Why is my senior dog lethargic, not eating, panting, and swollen?

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Lady! I love your pictures! There are many possible reasons for Lady's symptoms. The heart rate is fine, it is normal to have a low resting heart rate at home. The fact it isn't high is reassuring that she isn't in pain or distress. The panting can be from: canine cognitive dysfunction or dementia, Cushing's disease, feels over heated and a lot of older large breed dogs just overall pant more. Causes for the bloated belly are: overweight (fat in belly), enlarged liver from Cushing's, low thyroid, tumor in her belly. I think a Vet exam, blood work and belly X-rays are a good idea to see if there is a medical reason for the symptoms you are seeing. I hope this helps and I wish Lady the very best!

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I would recommend a visit to the vet. A week of inappetance, lethargy, and now panting is concerning for many different conditions, some fatal without treatment. Concerns would be a foreign object stuck in his gut, severe gastritis, heart disease, infection/sepsis, etc. Lethargy and inappetance (not eating) are vague clinical signs that can be associated with many disease conditions. Your vet will do an exam, and likely run some bloodwork, and might have to take some x-rays. Best of luck with Alfie, I hope he feels better soon!

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I'm sorry to hear about Booda, she sounds very sick. Since she is vomiting, acting lethargic, not eating and having neurological signs, I would have her seen by a veterinarian as soon as possible. Especially in an older Golden, cancer is a top differential for the cause of her clinical signs. Your veterinarian will want to do a complete physical exam, along with bloodwork and/or x-rays to look for evidence of disease. Because she is coughing, I'm afraid she may have cancer in her lungs, or less likely something like pneumonia. Unfortunately, you may have to consider thinking about her quality of life. Vomiting, coughing, not eating and being unresponsive to stimuli are not indicative of a good quality of life. I hope this is helpful, and I'm very sorry to hear about Booda.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. If you suspect that Rogue's abdomen is becoming larger, I would recommend having her examined by a veterinarian so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. The symptoms you are seeing could be due to a systemic disease or infection so it would be best to have a veterinarian take a look at her and perform some diagnostic testing such as blood test and x-rays. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. The sooner she is seen the better. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please remember to rate this answer as helpful or not. Thank you!

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.

Hi there. Fank's symptoms indicate severe abdominal pain. This could be due to a hernia, a blockage or infection. I would recommend taking him to your vet asap and have some xrays and blood work performed and get Frank started on treatments. I hope that helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I'm so sorry to hear Samson is so sick! I'd recommend taking him to see a veterinarian right away so they can help you decide if he is suffering. All of the signs you've described make me concerned for blood loss, organ failure, or cancer so I think it's very important Samson see a veterinarian. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.