Count your pet's resting breathing rate
Thirty seconds, one tap per breath. The resting respiratory rate is the earliest heart-related number a home can catch moving — and the first thing a cardiologist asks for.
Wait until they're asleep or lying still, then tap anywhere in this box — or press the space bar — for every chest rise. One up-and-down is one breath.
Not a diagnosis — a number to bring to your vet.
How to count properly
- Wait for true rest. Asleep is best; calmly lying down works. Never count while panting, right after play, in a hot room, or at the clinic — stress and heat inflate the number and the reading tells you nothing.
- Watch the chest, not the clock. One full rise and fall is one breath — not two. Counting the rise and the fall separately is the most common mistake and doubles the reading.
- Tap for each breath until the window closes. The counter does the arithmetic and shows the result at the end — deliberately not while you count.
What's a usual resting rate?
These are the same reference ranges the Vetalio app uses. For other species we don't show a verdict at all — a default range is a claim about an animal we can't support, and your vet can tell you what's usual for theirs.
A single high reading is a prompt to repeat the count an hour later, not a diagnosis. The number that matters most is the trend: a rate that climbs week over week at true rest is exactly the pattern this measurement exists to catch.
When to talk to your vet
- Dogs: repeatedly above 30/min at true rest — especially with a known heart condition — is worth a call. Bring the readings and their dates.
- Cats: repeatedly above 40/min at rest is worth a call. Cats hide illness; a cat breathing with visible effort, or open-mouth breathing at all, is urgent.
- Any animal, right now: laboured breathing, blue or pale gums, or collapse is an emergency. Contact an emergency veterinary service immediately — do not wait to count anything.
Questions owners ask
Why does my pet's resting breathing rate matter?
It is the earliest heart-related change an owner can catch at home. When a heart starts to fail, fluid builds around the lungs and the resting breathing rate creeps up — days before anything else looks wrong. It is the first number a veterinary cardiologist asks for, which is why vets ask owners of heart patients to track it.
Why count for 30 seconds?
Thirty seconds is long enough to be a real sample and short enough that a sleeping animal stays asleep for it. Your taps are doubled to give breaths per minute.
Why doesn't the counter show a number while I count?
Deliberately. A live number pulls your tapping toward what you expect to see — you glance at it, decide it looks low, and tap faster without noticing. The result appears when the window closes, so the count stays honest.
My reading came out very low. Is that bad?
A low reading is almost always a miscount — breaths are easy to miss, and one full rise-and-fall is a single breath, not two. Count again when they are properly settled. Consistently high readings at true rest are the ones worth your vet's attention.
Further reading
One reading is a number. A weekly count is an early warning.
The Vetalio app reminds you to count, keeps the camera on your pet while you tap, charts every reading — and says so, plainly, the day the trend crosses the line vets care about.
Join the waitlist