I am a new member. I have three ragdolls, two who are 9 years old next month (Captain Morgan and Margarita) and a newby, Mojito, who is six months old. I've noticed in the last week or so that when he runs really fast or climbs his cat tree in a spurt, he will sometimes open his mouth and pant. It doesn't last long, but it happens and it has worried me because a friend of mine lost her young Bengal kitten to cardiomyopathy and it panted a lot. It's been awhile since I had a young kitten, and I'm up for any advice. He seems fine otherwise and has been to the vet for shots and has been neutered early on. I purchased him from a very reputable breeder.
Sandy
High levels of exercise have been reported to cause panting, particularly in high heat. However, you are not describing that level of exertion. Although it is probably nothing, it is worth having a vet check cardiovascular health. You can do two tests yourself. You can count breaths at rest, which should be around 30 per minute. You can also pick a pink part of the gum, press in and notice it whitens when you take your finger away and then will repink. It should repink fairly quickly. The other factor is how quickly the kitten recovers from the panting. In high exercise induced panting one would expect a fairly rapid recovery to normal breathing levels.
A vet visit is never wasted.
You could share this information with your vet about the panting if it is a concern to you and you can also check with your breeder to see if the parents tested negative for one of the known genes. While I lost a kitten (not a ragdoll) to HCM at an early age, since I have been on this forum, there have been a few posts about panting kittens that have all been OK. We all worry so much when anything out of the ordinary happens with our "babies" that anything can be a concern. I can't remember who, but there is a member on here who has a cat with HCM who is living with it fine. Our Gracie's panting came with many other symptoms and it had already been noted that she had a murmur. Hopefully, your little Mojito will be just fine.
I actually have a video of Cloud panting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ihSNCIbpOc
He was pretty pooped out after we were playing with Da Bird, but after a few minutes he was fine. I've noticed that he does pant a little after some crazy play sessions.
Thanks to those who replied to my message. I did not notice anything more last night and I counted about 30 breaths in a minute while he was resting. I can easily get in touch with the breeder if anything comes up from the doctor, but I remember her queens and males were all checked for HCM before breeding. Hopefully I am being overcautious. I will hopefully find out if he appears to be healthy on Friday.
Sandy
This topic pops up here from time to time. Our cat also panted during hard play, but recovered quickly. I did talk to our breeder who was not concerned as long as the kitten recovered quickly. He outgrew it and has been normal during his vet checks. Ragdoll kittens are a bit larger than other cats for their respective ages and possibly they have to work a little harder due to their size. This is just a theory I have so take it with a grain of salt. Of course this is not to discount more serious problems but my limited experience from reading posts on this board is that it is probably a normal phenomenon with Ragdoll kittens. I would welcome opinions from the more experienced breeders and owners on this idea.
My Raggie kitten pants too and it worries me also. Others have reported that the same thing happens to their kittens during vigorous play (and then subsides) which makes me feel better that this is not that uncommon.
(08-24-2010 06:16 PM)sandywc Wrote: [ -> ]I am a new member. I have three ragdolls, two who are 9 years old next month (Captain Morgan and Margarita) and a newby, Mojito, who is six months old. I've noticed in the last week or so that when he runs really fast or climbs his cat tree in a spurt, he will sometimes open his mouth and pant. It doesn't last long, but it happens and it has worried me because a friend of mine lost her young Bengal kitten to cardiomyopathy and it panted a lot. It's been awhile since I had a young kitten, and I'm up for any advice. He seems fine otherwise and has been to the vet for shots and has been neutered early on. I purchased him from a very reputable breeder.
Sandy
I am a new memeber also, and glad to have finally found this forum (our little Ragdoll had some serious health issues from infancy). I am convinced she survived because of her spirit, so unsinkable! no matter how sick she was - she's a ball of fire. When we played Da Bird and Cat Dancer she does full 360 somersaults; the panting would set in alarmingly early in the play (she still would beg to continue). I dropper fed her some water and calmed her down before continuing.
Because she also had a stubborn case of bloody diarrhea we suspected chronic dehydration was factor. I began doing outside runs with her - I'd hold Da Bird behind me and run - slowly at first - she would follow at top speed - to built aerobic capacity in a fashion that required less "spurty" bursts of energy on her part (that jumping and climbing require).
By pacing her and mixing it up, we began to reduce the panting, and now at 1 year it rarely come to that. I haven't seen it in at least 2 months. I've had kitties before (Siamese/Tonks) though they played hard, they'd rarely come to panting.
We had her at the vets at lot, and they didn't think anything was wrong with her heart.
Hope this helps.
(08-26-2010 12:49 AM)GeoVal Wrote: [ -> ]My Raggie kitten pants too and it worries me also. Others have reported that the same thing happens to their kittens during vigorous play (and then subsides) which makes me feel better that this is not that uncommon.
To update on my Mojito who was panting, I took him to the veterinarian last week. She checked his heart, lungs, etc. and said that there is no way to confirm HCM without an ultrasound on the heart; however, she did not see anything that indicated a health issue with Mojito. She also said that cats do pant sometimes and that as long as he was not gasping for air it can be a normal circumstance. Sooooooo, I was appy to hear that. I sort of got a pat on my back that said, "you're just a worried momma."
Thanks to all who added their input. I'm glad to find a web site just for ragdolls. I'll spend some time this weekend and work up putting my beautiful babes pictures on the site.
Thanks,