Cat Vital Signs, What’s the normal feline heart beat, respiration & temperature?

Normal Vital Signs for Cats
• Cat respiration: 20-30 breaths per minute
• Cat heart rate:130-240 beats per minute
• Normal cat body temperature Fahrenheit: 99.5-102.5
• Normal cat body temperature Celsius: 37–39.2
• Skin turgor: skin springs back from a pinch in less than 2 seconds
• Capillary refill time: Press on the gums and they turn white. Normal color returns to the gums in less than 2 seconds.

Cats are smaller than dogs and have faster metabolism than dogs so the cat’s vital signs will always be faster than a dog’s. That’s because smaller creatures have higher metabolic rate and burn energy faster than larger creatures. The smaller the creature, the more surface area it has and the more heat it loses through the skin. So, the smaller the creature, the faster it loses heat and the faster its cells work to burn fuel. Thus, the faster heart beat and faster respiration in cats than dogs.

Kittens have faster metabolism than adults; thus, kittens’ hearts beat faster and they breathe faster than adult cats do.

Even though cats have hearts that beat more often than those of dogs, and cats take more breaths per minute than dogs do, cats bodies don’t wear out as fast as dogs’ bodies do. Cats live many years longer than dogs do, and housecats can live into their twenties. Feral cats don’t fare as well, and most die before they are 10 years old.