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sometimes when she sleeps it looks like shes waking from centrals or somthing . do animals have centrals

Cats have a "polycyclic" sleep wake cycle, which means that they get shorter periods of wake and sleep throughout the 24 hour day. Many animals are diurnal (humans) or nocturnal (rodents), but cats have elements of each. I don't think there are any examples of cats with sleep apnea. The animals who are known to have sleep apnea are mostly bulldogs, especially the English bulldog, and they are used in research for obstructive sleep apnea. THanks for the question

One of mine snores. Could be???

Maybe you'll be lucky and he/she will die. I'd be glad to send you mine.......I'd never be so lucky to have a cat with sleep apnea. Mine will live forever.....or maybe it just seems like it. Oh wait, did I say that outloud?

What might be alarming you is when cats have little 'jerks' or trembles while sleeping, and possibly snuffle a bit, but those are normal. Some of us think it might be that they're dreaming, or who knows what, but all (lots!) my cats have done it, most of whom lived to ripe old ages with no problems at all.

Hi sunrunnerdave

The main thing to be alert for is any kind of disordered sleep or wheezing ( asleep or awake). Not having much energy would also be a sign of a problem, but that could be caused by many things.

A neighbour lost her much loved cat because she left it too late in taking her to the vet.

I don't really see why it would not be possible anyone with a similar respiratory system to ours to have similar potential problems.

If I saw any of my cats waking up in a suspicious manner, I would be putting the oximeter on them (don't ask me how, but I would find a way) or be taking them to the vet for overnight observation.

The British magazine "Your Cat has a terrific "answer to problems" section, which I have found very informative.

http://www.yourcat.co.uk/Latest-issue/

cheers

Mars

I have a cat who snores and I'm certain that he has sleep apnea or something similar. He is overweight, and that could have something to do with it. He wakes up gasping for breath. We always joke that I could run a little tube off of my CPAP tubing for him.

evbirch wrote:I have a cat who snores and I'm certain that he has sleep apnea or something similar. He is overweight, and that could have something to do with it. He wakes up gasping for breath. We always joke that I could run a little tube off of my CPAP tubing for him.

Hi Evbirch

Sounds like the cat my neighbour had - the one that died.

Hope you can get a vet to check him out, sounds like he has serious respiratory problems.

cheers

Mars

sunrunnerdave wrote:Cats have a "polycyclic" sleep wake cycle, which means that they get shorter periods of wake and sleep throughout the 24 hour day. Many animals are diurnal (humans) or nocturnal (rodents), but cats have elements of each.

Cats are neither diurnal nor nocturnal. Cats are crepuscular.

I can hear one snoring as I type...

Our St. Bernards have OSA, I'm quite sure. They snore louder than I did, and will stop breathing and after a bit will start jerking and all that, then when they catch their breath, all is well. I routinely wake one of them up when she starts just because I don't know what else to do and can't stand to watch her choking to death.

JC

If you look into the history of sleep studies, they actually found REM first in cats! Then wanted to see if humans had it to. so I think animals can haveit too. We often joke about finding a small CPAP mask for our dog who snores.

I think one of my cats had central sleep apnea. The first time I witnessed it I thought she had died. I knew something neurological was going on with her because she had developed a tic of sorts where her head would jerk ever so slightly but repeatedly. Reminded me of how my head did when I was sleep deprived and my limb movement disorder had begun affecting my head. She had suffered greatly in the toxic pet food fiasco a few years back, and I was surprised she survived. I always wondered if she hadn't had some brain damage from that. Anyhow, she would be sleeping peacefully then her side would stop rising and falling for maybe 10-12 seconds, and this would repeat every minute or so. The reason I don't say obstructive is because it was all so peaceful, no struggle to breath, and resuming breathing each time was effortless. One second she wasn't, next second she was. Not so much as a twitch anywhere on her body.

So, while I wouldn't think it is common, I don't find the idea of a cat with central sleep apnea unbelievable.

I think cats are BORN brain-damaged and it only gets worse...

This discussion got me to wondering.....

I had one cat that would occasionally start a light wheezing while she slept. This would usually only last for a few minutes. This would happen once or twice a day. It was handy because I could tell where she was...and it helped me find her one time when she got trapped behind a bookcase. As she got older, the wheezing became less common. She died younger than she should of, probably due a rough life from being feral before she came to live with me. She died of cancer, nothing respiratory.

As not3ed in my signature, I have observed lions to snore. A maneless (by castration) male lion named Leo snored occasionally. He was much larger than normal for a male lion, something often caused by the castration (which was a mistake when he was very young). Leo lived to be 15 or 16, which is on the low end of the normal lifespan range for a captive lion. He died of liver and kidney failure.

Another lion, named Rocky, has been observed to snore. Rocky is a normal, maned male lion, who is a bit on the small side for his species. Rocky is about 18 years of age, which is starting to get really old for a captive lion. The snoring may be a fairly recent development, as I have observed it only once, earlier this summer.

I have occasionally observed REM sleep movements in both domestic cats and in lions.