Breathing Difficulties
If your pet is having difficulty breathing, take them to a veterinary hospital immediately. Many things including heart disease, asthma, trauma, infections and allergic reactions can cause respiratory distress.
Signs of respiratory distress include:
- bluish-colored gums and tongue
- open-mouth breathing
- breathing rapidly
- excessive panting, especially in cats
- anxious or restless behaviour
- coughing with fluid from mouth or nose
- extending their neck up and outward
- abdominal effort when breathing
If your pet is unconscious and not breathing, you can try to perform CPR while another person takes you and the pet to the veterinary hospital. The instructions are as follows:
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I think my hamster was under me when i was getting up from the bed because when i turned around to look at her she started to breath heavily. She’s breathing with sound and making motions like she’s coughing something up. She is constantly rubbing her nose and she’s huddled in a corner and doesn’t want to eat. She looks really uncomfortable. This happened just 30 minutes ago. What do I do, other than take her to a vet? Please, I need instant, at home answers or remedies, if there are any.
The behaviour your hamster is exhibiting sounds to me as though she experiencing something blocking her airway, partially of course. Try placing her in the wheelbarrow position where her front legs are touching the ground and you are holding her up by her back legs. Hopefully gravity and her coughing will help to expel the object if there is one. If this doesn’t work I do have to suggest you take her to a vet as I do with all breathing emergencies as these can be fatal if left unattended.