My dog has visible veins, walks strangely. Is her heart okay?

Unfortunately, the x-rays are not showing up as well here as the originals would, so I'll comment on what I see, but I could easily be missing something. The heart does not appear enlarged, but their are some distended arteries in the x-ray that make me suspicious of heart disease and more specifically heartworm. The abdomen is generally distended and the liver appears somewhat enlarged. This can happen with the heart disease I mentioned or some other condition affecting the liver. I do not see an obvious pyometra on the x-rays or ultrasound (sonogram). I wish I could help you with the other questions, but it's impossible without me knowing the cat's full history, or having the opportunity to examine the cat myself. One thing we can offer on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach is a consultation. This is a service that you would have to pay for, but it would allow you to text back-and-forth with one of our experts and send as many pictures as you want. With these consultations, we can help to identify the problems by gaining all the necessary information. Otherwise, you may seek a second opinion from another veterinarian in your area. I hope this is somewhat helpful and everything turns out OK Maicah.

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Coughing and bringing up clear liquid could be coughing up stuff instead of vomiting. This is important to try to differentiate. Coughing up liquid is more consistent with heart disease. The x-rays are difficult to read as the image transfer through is of poor quality and to really assess the lungs you need good quality images, however the heart does look a bit enlarged and the lungs do look a bit 'white'. I cannot assess the liver on these radiographs as you cannot see them. An enlarged heart, white lungs (fluid in the lungs), and an enlarged liver is consistent with both right and left sided heart disease. I recommend you return either to your vet, or another vet, and get a specialist ultrasound of the heart (an 'echo') to determine if heart medications are required. Your vet can also listen to the heart to see if a murmur is present in the heart, or 'crackles' are heard on the lungs. Heart disease is very serious and needs medications to manage. Without these Lily unfortunately will essentially drown in her own lungs, if heart disease is the problem. I suggest a recheck as soon as possible to get this figured out. Best of luck with Lily, I hope she feels better soon.

Unfortunately I cannot diagnose from a picture. If she is is coughing a lot and having a hard time breathing, then yes it can be a sign of heart disease. But it could also be due a respiratory infection. Lexi's belly doesn't look abnormal to me in the picture, and her gums looked pale pink in the other photo, which is normal. I'd have her seen by a vet.

On thinner areas of the dog such as the lower back leg, you can see the veins and it's not a problem. That being said, you can see inflammation of the superficial veins in dogs caused by an infection or formation of a clot. Without seeing Rey in person, I can't say for certain if this is ok or not. Even though she doesn't seem irritated by it, a vet visit just to make sure everything is ok would be best. I hope this helps!

With the description of her belly dropping and back bone being more exposed, I would worry about any fluid retention or build up. This can be caused from liver disease, protein losing enteropathy, heart disease, or cancer. Cushing's disease make them appear pot bellied with out building up fluids accumulation though. Knowing her symptoms and what medicines she has been will help with a better answer and possibly eliminate some of these options. But ideally your next step is an x ray or ultrasound to look in there to see what is going on. It is the only way you will get better answers and see if a surgery to explore or get a biopsy is needed to better treat her and help her feel better.

It is very difficult to tell from a photo exactly what is going on here. I am concerned if these areas could be bleeding under the skin. From the photos the areas don't appear raised which is why I am concerned they could be this type of bruisng, also called ecchymosis. If you press your finger onto the area and remove it, and there is not a white spot, then this is a sign this is ecchymosis and your dog should be seen right away because it could have a bleeding disorder. If you press against the red area and when you remove your finger it blanches (turns white) and then turns red again, then it is less concerning in terms of the urgency of being seen and is more likely an actual skin issue. If the area is raised or crusted then this could be inflammation due to infection with bacteria or yeast. We can have immune system over-reactions that can result in red inflammed areas of skin. We can also in more rare cases see cancers that can affect the skin. A vet can examine the skin and determine what testing may be indicated- this could include cytology of the skin, culture of the skin, biopsy, or bloodwork depending on their exam findings. Best of luck to you.

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.