3mo ago

Since cats don't pant like dogs how do they release trapped heat?

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36 comments

They release heat however they want and whenever they bloody-well feel like it.
Basically, they breathe with their mouths open, which becomes panting when necessary...
A common cooling mechanism, cats will breathe with their mouth open and tongue out, accompanied by heavy breathing noises, when they're too hot. As the heatstroke worsens, the panting will increase. Panting is a perfectly normal response to overheating and should begin to subside as your cat cools down.
do cats pant?
- I didn't mean specifically when they are in a crisis state of overheating. Dogs have their tongue out whenever they're doing anything, which I assume keeps them from overheating in th efirst place. Cat's don't.
  
  You just see more dogs running around excited than you do cats...
  A cat is a solitary predator that uses stealth than pounces.
  Dogs are pack predators, they get food by running around making a shit ton of noise and hoping something runs so the pack can chase it down.
  That translates to modern pets day to day activity.
  If you ever saw a cat run around like a dog, it would pant. If you saw a dog that acts like a cat. You'd never see it pant.
  
  I see dogs just laying in their dog bed in the shade panting. I see cats playing in the sun on a hot day not panting.
  
  Cats play by ambushing something over and over and rolling around with it...
  Dogs play by running sprints as long as someone keep throwing a ball...
  I'm not sure what your confusion still is
  
  If a dog is lying in the shade panting, and it wasn't just doing zoomies, that might honestly be a cause for concern.
  
  Actually not all dogs just have their tongue out all the time. Mostly they pant when they get hot.
  
  House cats descend from African wild cats. Desert creatures well acclimated to high heat environments. In cooler climates the cat's main priority is staying warm enough rather than cooling down. Which is why my cat is presently curled up with her nose in her tail trying to stay warm with my air conditioner maintaining the house at 75 degrees.
  Dogs are descended from wolves. Arctic creatures well acclimated to cold environments. So they spend most of their lives with their mouths wide open and their tongues hanging out.

36 comments