Senior dog breathing hard, crackling, diarrhea, and vomiting. What's wrong?

Thank you for submitting your question regarding your dog. You need to seek veterinary care for her. Her symptoms have gone on long enough that they will unlikely resolve without treatment. The difficulty breathing is worrisome as well. She will need fecal testing and possibly laboratory work depending on her exam findings. Based on these results, treatment can be prescribed. I would discuss the probiotic with your veterinarian as well. There is a large variation in quality and some have actually been found to contain pathogenic bacteria. I hope this information helps and she is feeling better soon!

I am so sorry your older dog Miss Mattie is experiencing breathing issues and also seem uncomfortable. These symptoms are very worrisome and b/c of the breathing problems alone, I highly recommend having her seen by your vet right away. She could have a number of things going on including: heart disease, an infection, bronchitis, or even just pain from an internal organ issue. We need more information and testing to determine what the underlying problem is so that we can best help her moving forward. I do hope that you can take Miss Mattie in to the vet soon for proper testing and treatment and hope that she can feel well soon! Best of luck moving forward. Take care.

These symptoms can be caused by a variety of different problems, including heart disease, bloat (gastric dilatation and volvulus), liver disease, or internal bleeding. Many of these problems are extremely serious, so I would recommend taking Missy to your nearest emergency clinic immediately. The veterinarian there can do blood work and x-rays if needed to help diagnose the problem and get her started on appropriate treatment.

I would discuss other treatment options with your vet. I understand that ultrasound can often be cost prohibitive, but your vet may be able to prescribe medications based on their best guess of the cause of the illness. Based on the labored breathing, weakness, and gagging, I would be worried about Donny's heart and lungs. I know heartworm disease is not terribly common, but it is still a possibility. Other possibilities include heart failure, pneumonia, hypertension, or cancer. You might discuss radiographs with your veterinarian to look inside Donny's chest. Increased potassium could indicate lab error, renal failure, gastrointestinal issues, or possibly Addison's Disease, or it could be normal. Elevated white blood cells can indicate bacterial or viral infection, inflammation, or cancer.

This is concerning, especially for an older dog to have severe gastrointestinal symptoms. I would first fast her for 12 hrs and then slowly introduce a bland diet of boiled plain chicken and rice or cottage cheese. But then it's best to get her to a vet right away. She needs to have bloodwork analysis done and potentially further testing to determine what her underlying illness is. Once we know what is wrong with Stella then we will know what she needs to get well again. I hope she gets well soon. Best wishes and take care.

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.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Sissy! How old is Sissy? My biggest concern is your comment about labored breathing. When owners comment that the breathing is abnormal then I have to recommend an immediate veterinary exam. Possible causes of coughing and labored breathing are: Kennel cough (especially if she is around other dogs a lot), pneumonia, congestive heart failure, collapsing trachea, laryngeal paralysis, cancer. Once your Vet examines her and gets a good history they may want to take X-rays of her chest. Hopefully she just has kennel cough and needs some antibiotics and cough tabs. I hope this helps and I wish Sissy a speedy recovery!