My dog is coughing, breathing heavy, and losing weight. What should I do?

Hi. Poor Rylee. The first thing I would say is that you need to take her to the ER this evening. Respiratory distress can be very serious. In Raley's case, it sounds like her kennel cough could be turning into pneumonia. She will need a good exam, and radiographs. That is most likely the issue and a common occurrence in severe kennel cough cases. Unfortunately another possibility we have to keep in the back of our mind, although rare, would be distemper virus. Distemper is a virus that affects a dog’s respiratory, gastrointestinal, respiratory and central nervous systems, as well as the conjunctival membranes of the eye. The signs of canine distemper can include sneezing, coughing and thick mucus coming from the eyes and nose. Fever, lethargy, vomiting and diarrhea, and loss of appetite are also symptoms of the virus. Let's start with an exam a x-rays of the chest a review of her vaccine status. Good luck

I am mostly concerned about the weight loss, lethargy (depression) and the labored breathing. This is certainly not normal for such a young dog. From the symptoms you are describing, a metabolic disorder seems most likely. Options are hyperadrenosorticism (Cushings), hypothyroidism (although this is not consistent with the weight loss), certain sex hormone disorders, and certain immune mediated disorders. Since this has been going on for such a long time, I would advise a consultation with a specialist at this point. You can find a veterinary internist in your area on www.acvim.org.

I am sorry to hear about Pinta. These symptoms are unfortunately concerning, especially in an older dog. Difficulty breathing is a very serious condition and considered an emergency if she is struggling to get breath normally. Possible causes can vary from primary lung issues such as infections like pneumonia, chronic bronchitis, and tumors in the lung. Heart disease can also result in breathing problems, as can sudden anemia due to bleeding inside the body cavity. I would recommend getting Pinta into the vet as soon as possible, and if she is struggling to breath then she needs to visit the emergency vet if your vet is closed. They will examine her and likely recommend x-rays of the lungs. This will help them determine if treatment is possible or if she can be made more comfortable. Best of luck to you and Pinta.

She may have intestinal parasites or not get enough or proper puppy food. Trouble breathing and weight loss can also point to congenital heart disease or a liver shunt. You need to take your dog to a vet for an exam and worming.

These are alarming symptoms indeed. For an older dog with coughing and lethargy, my top suspicions would be: heart disease, heartworm disease (if he is not current on heartworm prevention) primary lung cancer, pneumonia or a heart based tumor. He is at risk for all of these based on his breed. I would highly recommend taking him in to your vet for bloodwork analysis and chest radiographs to properly diagnose him based on the many possible causes stated above. Poor guy. He sounds very unstable for now and the quicker you can get him in to a vet the better. I hope that this is something you can treat for, but the odds of it being something major are high in an older large breed dog. I send you all my best in getting Casper well again. Take care and best wishes.

I am concerned that she is having such trouble breathing. This could be another pneumonia, an upper respiratory infection, a fungal infection, a congenital heart problem and much more. If your vet has already done X-rays and they were normal, you may want to talk to them about having an ultrasound of the heart done. Also, I would have her blood work checked to see how her liver and kidney values are and see what her white blood count looks like. Finally, I would talk to your vet about whether see needs some antibiotics and medicine to help her breathing. I hope this helps and she starts to feel better soon.

Hi. It sounds like he is having respiratory signs. This could be from many things such as....upper respiratory infection, cardiac disease, primary respiratory disease, cancers, or other infectious causes. With his age, he needs a full exam, labs, and chest x-rays. If he is in respiratory distress, you will want to go to the ER.