Do overweight cats breathe faster?

An overweight cat might breathe faster because (1) they are overheating which is more likely if they are obese and (2) they have developed type II diabetes which is linked to being overweight.

Other reasons for rapid breathing might include, pain, stress, fever, shock, dehydration, anaemia, lung disease, heart disease and/or a buildup of toxic substances in the blood due to diabetes (mentioned), kidney failure or poisoning. Another reason for rapid breathing with panting is heatstroke.

If your cat is breathing too rapidly at rest you should seek medical attention as soon as possible where x-rays and other tests may be required to identify the exact cause.

Obese cat in meerkat position
Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles: Toxic to cats | Dangers to cats

Obese cat in meerkat position. Picture in public domain on Pinterest

Rapid breathing may be another way of describing panting by some cat owners. It is a normal process after exercise and you might also see it when cats are stressed or frightened when, for example, taken to their veterinarian in a car. Panting helps a cat to lower their body temperature because the water on their mouth and tongue evaporates allowing warm air to be exchanged for cool air.

Useful links
Anxiety - reduce it
FULL Maine Coon guide - lots of pages
Children and cats - important

Shallow breathing is associated with rapid breathing. If a cat is breathing shallowly it might be because the motion of the rib cage is restricted. To avoid pain in breathing they breath rapidly and shallowly. The cat may have an injury to the ribs or suffer from the pain of pleurisy. Serum, puss or blood in the chest restricts breathing. This is called pleural effusion and is the most common cause of respiratory distress in cats.

I don’t want to write any more about this because I am not a qualified veterinarian but clearly if your cat is breathing rapidly or faster than usual when they should be at rest in a calm state then something is fundamentally wrong and you should take your cat to their veterinarian. It’s a question of observing and if necessary waiting to see whether the rapid breathing declines. The bottom line is that overweight cats are more susceptible to breathing faster but that does not necessarily mean that they will.

Note: I’m thankful to Cat Owner’s Home Veterinary Handbook, Third Edition pages 297-298 for this information.

SOME MORE ON OBESITY:

Patches an obese cat at 40.3 pounds prior to adoption

Online invitations to adopt a 40.3-pound grossly obese cat went viral. Good or bad?

NEWS AND COMMENT: I think that it is worthwhile discussing this story from the point of view of ethics. Something ...
Read More
Obese tabby cat

There is no such thing as a fat cat any more. Okay!?

British citizens and citizens of other countries may have recognised the latest developments in the woke movement. It concerns sensitivity ...
Read More
Infographic on 5 thoughts on excess weight in cats

Infographic on 5 thoughts on excess weight in cats

This is a pretty basic infographic but I feel that it is useful to restate the basics from time to ...
Read More
Infographic on feline weight control

Infographic on feline weight control

A tetchy topic. I mean: it can make people tetchy because at the end of the day feline obesity is ...
Read More
What's the common denominator for these cats

What’s the common denominator for this couple of cats?

The common denominator is the owner who has consistently overfed his/her cats who look like siblings. They are both obese ...
Read More
Obese cat is disrespected, abused and exploited

Man makes his cat obese and then makes fun of him in highly successful TikTok videos

This man (Ryan?) is immoral. I know that I am being outspoken but it is transparently obvious that I'm correct ...
Read More
Useful tag. Click to see the articles: Cat behavior

Note: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified.

Michael Broad

Hi, I'm a 74-year-old retired solicitor (attorney in the US). Before qualifying I worked in many jobs including professional photography. I love nature, cats and all animals. I am concerned about their welfare. If you want to read more click here.

You may also like...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *