat is breathing poorly. Rapid breathing in cats. tachypnea

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What is tachypnea?

Tachypnea (polypnea) is abnormally rapid breathing. Tachypnea, unlike shortness of breath, may not be a sign of a serious illness.

Causes

There are many reasons for rapid breathing in cats. They may be as follows:

Upper respiratory tract problems

• Damage to the nostrils and sinuses (infections, narrowing, inflammation, tumors)
• Damage to the soft palate
• Diseases of the larynx (tumor, collapse, paralysis, spasm)
• Tracheal diseases (tumors, collapse, foreign bodies)
• Damage (compression) of the upper respiratory tract(tumors, lymph nodes)

Problems related to the lower respiratory tract

Lower respiratory tract disorders include obstructive diseases and restrictive diseases:

In most cases, tachypnea is not dangerous, but it can also cause serious illnesses which can even be life threatening. Therefore, tachypnea should not be ignored and should be contacted by a veterinarian.

Symptoms

• Cough
• Labored breathing
• Blue gums
• Fatigue
• Weight loss
• Poor appetite
• Excessive thirst or frequent urination
• Vomit
• Diarrhea

When your cat is breathing rapidly and you, not knowing what to do, are looking for advice on this topic on the Internet on forums, we recommend not to self-medicate or experiment on your beloved cat. The fact is that there are many reasons for tachypnea in an animal, and the consequences of your experiment may disappoint you and your family.

Diagnostics

Before testing begins, factors that may be considered should be considered and eliminated. cause of tachypnea(overheating, stress, excessive physical exercise). If tachypnea continues or progresses despite removal possible reasons, then it is necessary not to ignore this problem and contact your veterinarian immediately. Your doctor may order the following tests:

• Complete blood test biochemical analysis blood and urine tests are important basic tests. They will help identify anemia, infections and diabetes.
• Test for the presence of helminths
• Measurement eye pressure blood
• Test for hyperadrenocorticism (Cushing's syndrome)
• X-ray to identify a foreign body or tumor in the upper respiratory tract
• Ultrasound of the heart and chest cavity
• Cytology or thoracentesis (taking fluid, air, or tissue from the chest for analysis)
• Computed tomography, rhinoscopy or trachiobronchoscopy are prescribed in more severe cases

Treatment

• If possible, the underlying causes (heat, stress, strain) should be identified and eliminated.
• Symptomatic therapy
• Oxygen therapy if the pet is in serious condition
• Antibiotics or anti-inflammatory medications for infectious or inflammatory diseases
• Fluid therapy is indicated for dehydration or systemic diseases(eg uremia)

Care and maintenance

Follow all directions from your veterinarian. Place your pet in a well-ventilated place and protect your pet from stress.

Weak or rapid breathing in a cat signals changes occurring in the pet’s body. Deviation from the norm is not always a pathology. But the owner must be able to recognize dangerous symptom to help your pet in a timely manner. How do cats breathe and what do these or other changes in breathing indicate?

The respiratory system of a cat is similar to that of a human. First, air enters the larynx through the pharynx, then moves along the trachea to the bronchi and into the lungs. From the lungs, oxygen is delivered to every cell of the body. On exhalation, at the moment of relaxation of the diaphragm, the “waste” material is removed from the body in the reverse way: through the bronchi into the trachea, larynx and pharynx. The respiratory rate in cats is not a constant indicator. IN calm state An adult animal takes about thirty breaths per minute. In kittens this figure is higher and can reach up to fifty. Cats breathe a little more often than males, but the difference is not significant.

Situations when rapid breathing in a cat it is not a pathology, there are many. For example, from fear, rage, surprise, or at a moment of joyful excitement, a cat breathes faster. This is a momentary change and breathing returns to normal after a short period of time, usually after the cat is no longer exposed. external stimuli. Shallow, rapid breathing in a cat during a trip, in the veterinarian’s office, or during an unpleasant manipulation is a conditional norm, signaling that the pet is experiencing stress. Pregnant, giving birth, nursing pets and cats in heat also breathe somewhat faster. The respiratory rate in cats changes depending on the degree of exercise: during sleep the rate is lower, during active games- higher.

Many cats, especially young ones, love to frolic and run around, and after that, tired, they lie lazily spread out and breathe frequently. However, what should you do if the cat is breathing heavily, but has not run before? This should alert every attentive owner.

