Why is my senior dog coughing with a hard nipple lump and slow heart?

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.

Hello. At Molly's great age, the presence of kidney failure & mammary tumors, I agree with your veterinarian that it is best to keep her as comfortable as possible from here on out. I do not think her kidney issues are from infection, although a urinalysis may be more helpful here. The high BUN & creatinine plus her anemia indicates end stage renal failure. The swelling of the mammary gland may just be edema associated with her kidney disease, or the spread of her mammary cancer. It is impossible to tell just from a picture. 14 years is a very long life for a large breed dog like Molly. You have obviously loved & cared for her all her life. Please stay in touch with your veterinarian & follow all recommendations about pain control, & keeping her comfortable. I hope for whatever time she has, it is quiet & comfortable for everyone. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I'm sorry to hear Taco isn't doing well. Unfortunately, to determine what is going on, he'd need to be examined in person. It would be best to have your vet perform a few tests such as bloodwork (to check organ function and for any illness), an X-ray (to check the throat for obstructions or the growth pressing on his chest or lungs) and a possible sample of the lumps to determine what they are (fatty tumors, growths, cysts, cancerous tumors, etc). Your vet can then help you determine what the best course of action would be for helping Taco feel more comfortable.

Getting down to the cause of the liver failure is important for treatment. I would be concerned about the lumps and irregular breathing pattern. Chest x-rays would be helpful to determine if there is an abnormality with the heart or lungs or enlarged lymph nodes within the chest. The lumps could indicate cancer, either primary or secondary to another location. The liver is a common site of cancer or metastatic cancer. I would recommend talking to your vet about a liver biopsy or biopsying the masses to determine if they are cancerous. Antibiotics and steroids can help with infections of the liver or an inflamed liver, but if there was poor response then these are unlikely the causes of the elevated liver values. Denamarin is a supplement that contains antioxidants to protect the liver; it does not treat liver failure.

Having a cough when excited would make me concerned that her heart or lungs are not functioning correctly. It could something as mild as a lingering infection or as severe as lung cancer or heart failure. In terms of the lumps and bumps, those sound like masses, which could be cancerous or benign. She needs to go to the vet for an exam and chest x-rays, and then the masses can be sampled to determine if they are concerning once you know how severe the issue in her chest is. Hoping you get some good news.

I know it can be scary when thinking about possible cancerous masses in your pet. But really the only way to know for sure is to have these masses tested through your vet. They can be cancerous masses, inflammatory reactions or benign tumors (non-cancerous). The heavy breathing that Allie is doing does concern me a bit. This can either be a sign of pain or an underlying lung or heart disease. So a vet visit although no desired, is probably the bext best thing to do for Allie in figuring out what's going on with both concerns. Best of luck getting some answers and take care.

i am afraid these could be benign or malignant tumors. Since Nealy is an older dog, this is not uncommon. Lipomas (fatty tumors, usually benign, they can actually be hard) or mast cell tumors come to mind when looking at your photos. It could also be a very extreme allergic reaction to possibly a shampoo at the groomers. 1) do not panic 2) make an appointment with your veterinarian for an exam. He will likely want to take a so-called FNA (Fine Needle Biopsy) where he takes a small amount of tissue through an injection needle, puts this on a glass plate and looks at it under the microscope. This will give your vet an idea what he is dealing with. He may also send this material to a lab to be examined. Once you and dyour veterinarian know what type of mass you are dealing with , you can discuss treatment plans.