Why is my senior Cavalier breathing heavily and gasping for air?

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Even though Charlie was examined a month ago changes can happen rather quickly. If it was for the same problem that you took him to the vet previously and there has been no improvement, I would recommend pursuing further testing such as chest x-rays for further diagnosis to make sure that there is no evidence of heart disease or primary lung disease that would explain the abnormal breathing. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Hello, thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Sorry Mogli is having this issue. Heart murmurs can progress to heart failure and some of the signs of that are coughing, breathing issues and exercise intolerance. The other thing is that he may have a collapsing trachea. I think your best option is to take him to your vet for an exam. They may want to take some x-rays to check the size of his heart, the quality of the lungs and the size of the trachea. That will help you get to the bottom of this. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Heart disease is tough. This is true for humans or animals. Pets can quickly go from ok to not ok in minutes. Most forms of heart disease are progressive which means they get worse over time. Signs of worsening heart disease can be increased heart rate and respiratory rate, collapse, exercise intolerance, or coughing. There are many medications that can help improve quality of life. Please see your vet ASAP for an exam and possibly more tests or meds. Hope Boomer feels better!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Breathing problems can be a sign of many conditions such as pneumonia, bronchitis, heart disease, among many other possibilities. I recommend that you have Bailey 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!

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.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I would recommend a vet visit to assess Honey’s health. CKCS can be prone to severe cardiac disease so I recommend having her assessed to be sure she doesn’t have any heart issues causing her to tire easily. The vet may also discuss doing some diagnostic if all appears normal on her exam to rule out any metabolic disease.

I am afraid that is not normal. Considering that Snoopy is almost 16 years old my first thought here is that he needs his heart examined by your veterinarian. There is a condition almost every old dog gets, some worse than others, called endocardiosis. THis is a condition where the lips of the heart valves develop little nodules which then keeps the valves from closing properly and then the oxygenated blood is not effectively pumped into the rest of the body. This makes for a weak heart action and causes pulmonary edema, ie fluid in the lungs. The fluid in the lungs make breathing a chore (therefore a high respiration rate), and causes a moist cough when the dog is resting. Your dog also will not have as much energy as usual and slows down significantly. This can be significantly improved by giving diuretics and a heart medication that improved the output of the heart. Of course it is also possible that he has kennel cough or another respiratory condition. So I suggest you make an appointment with your veterinarian for an exam soon.