Reasons for changes in respiratory rate in cats

1. Physiological reasons — natural reaction body, which is the norm. It can be caused by:

Physical activity. In healthy animals, respiratory rate depends mainly on the level of physical activity. The most calm breathing in cats - during sleep;

Stress. When nervous, angry, or excited, the cat's breathing quickens. For example, while traveling in a car, when moving to a new place, when carrying out various medical procedures. This is a short-term phenomenon and goes away as soon as the source of stress disappears. In pregnant, giving birth, lactating and estrus cats, breathing also often becomes noticeably faster, but this is not a cause for concern, since it normal reaction the body to additional stress;

Overheating or hypothermia. When overheated, a cat breathes through its mouth, often and heavily. He tries to spread out his whole body on the coolest surface in the house - tiles, linoleum or under the bathtub. If the room temperature gets too hot, wet a towel cold water and wrap it around your pet, or just wet his ears and underbelly, and make sure he drinks enough. When hypothermia occurs, on the contrary, breathing is barely noticeable, the pet curls up into a ball, and the fur stands on end for better thermal insulation. In this case, wrap him in a warm blanket.

2. Pathological causes - caused by various diseases or abnormalities. Among them:

Injuries to the chest, spine and ribs. If your cat sticks out his tongue and breathes frequently, taking small, shallow breaths, then breathing may be causing him pain. He may try to hide away from everyone, walk carefully, as if his movements are constrained, and eat poorly. In this case, the animal must be carefully examined. If there are wounds, torn hair, or some areas of the body are extremely painful when touched, take him to the vet immediately;

Foreign body in the throat or nose. Look into the cat's throat. If you notice an object stuck in your larynx and making it difficult to breathe, try to remove it. If it doesn’t work the first time, go to the clinic immediately, otherwise repeated attempts can only push it deeper. If the cat wheezes when breathing through the nose, or a whistle is heard, then it seems that a foreign body is stuck in the nasal passage;

Deterioration in health due to development various diseases and pathologies. In such cases, a change in respiratory rate is accompanied by other alarming symptoms- an increase or decrease in the cat’s body temperature, signs of dehydration, vomiting, coughing, discharge from the eyes and nose. Wheezing in the chest is a symptom of stagnation of fluid or mucus, which occurs with pneumonia or heart disease. When a cat breathes with his tongue hanging out, it is possible that the nasopharyngeal mucosa is so inflamed that breathing through the nose is almost impossible.

The most common diseases:

excessive weight (obesity) - the cat breathes with open mouth even after minor physical activity;

allergic reactions, asthma (accompanied by coughing, sneezing, laryngeal swelling);

infectious diseases (for example, bronchitis if the cat has a fever and cough);

various pathologies internal organs chest and abdominal cavity(then the cat breathes with its “belly”).

There are many accompanying symptoms, and you should carefully monitor the animal to inform the veterinarian of all the details. Such serious cases only a specialist will make the correct diagnosis and prescribe treatment.

How to help at home?

First of all, inspect oral cavity cat and look into the throat:

If your cat is breathing heavily with his mouth open, and there are strong wheezing, gurgling, whistling sounds in his chest, or fluid is flowing from his mouth and nose, take him to a specialist immediately. There is nothing you can do to help, and a delay may cost the animal its life;

If the mucous membrane of the mouth and gums are too pale, with a purple or blue tint, then the cat is suffocating. If he has almost stopped breathing, you need to give him artificial respiration.

How to give artificial respiration to a cat

1. Place the animal on the floor. The neck and spine should form a straight line.

2. Clean the cat’s mouth from secretions with a napkin and close his mouth.

3. Place your palm in a tube, apply it to the animal’s nose, and exhale air there (you can inhale directly into the nose, covering the mouth with a handkerchief).

Frequency - approximately 20 times per minute for medium-sized cats (the smaller the pet, the more often). Monitor the intensity of exhalation so as not to damage the cat’s lungs (this is especially true for kittens). To do this, hold your hand on the cat's chest - with a suitable volume of air, it only expands slightly.

4. Feel your pulse every 20 seconds. If it suddenly stops, you need to try to restore the heartbeat with indirect massage. Take it with one hand chest cat, holding it between your thumb and the other four fingers, and quickly squeeze and release 5 times. After this, exhale 1 air into the cat’s nose, then squeeze again. Check every 2 minutes to see if there is a pulse. It is best to do this together, when one does massage and the other does artificial respiration. Continue until you regain your breathing or see a veterinarian.

The respiratory system of cats is naturally very vulnerable, so the only right thing to do if a cat is breathing heavily is to immediately take him to a veterinary clinic, where he will receive qualified assistance. Among the many diseases whose symptoms include shortness of breath, there are none that you can cure on your own.

Heavy breathing, like many other changes that occur in a pet’s body, causes concern among caring breeders. This is understandable, because the animal cannot talk about the pain or discomfort it experiences, so recognize the problem in time and provide necessary help- an important task for the owner. Let's figure out what could be the reasons why a kitten is breathing heavily and what to do if such a condition is detected.

