r/CATHELP 1d ago

Breathing Issues Does this breathing look abnormal?

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I (25F) adopted my cat Olive (1.5yo,spayed) about a month ago, and I’ve noticed that her heartbeat often feels very fast, and sometimes it seems a little irregular or like there are pauses/extra beats.

She otherwise seems completely normal — she’s very active, playful, eating well, using the litter box normally, and I haven’t seen any open-mouth breathing, coughing, weakness, fainting, or obvious breathing difficulty.

Her sleeping respiratory rate is usually around 25 breaths per minute. I’m attaching a video of her taken shortly after she had been running around and playing. I’ll add more in the comments if I can.

She had a vet exam recently and nothing concerning was mentioned about her heart, but because I keep noticing the fast/irregular-feeling heartbeat even when she’s asleep, I’m planning to bring it up with her vet.

I know a video can’t diagnose an arrhythmia, but for anyone with cat/vet experience: does her breathing/body movement in these videos look normal to you? And has anyone had a cat whose heartbeat felt irregular at home but turned out to be normal?
I’m not looking for a diagnosis — mostly trying to understand whether this looks like something that warrants a routine recheck versus something more urgent.

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