![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eftychia at 01:29pm on 2008-12-23Perrine fell asleep on my ear.
I hear a distinct whooshing sound with a creak note under it. In a human, I would call it wheezing, though not especially severely.
Thing is, I don't know how noisy feline respiration normally is, so I don't know whether this sound is significant or not. She's showing no visible signs of distress ... (though in a cat that's not definitive).
So my question is: how noisy is a cat's breathing supposed to be?
This is not loud enough to hear when my ear is not in direct contact with her body, at least not with the background noise of a computer fan nearby and city traffic outside; but with her lying on my ear the creak-whoosh is quite pronounced. If it were all whoosh with no creak -- approximating 'pink noise' with no distinct tonal components -- then it probably would not occur to me to wonder about it.
(And now, of course, I want to get ahold of a stethescope and listen to various critters with it ...)
(no subject)
Feline Asthma
"He has asthma, fairly severely when he doesn't get his meds; he doesn't show signs of distress until he's in an attack but when it's bothering him he simply doesn't move around much, which is notable for an active cat."
Ditto for our Vir, plus audible wheezing & hacking. In fact, I had to take him to the vet just yesterday for his periodic steroid injection. Pills don't control it in his case. Fortunately, cats tolerate continued steroid use much better than dogs or humans.
It sounds like Perrine might have some low-level asthma. Given your environment, you probably do too. You might want to mention it at her next vet visit, but unless she shows some distress it's probably not a cause for concern.
Re: Feline Asthma
Since it didn't get worse and she's not acting uncomfortable, I'm taking the advice I've gotten here and not worrying but will mention it to the vet the next time she's there. (Overdue for a checkup and shots, come to think of it.)
I had another thought occur to me ... given that a) she doesn't seem to breathe through her mouth when suffering nasal congestion, but continues to force air through her nose, and b) her head and her lungs are so close together due to being cat-sized, I wonder whether the creaky sound that I thought was coming from her lungs was actually being generated in her nose and conducted through her body...?
(no subject)
(no subject)
Unless it's labored breathing, or really heavy mouth breathing, I wouldn't worry about it.
-donnad.
(no subject)
cat breathing