My senior dog is breathing hard and losing weight. What should I do?

She may have intestinal parasites or not get enough or proper puppy food. Trouble breathing and weight loss can also point to congenital heart disease or a liver shunt. You need to take your dog to a vet for an exam and worming.

Oh my. Poor guy. The weight loss and his body condition score is very concerning. Gradual weight loss in older pets is highly suspicous of cancer unfortunately. Other possible causes are intestinal parasites, diabetes mellitus, etc. There is also possible arthritis which is causing Blue to become debilitated and unable to move around well; however, generalized weakness could also be a cause. You can try to feed Blue a high calorie diet (ie puppy food) to help with his muscle tone and try over the counter joint supplements (ie Dasuquin) to help with his mobility. Here is a website link with more financial resources to help you get him seen by a vet for further care because he really needs medical attention and testing to determine if this is something serious or not, and to pursue medical treatment. http://m.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/trouble_affording_veterinary_care.html Best of luck to you and your pet Blue. I really hope he will be ok. Take care.

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.

Poor girl. Heavy breathing that just starts in an older dog is highly suspicious of things like heart disease, a primary lung disease or even cancer. The next best step here would be to get Lady to your local vet for an x-ray of her chest. This is a great diagnostic tool to help up definitively say what is causing her breathing issues so that we know how to proceed with Lady and get her breathing as normal as possible again. I hope that you are able to get Lady checked out soon! Best of luck and take care.

Cough can be caused by an infection, heart problem or lung condition, it is important to first know the cause before treating it as treatment is different from condition to another. As weight loss is involved it is likely to be a chronic condition, i strongly recommend taking Hannah to the vet ASAP in order to get it treated.

Poor Bauer. Episodes of strange breathing are likely, in her case, to be due to her ongoing problems. Weight loss is also a concern as dogs with tumors often lose weight while the tumor continues to grow. I would recommend you to see your vet and discuss if there are any medications that could give Bauer some relief. She may benefit from administration of pain killers as lung mass can cause discomfort and potentialy abnormal respiration in your dog.

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.