My senior cat is having a hard time breathing - is this serious?

Laboured breathing in cats is always a medical emergency. Unlike humans, cats should never need to visibly work to breathe. Any visible effort - open-mouth breathing, neck extended to breathe, belly pumping with each breath, or blue-tinged gums - indicates severe respiratory compromise.

- **Congestive heart failure (CHF)**: Fluid accumulates in or around the lungs (pleural effusion), making breathing increasingly difficult. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common heart disease in cats. - **Pleural effusion**: Fluid around the lungs - can result from heart disease, lymphoma, infection, or chylothorax. - **Feline asthma**: Can present as sudden breathing crises, often with a characteristic 'hunkered down' posture and neck extended forward. - **Pneumonia**: Bacterial, viral, or aspiration pneumonia - **Pulmonary cancer**: Primary or metastatic tumours can compromise lung capacity. - **Anaemia**: Severe anaemia (from kidney disease, for example) causes the body to breathe faster to compensate for reduced oxygen-carrying capacity.

**Treatment** depends on the underlying cause but may include oxygen therapy, draining fluid, diuretics, bronchodilators, or antivirals. Early emergency intervention dramatically improves outcomes.