Panting

[Erica Cronic]

Blakeleigh is a 8 month old 60lbs doodle. She has started panting really bad while not exercising. I will wake up in the middle of the night and she is panting so heavy she is laying on the cold hardwood floor and under a fan, so I don’t think she could be hot. She will pant anywhere from 30 mins to an hour before she will get comfortable and go back to sleep.  Has anyone ever experienced this? Is it something I should be worried about? I have attached a few videos below for you to see how heavy and loud she is panting. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

She needs to see a vet and have a full exam and blood work-up.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I agree with Karen.  I will have to add that sometimes Charlie (my newest doodle) pants fairly heavily sometimes  in the middle of the night. This is for no reason and not all of the time.  Please let us know what the vet says.

[Stacy]

I want to sort of pile on and say that I agree with Karen and Nancy. In addition I would say to make sure your vet watches your videos, and maybe try to take a video of Blakeleigh's chest when she's breathing like that. And my vet told me to count respirations when they're dead asleep. They shouldn't be breathing more than 20-24 times a minute. I would also say that a chest x-ray is so important. The day before Ava passed away her blood work was absolutely perfect. Her chest x-ray was a mess though. Maybe this is nothing. But you will feel better if a professional tells you it's nothing.

[Erica Cronic]

Thank you all for the quick replies! I am working on getting her to a vet now. Just so I can be mentally prepared what does they heavy panting like that usually mean? 

[Stacy]

I wish I could answer that question for you. Obviously I had a strange situation that no one ever copies. Ava's symptoms didn't start with breathing difficulties. They were other random seemingly unconnected things. And her final diagnosis was "mystery illness." But having a fever generally increases respiration. Pneumonia can also cause difficulty breathing. And the vets all told me that she should be coughing. But Ava never ever coughed at any point. But that's why she should be seen by a vet. They are the ones who can touch her and see her and have the education to give you a real opinion. 

[Jennifer and Jack]

Not at all saying it is the same for you as it is for my Jack.. I just went through a similar thing with him. Two things they told me is heavy panting is either a sign of pain or difficulty breathing, unless of course they are stressed or hot.

Jack was panting like crazy and I found his heart murmur had progressed to full blown heart failure. He was having trouble breathing.... His respirations were in the 50's and I had no idea....  He is now on an amazing medication that brought his breathing back down to normal... 

The other thing I have seen with Jack is he recently suffered a cervical strain in his neck.. It was a million kinds of crazy to watch him.. He was so restless at night. pacing back and fourth from one bed to another.... The doctor told me that it was related to the pain.   

I hope all is okay with your girl.... It totally stinks to have to deal with anything.... Thankfully, they have a lot of help out there and treatment options

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Inappropriate (doesn;t occur during or after exercise or when a dog is hot or stressed ) excessive panting is more often a sign of a heart issue than an issue with the lungs. 

[Jennifer and Jack]

If you are speaking to me, which I am not sure you are... You can have trouble breathing when you are in heart failure due to pulmonary edema. Pulmonary edema occurs in the lungs and can very much be a lung issue. . In fact, that is one of the biggest signs of heart failure is an increased respiratory rate at rest..   I just went through this with Jack.. His cardiologist who has 20 years experience is the one who taught me this.  I am happy to read her update that the heart is good and it is possible an infection in the lungs.... which should resolve with antibiotics. 

[Ginny Nightingale]

Just my two cents here--had a lot of panting with a very young pup--at first, vet was stumped---turned out to be Lyme disease which apparently can be different symptoms in pups--(I suggested the Lyme test and they were surprised it was positive...)another friend had the same thing happen with her older puppy and vet was so confused by the symptoms that he thought she should put the dog down! Luckily, they tried the doxycycline and the pup recovered completely as did mine. At it's worst the pup was breathing 90 breaths per minute and was very uncomfortable.

[Erica Cronic]

Thank you all for the replies. I took her to the vet and they said her heart and lungs sound great. They did do a chest X-ray and noticed a little inflammation in her chest so the dr sent the chest X-ray to a specialist to make sure it is not pheumonia. The dr did go ahead and start her on a antibiotic for the inflammation. 

[Jennifer and Jack]

Oh good news......  inflammation in the lungs can really be so annoying.. At least from a human point of view. SO glad your precious babies heart is good.....

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I hope she heals quickly.