My fat little buddy has been having breathing issues for almost a month now. He would be ok, then he would look like he was having a little trouble breathing, like as if he had just run a mile. His sides would go up and down sharply. We thought it was because he is a little overweight and with the way he would lay down, it seemed maybe the cause was just due to weight. If it had been happening all the time, we would have thought about it differently.

So Thursday night I walked into the room and heard huffing and puffing. It turns out he was breathing through his mouth and it was very sharp breathing. It almost sounded like he was trying to get rid of a hairball without the final bit of it. Took him to the vet and they diagnosed asthma and gave him a steroid shot. Brought him home, he slept most of the day but by Saturday, his breathing seemed to be fairly good. Not perfect, but about 90%. It looked like he was doing ok. Sunday afternoon, he starts throwing up. Now anything he eats comes right back up. His breathing seems to be fine but he can't hold anything down.

So yes, he's going back to the vet in an hour but I don't completely trust that their knowledge will save him...seems more like they're guessing. I actually like this cat and am worried that we will lose him. He's just under 3 years old so it's not like he should be near dying from age.

Any ideas on what could be going on with him?

Of course animals can not always tell a Vet what is wrong, and some of it is guessing, but it is the same with people at times.

If you do not trust this vet ? Is there another ?

There are 2 other vet offices in this area. One we can't go back to, or rather we won't go back because they killed my Booger a few years ago during a simple operation...somehow he died. So my wife refuses to go back there. The other office is run by the same people running the one that we currently go to.

Odinn, it is all guesswork diagnosing a cat, but if your cat is over-weight then that narrows it down, especially with breathing problems. I love cats, mine don't have any issues, are not over-weight and encouraged to drink water.

If you don't have many options for vets, guess you will have to toss a coin between the ones you have, but a vet it must be soon. Fat cats can't have breathing problems. Sorry, but steroids are the only answer, maybe the dosage was not correct but you can't blame the vet for that. The vet you just took him to is your best bet, and then put your cat on a diet.

Why is he fat, what do you feed him?

Let me do some research and get right back!

I'm not really blaming the vet, I am just frustrated because he's my buddy and he's in this situation while they can really only guess.

I call him fat but as they told me, he is big boned...lol. He is overweight, weighs 17.5 pounds when he should be closer to about 14. All the other cats in the house are fit, he just has always decided to lay around and eat.

We took him Friday and then today. They gave him the steroids on Friday and then a shot to help settle his stomach today. So far he has been doing ok. He ate a little and held it down. He is breathing better so maybe...hopefully...they got it. You could pick any of the other 4 cats in the house and I might be a little upset if one of them was to go, but Rigby is my pal.

Glad you got that settled, it is a worry. I tried to get back on my IPad earlier, therefore the delay. The steroid if the vet told you is prednisone or prednisole. I don't believe it should only be one shot, but a controlled dosage until he is out of the woods. It as you say the vet may have got it settled. Yes, you have a heavy cat, I don't believe all that 'big boned' crap though. Over weight is over weight. No excuses. A healthy cat is free of diabetes.

Well, $1,200 later, Rigby died today.

He had been back to the vet 2 more times after I posted originally and they were still stuck on Asthma....I knew it was more. We took him to another vet and it turns out he had some sort of growth that was restricting his lungs. It was restricting both lungs and was covering more than 75% of them. In a matter of hours he took a downward spiral and we had to choose to have him put to sleep rather than suffer what he was going through.

One of the few cats I ever actually loved. He was my best buddy...always came to greet me at the door when I came home and always jumped up to lay next to me on the couch.

So sorry for your loss Odinn. Losing a pet is no less harder than losing a human. RIP Rigby.

I am so sorry to hear about your loss. {{{odinn}}}

Sorry to hear that... I'm more of a dog person (alergy to short haired cats)... but my neighbor has two very friendly and affectionate cats... definately never easy when one of them passes.

:(. I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. Animals are family members, and I'm glad he isn't suffering anymore. Hugs to you...

So sorry to read about your beloved "fat little buddy". :) I'm sure there is much comfort in the thought that he won't be suffering anymore. It takes a lot of strength to make the decision to euthanize but you did the right thing for him out of love.If you don't mind me saying so, I think that at some point you should tell the original vet what the actual diagnosis was. It may help them to deal with other people's pets just a little differently. Warm hugs,Didi

My heart goes out to you, odinn. Rigby was such a handsome boy. Four years ago, I was faced with a similar decision for Thomas Jefferson, my own version of Rigby, and my heart, like yours, will never be the same.

Thanks everyone...I am still devastated. We have had many cats over the years and I've never been affected by them dying the way I am with this one.

Even though I like to hunt... (but haven't had a chance for a number of years)... I like critters of most types that are friendly.