Breathing funny when purring

[labcat]

My cat is Bell, she is a very loving sweet girl, about a year old. No particular breed, grey DMH with faint tabby stripes.

Our vet diagnosed her with Feline Herpes as the cause to her mucus accumulation in her eyes and nose (boogers). He listened to her lungs and heard no abnormalities, she is in otherwise good health as far as I know, and is currently healthy otherwise, as far as I know.

What has me a bit concerned is that when she purrs her stomach rises and falls more than when she is breathing relaxed. Its is almost rhythmic and you can hear a difference in the sound of the purr when she is breathing in as opposed to when she is breathing out. Similar to this cat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvu6aLW0rQA . Occasionally she will also have a little cough or clear her throat when she is purring too, and last night (unless I dreamed it) she started to sound a bit extra funny and needed to open her mouth a swallow a couple times; again only while purring.
If that happens again, it will mean a call to the vet.

Is this something that is caused by the Herpes infection?
Could it be something else like asthma? [she has done the about to have a hariball-and doesn't thing a couple times, but she is on hairball control food because she did have hairballs before]

Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you
Steph and Bell

[cuevon0888]

Hello,
I have a similar problem with my kitty she has the virus and is fine most time with bouts of flare ups. No one with a normal cat will understand haha. They breathe through thieir mouth easier because their little nose is congested, runny, or inflamed. Purring is probably allowing your kitty to breathe through its mouth easier since this is not  what they are used to. It may be a secondary infection like a sinus or eye which will need antiotics. Throw kitty in the bathroom with towels on the floor
blocking steam from hot shower in, will help loosen contested kitty.  But make sure not too long or kitty will end up wet and cold.

[opus88]

another site with some limited info on irregular breathing.....

http://www.petplace.com/cats/tachypnea-in-cats/page1.aspx

[opus88]

you can check out this site for more info.....hope its not the case!!! yes keep us updated please.

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/feline_asthma.html

[labcat]

I have contacted the vet about it, he is not concerned since besides the herpes infection she is healthy and shows few other symptoms. I will continue keeping a close eye on her and will make note of any abnormalities and keep in contact with my vet.
Asthma is one of the things i am thinking about, again i will keep a close eye on her to see if she has any other symptoms. Do you know of any good feline asthma resources?
She always purrs like this, usually when snuggling with me in bed, when i am petting her, or after i come home from a long day; she appears to ber purring out of contentment and not pain or discomfort.
Thank you for your insights, i will update if anything new arises.

[asdf125]

Please get your kitty checked out if you are conserned about her breathing. I lost that one in a million cat a year and a half ago to asthma because we didnt reckognize the symptoms. Hopefully it is something else.. Maybe just her way of purring. It is the cough and hairball Im conserned about.

Cats will sometimes purr when they feel poorly, it makes them feel better. Does she have a normal and odd way of purring?

[opus88]

well I hope your right, however a checkup is still warranted even if it only happens when she's purring, my kitty only showed occasional symptoms too...I will send you a site and you can do more reading. good luck -)

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_feline_hypertrophic_cardiomyop.html

[labcat]

thank you for your oppinion, I do not know if it is as urgent as you think. She only breathes like that when she is purring, otherwise she breathes normally, about 20-25 breaths per minute, and no visible challenges when breathing. This only happens when she purrs..but if it gets worse, or does not stop, i will be contacting her vet.

[opus88]

hi....I looked at the video and read what you are describing. Im not a Vet but I really suggest you do have your loved kitty checked out by one soon..breathing such as this looks very much like CHF(congestive heart failure) and there are medications that can help Bell breath easier..IMO she is in distress and needs medical attention. Please keep us posted and best of luck to you both..