Why is my dog breathing weird, squinting, and has a lump on her side?

Without a physical exam, it is difficult to determine exactly what is wrong with him. The red eyes may indicate infection or inflammation, the elbows may be calloused from laying on rough surfaces, the breathing may be a respiratory issue or it could be cardiac in nature. The tumor may be just that, whether it is benign or malignant is unknowable without diagnostics. If you plan on keeping him, consider a visit to the local veterinary clinic or humane society where he could get an exam to diagnose his issues. Any treatment will depend on these diagnoses.

Poor girl. She could have congestive heart disease, cancer, cushings disease or any kind of organ enlargement in her belly. I would recommend starting with a good vet exam and then possible radiographs and bloodwork to get her checked out and hopefully find the underlying cause for her symptoms. I hope everything works out for your pet Lita. Best of luck and take care.

I am sorry to hear about your dog. This lesion could be an insect bite, an area of bacterial or fungal infection, or growth. Without seeing it in person it is difficult to distinguish between these. The coughing is much more concerning and I would recommend having her examined as soon as possible if she is having ongoing coughing and difficulty breathing. Some conditions, such as heart disease, can cause coughing that is worse at night when the pet is laying down, so I would want to examine her, listen to her heart and lungs, and take an x-ray of her chest to determine just why she is coughing. Heart disease is not common in a 9 month old dog, but we would also want to check for things like congenital diaphragmatic hernias which could cause problems when she is laying down, or infections of the respiratory tract.

I know it can be scary when thinking about possible cancerous masses in your pet. But really the only way to know for sure is to have these masses tested through your vet. They can be cancerous masses, inflammatory reactions or benign tumors (non-cancerous). The heavy breathing that Allie is doing does concern me a bit. This can either be a sign of pain or an underlying lung or heart disease. So a vet visit although no desired, is probably the bext best thing to do for Allie in figuring out what's going on with both concerns. Best of luck getting some answers and take care.

To be honest, it sounds like your vet has done a lot to rule out the most common causes of this noisy breathing starting with the least invasive procedures first (medications in case it was a respiratory infection). Given that there has been no improvement in his symptoms, the fact that they have gotten worse, and the fact Jones is a Lab, I would be thinking it's cancer as well. Unfortunately, cancer is common in Labs. You can see if your vet will take an x-ray of his nasal passages. That will be show if there is a tumor in his nasal passages, and it may be less expensive than the biopsy. I am sorry :-(

I am not sure that the sneezing and the lump are related. I recommend to have her checked out by her veterinarian to examine that lump. Lumps can appear for variety of reasons and it could be unrelated to her stay. You may ask the sitter if there was any hard play or trauma or anything else that might cause a lump to form due to injury. If the doctor is more suspicious of a tumor, you will need to have the mass aspirated in order to know if it is something benign or malignant. The sneezing could be many things including mild infection or allergies. Have the vet take a good listen to her lungs as well as palpate her trachea. I hope it’s nothing serious and that this was helpful. Please feel free to post any additional questions.

I am very sorry to hear that you are having these concerning issues with Mambo. From the clinical signs you are describing; distended abodmen, coughing, changes to breathing patterns and lethargy I would be concerned about a potential heart condition. Heart disease can cause the heart to stop pumping blood around the body effectively. This then causes fluids to accumulate in the tissues such as the lungs and the abdomen. This could explain the bloated abdomen and the coughing. I would advise taking Mambo into the veterinarian as soon as you can. Fluid on the lungs can be a life threatening emergency. A veterinarian would be able to listen to Mambo's heart and lunch sounds during an examination and tell you if there is fluid build-up or a heart problem. I hope that is a helpful answer and that Mambo receives the medical care he needs soon. Sending my absolute best wishes to you both.