Hello all, My dog Sam is 8 years old. She has recently been breathing strange but it seems to be only when laying in certain positions. She also is seeming to pant more than usual but it has gotten to 80-90 degrees where I live. I took her to the vet and he seemed to dismiss largyenal paralysis fairly quickly but I am still concerned. Have any of you dogs ever exhibited strange breathing with older age? She is also overweight which I am working on now!
My 11 year old Lab does pant more as she’s got older - it is quite noisy sometimes. Also the hotter weather naturally makes her pant more. She is not overweight - her weight is just right.
80 - 90 degrees is very warm, and in an older dog carrying excess weight, yes I would imagine they would pant, especially if not acclimatised to the warm weather yet. Try and keep your dog cool, comfortable and hydrated, but of course get that excess weight off as a priority. Consider the heat also maybe unrelated to the weather and could also be linked to pain, I guess though the vet fully examined your dog, (joints, back etc...).
Hmm, they laying in certain positions is odd. My parents' previous dog would do that and it was due to an enlarged heart - I assume your vet checked for that?
The vet listened to her heart and said everything sounded good. He said no murmur or anything. He mentioned Laragyneal Paralysis but then said he didn’t think that was it. I’m concerned after reading more that is what it may be. I just hate to have her under anesthesia to check for something that vet didn’t suspect. She has no loud honking, raspy pant, or bark change. It is exclusive to her laying down. When walking she won’t even pant much until we return home.
my dog when she got older had a lot of breathing issues, was constantly panting. She passed away at the age of 9 years and 4 months of heart failure. She kept collapsing and had difficulty breathing, our vets dismissed heart issues straight away until the day she was put to sleep when she kept collapsing and was suffering. The vet said, right before she put her to sleep, "she does have blue gums", which is a result of poor oxygen intake from the blood, admitting she had heart failure before she was put to sleep. I'm annoyed this was not sorted out faster, but euthanasia was the only option after she could no longer stand.
Our first Lab, Ginger had Laryngeal Paralysis when she was 14. She had the surgery and lived until 16. The surgery was less traumatic than we expected and she recovered from it pretty quickly. Other than not being able to bark, it did not seem to bother her. FWIW, she was also diabetic from 12 on, but we kept her well regulated and it did not slow her down much at all. She still hiked and swam just like before.
What did the breathing issues sound like when they started? She acts completely normal and quite high energy for her age. It is just when she lays down and it is usually when she lays with her neck over her paws I hear it the most. hat
what kinda early symptoms did you see if any? This has been going on for several months and doesn’t seem to have gotten worse. My dog is 15ish pounds overweight and wondering if that plus the heat may have something to do with it.
That’s very overweight for a Labrador. You might be very surprised by the transformation if you help your dog lose weight. Your dog losing weight should be your no. 1 priority before bothering with anything else. A slow weight loss of about 1 pound per week should be your goal. Extra weight makes people snore - the fat around the neck affects breathing when they lie down. Might be the same in dogs.
Wow, yes, 15lb is significantly overweight. That would absolutely be my first priority to get that off. If your vet can't find anything else, then it's likely down to this extra weight she's carrying. That's an easy fix, as dogs don't have opposable thumbs and can't use a credit card, so it's just down to us to feed them what's appropriate. Harden your heart and feed her considerably less (probably 1/4 to 1/3 less) than you're feeding currently. Weigh it out in the morning and don't give her anything else other than what you've weighed.
