How to Monitor Your Pet’s Breathing Rate at Home

Monitoring your pet’s breathing or respiratory rate is one of the most helpful ways to detect early signs of congestive heart failure (CHF) at home; especially if your pet has been diagnosed with heart disease.

The SRR is the number of breaths your pet takes while they are sleeping or fully relaxed; not after activity, play, or excitement. In most healthy dogs and cats, this number will eventually slow to less than 30 breaths per minute.

Watch the videos above to learn how to monitor your pet’s breathing rate at home.

📝 Tips for Tracking RR at Home

• Only count the rise and fall of the chest or in and out of the belly while your pet is asleep or very relaxed.  The goal is to obtain the slowest rate that occurs in a day.  Your pet’s breathing rate is most likely to be the slowest during deep sleep.
• Count for 15 seconds and multiple by 4 to get breaths per minute.  You can also count for 10 seconds and multiply by 6 or count for 30 seconds and multiply by 2.
• Use a daily log or an app (like Cardalis or Heart2Heart) to track changes over time.
• If you have difficulty seeing your pet’s breathing, try to video record and count the movements on the video.

🚨 When to Contact Your Veterinarian

• If your pet’s breathing rate is consistently over 30 breaths per minute
• If breathing seems labored or your pet is panting while resting
• If there is a sudden increase compared to previous days

📄 Helpful Resources

• Download a Respiratory Rate Log Sheet (PDF)
• Cardalis App for iOS
• Cardalis App for Android