My dog has a strange rib cage formation. Is it aging or heartworms?

Hello. It would be very unusual to get a injection site reaction 2 weeks later, & for it to be down from the original injection site. My guess is this might be a benign fatty lump called a lipoma, so just schedule a visit with your veterinarian at your earliest convenience to check this out. If your dog is an older pet, then lipomas can be quite common. Hopefully, that is all it is & she should be just fine ( but I am sorry she was heartworm positive ). Thanks for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Nala. Hard to tell from just one picture but I see the protrusion of the rib cage. The last rib on the rib cage is what we call a "floating rib" because it doesn't connect to the sternum or breastbone. This protrusion looks more towards the front of the rib cage in this picture. The best advice here is to let your veterinarian take a detailed history and perform a complete physical exam. They may advise some chest x-rays to evaluate the structure of the ribs and look for any problems. Some rib cage abnormalities are not significant and some are. It just depends on their severity and what exactly the abnormality is. It's possible some injury occurred during birth or playing to account for this. Really hard to tell at this point. I would let your vet check this out and I would do it ASAP if this is something that just came on suddenly and Nala has any degree of breathing problems. Good luck and I hope this is just a structural problem and won't lead to any health problems.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Besides being due to heartworms, coughing can be a sign of many conditions such as pneumonia, bronchitis, heart disease, among many other possibilities. I recommend that you have Scooby evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. Likely diagnostics to be performed include thoracic radiographs and bloodwork. Treatment would be dependent on findings. Good luck and have a good night!

Any change in breathing warrants a trip to the vet for a recheck. While it’s possible that there’s nothing wrong, you could also be noticing the beginning of a complication of heartworm treatment. Pulmonary thromboembolism can occur when dying worms become lodged in the small blood vessels of the lungs. Your vet might want to take a chest x-ray.

hThanks for visiting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Heartworm treatment can be rough on your pets body. This involves injections given by your vet on 3 separate occasionas. The main concern after the treatment is creating a pulmonary embolism, or clot in the airway, which lead s to shortness of breath, lethargy, and inappetance. A bloated abdomen cannot be determined in this postiion and often requires a physical examination. A bloated abdomen from a heart condition if often not seen unless the heart is very far gone. This would have been likely detected in the work-up for your fur baby to determine if your pet is in congestive heart failure via a chest x-ray. Right sided congestive heart failure is what leads to a bloated abdomen. I hope that this helps and if you still have concerns about your pets health after starting heartworm treatment, then the next best step is a proper physical exam to determine if any heart murmurs exist and potentially repeat x-rays of the chest and abdomen if the physical exam warrants these. Best of luck with your fur baby Ayla moving forward. Take care. : )

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question. Poor Boots! If he won't let you touch his back, I'd be concerned he may have some pain there. Rest him tonight. Take him out to potty on a leash, and bring him right back in when he's done. First thing in the morning, have him checked out by a vet. The vet can diagnose what is causing his pain, and can treat him. Now if he's extremely painful, having trouble breathing, and/or is lethargic, I would rush him into a vet immediately. In that case, please take him into an ER vet clinic; if there isn't one in your area, there will be a vet on call for emergencies. The information to reach that vet is found on a clinic's answering machine or website. I hope this helps!

Hi there! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is very concerning as heart worms can cause all the clinical signs you describe. She needs to see a veterinarian as soon as possible for treatment of her heart worms. I am afraid that that is really the only thing that can help Princess. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Princess can do well!