Features of the respiratory system of kittens

The respiratory system of a kitten is not too different from a human:

1. Inhalation: the lungs inflate, due to which air is drawn through the nose, where it is warmed and filtered, passes through the pharynx into the larynx, from there into the trachea, then into the bronchi and lungs.

2. From the lungs, oxygen enters the blood and is distributed throughout the cells of the whole body.

3. Exhale: the diaphragm relaxes, nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide are removed from the bronchi.

In addition to supplying the blood with oxygen, breathing performs the function of thermoregulation by removing excess fluid.

The respiratory rate of adults is on average 30 inhalations and exhalations per minute, in kittens it is approximately 40-50. Moreover, this indicator is approximate and unstable; it depends on many factors, such as environment, so internal state animal.

The kitten is breathing heavily - the reasons are within the norm

Even if a kitten is breathing heavily and frequently, this does not always mean that there are some serious health problems; the reasons for intense breathing can be quite harmless:

1. Most often, normal increased breathing is associated with stress experienced by the animal. It can be caused by many circumstances:

· any medical interventions And healing procedures, from injections to taking pills.

· visiting unfamiliar places, for example, a veterinary hospital.

travel in a car, bus or other vehicle.

contact with other animals, children, strangers.

2. The kitten begins to heat. Adults also experience changes in the body such as pregnancy and childbirth.

3. Food absorption.

4. Overheating.

5. Increased physical activity during games and running.

All these situations do not pose any threat to the life and health of the pet. After eliminating the causes that caused the increase in frequency, breathing returns to normal. At the same time, it is important to remember that stressful situations may cause other health problems for the kitten and should be avoided if possible.

The kitten is breathing heavily - pathological reasons

If it is not possible to associate increased breathing with the reasons listed above, or the frequency of inhalations and exhalations does not normalize after a relatively short period, you should pay close attention to the animal’s health. After all, the reasons that a kitten is breathing heavily may include: serious violations work of internal organs and systems of the body.

Breathing disorders may be based on the following pathologies:

1. Problems with the nose. Inflammatory process usually accompanied by mucus discharge from the nasal passages.

2. Edema, tumors and other diseases of the throat and trachea.

3. Asthma, bronchitis and others bronchial diseases. In this case, the kitten will most likely develop a fever and a cough.

4. Inflammation, edema and tumors of the lungs.

5. Helminthic infestation.

6. Dehydration.

7. Poisoning.

8. Hormonal imbalances.

9. Irregularities in work endocrine system.

10. Diseases of cardio-vascular system.

11. Anemia.

12. Fever.

13. The presence of excess air or fluid in the chest cavity.

When to urgently contact a veterinarian

Many of the listed conditions are extremely dangerous and can lead to fatal outcome. The success of treatment largely depends on how quickly treatment begins. In order not to miss the moment when treatment is possible, it is worth knowing the symptoms for which you need to show your pet to a doctor as soon as possible. This must be done if, in addition to rapid breathing, the following are observed:

- temperature increase;

- increased heart rate;

- wheezing in the chest;

- nasal discharge;

- discharge from the oral cavity;

- too pale or red tint of mucous membranes.

What will the veterinarian do if the kitten is breathing heavily?

When a kitten is seen by a veterinarian due to rapid breathing, specialists usually perform following procedures:

— Questioning the owner about the time when rapid breathing was noticed, the presence or absence of associated problems and possible natural reasons.

— Visual inspection animal, during which the doctor determines whether the body is dehydrated, what condition the mucous membranes are in, etc.

— Temperature measurement.

— Identification helminthic infestation.

— Assignment of necessary additional laboratory research. For example, a blood test to rule out anemia or infectious diseases.

— Referral for an ultrasound or x-ray if there is a suspicion of heart disease or other internal organs.

— Puncture chest wall(thoracentesis), which allows you to determine whether there is excess air or fluid in the chest cavity. Applies only in extreme cases.

Possible treatment for rapid breathing

Of course, treatment directly depends on what caused the pathological increase in breathing. The most common treatment options can be divided into two categories:

1. Surgery(for oncology, trauma, etc.).

2. Drug therapy. Medicines can be administered to animals different ways:

— Orally (through the oral cavity). Drugs can be in the form of tablets, solutions, capsules, powders, etc.

— Rectally (via anal hole). Suppositories administered in this way allow the animal to receive the drug without a high load on the liver.

— Subcutaneously (the needle is inserted into the fold resulting from pulling back the skin). Most medications are administered in this way under the withers. At emergency This method is not very effective, as it takes time for the medication to be absorbed.

