Why is my older dog suddenly hacking and panting heavily?

Oh no, poor Sammy! This panting could be caused by being too hot, cardiac disease, respiratory disease, respiratory distress, or pain. Given that Sammy has been panting for a long time, I would recommend having him seen by a vet right away. The vet can diagnose what is causing his panting and can treat him for it.

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.

In a dog Miller's age, this cough and heavy breathing could be due to something serious like heart disease. Unfortunately, heart disease is common in old dogs, and while it cannot be cured, its symptoms can be managed with medication. I think it's really important that he sees a vet as soon as possible, so I would recommend taking him into see his vet this weekend. I hope this helps.

This is a quite concerning presentation. Differentials are many including pain/discomfort (which has to be quite pronounced) and cardiac and respiratory diseases. It is anyway a presentation that usually requires an immediate check up, so I would recommend to take Sammy to your vet asap.

Difficulty breathing and panting could be a sign of heart disease or respiratory disease. Congestive heart failure would be the most common heart problem, while pneumonia, bronchitis, pleural effusion/fluid in the lungs would be some common respiratory problems. I would recommend seeing an emergency veterinarian as soon as possible if you feel Rex is having trouble breathing.

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.

There could be a medical reason behind Sophie coughing such as heart disease. Unfortunately that can be common in older dogs, and the coughing would be due to fluid build up in the lungs because the heart doesn't pump properly anymore. It could also be a respiratory infection. Without seeing her in person, I can't say for certain what is going on with her, so I recommend having her seen by a vet in the morning. The vet can diagnose what is causing her coughing, and the best way to treat her. I hope this helps!