— Intramuscularly (in cats, most often into the thigh muscle). This injection can be quite painful. The volume of the drug that can be administered in this way is limited to not too large doses.

— Intravenously (using a syringe or intravenous catheter). IN emergency situations this is the most effective method therapy, because the drug immediately enters the bloodstream.

Having the information presented, the pet owner has the opportunity to determine with relative accuracy whether the kitten’s intense breathing is a variant of the norm or more similar to pathological condition. Based on this, it is much easier to decide what to do if the kitten is breathing heavily: should you wait or should you urgently go to a veterinary hospital.

The normal number of breaths a cat takes is between twenty and forty times per minute. However, sometimes owners observe deviations. If the cat is breathing frequently, this may indicate various problems with health, and about reactions to certain external or internal factors of a temporary nature. It is imperative to find out the reason. Perhaps the animal needs help.

When rapid breathing is normal

Let's look at situations where a cat is breathing a little faster than usual, and this is normal. This phenomenon may be explained by the fact that the animal:

1. scared;
2. overexcited;
3. got to a new place;
4. angry;
5. overeat;
6. just a minute ago it was actively running or jumping.

Any emotional or physical stress can make a cat lose its breath. This is especially noticeable when the animal, for example, is transported, or it finds itself in other unusual conditions. A cat may also pant frequently when she is in heat, during pregnancy or childbirth. All these are variants of the norm. IN in this case breathing problems are temporary, the situation quickly returns to normal.

Alarming symptoms

It’s another matter when a cat breathes heavily and frequently, a day, two or even more passes, and breathing does not normalize. In this case, the animal looks sick, tired, and there are additional symptoms. Rapid breathing in a cat can be a sign of serious health problems. For example:

• infectious diseases of the upper respiratory tract;
• tracheitis;
• bronchitis;
• pneumonia;
• neoplasms or hernias in organs respiratory system(they interfere with breathing);
• endocrine diseases;
• cardiovascular pathologies;
• poisoning;
• anemia;
• allergic reaction;
• rib injuries;
• damage to the brain or spinal cord;
• foreign body in the respiratory tract.

This is far from full list reasons why a cat may be breathing frequently. Associated symptoms there are:

• cough;
• wheezing;
• nasal discharge;
• elevated temperature;
• loss of appetite.

Rapid breathing can occur, as noted above, due to heart problems. In such a situation among additional symptoms– tachycardia, cyanosis of the oral mucosa, general weakness. Under no circumstances should they be ignored. This could cost the cat his life.

It should be understood that if an animal breathes frequently, it does not have enough air. This leads to hypoxia (oxygen deficiency), which painfully affects all systems and organs. Destructive processes are launched. The cat may fall into a coma and die.

Owner actions

If a cat inhales suspiciously often, but his overall condition is satisfactory, you need to take your pet to the clinic to find out the cause and then eliminate it. There are situations when you cannot hesitate for a second, and help must be provided immediately.

We are talking, for example, about cases when a cat has choked and therefore breathes quickly. You can help her by opening the animal’s mouth wide, stretching out her tongue and trying to reach foreign object from the throat. If it doesn't work out, the cat is taken for hind legs, lift and press quite firmly on the stomach. The foreign body should pop out and the pet will be able to breathe normally.

If you suspect your cat has been poisoned before arrival veterinarian unsolder weak solution potassium permanganate. The goal is to induce vomiting and flush the stomach to avoid general intoxication.

The most difficult thing to help is serious problems with heart and lungs. The cat breathes very heavily with them, breathing is very rapid, but at any moment it can disappear completely. There is no need to panic. It should be remembered that there are ten minutes to resuscitate a cat, even if it is not breathing and no heartbeat can be heard. Procedure:

• The cat is placed on a flat surface on its side. The spine should be perfectly straight - head, neck and back - at the same level.
• Next, the person clamps the pet’s mouth and breathes into its nose at intervals of approximately once every 2-3 seconds.
• To prevent the air from dissipating, you need to make a tube from your palm. When manipulating a kitten, the frequency of inhalations should be less, because tiny lungs cannot accommodate large volumes.
• If the pulse has disappeared, simultaneously with the procedure described, you need to do indirect massage hearts.

Most cats can be saved in this way within the first 10-15 minutes, and they begin to breathe on their own. After normalization of the condition, you should definitely show the animal to a veterinarian. The doctor will order an examination (blood tests, ultrasound, x-rays, etc.) and prescribe treatment. Without taking any measures, you can be sure that the attack will recur. The disease will progress.

There are many factors why a cat may frequently breathe with its mouth open. The reasons are physiological and pathological. If breathing problems are not related to external factors and does not go away for a long time, the cat needs to be examined and treated.

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