Trouble breathing

Dr. Marie replied:

Hi Marc and thanks for your question.

The answer here has a lot of "what ifs" as there are several possibilities for what could be happening to Callie.

There are many things that can cause a heart murmur in a Golden and while many heart murmurs are completely innocent it is certainly possible that this problem is related to Callie's heart. She may possibly have a condition called dilated cardiomyopathy where the heart muscle is not as strong as it should be. Sometimes these dogs can live for quite some time with no problems and then suddenly have heart issues. If this were the case, then the panting could be either because the heart muscle is struggling or possibly because of fluid in the chest (which is produced by a sick heart.)

While most dogs with significant heart disease do cough, not all of them do.

It's also possible that this is totally unrelated to her heart. She could have an issue with pain somewhere that is causing her to pant.

At 12, another possibility is hypothyroidism which is really common in Goldens. Goldens with hypothyroidism will definitely pant more. However, the symptoms usually come on very gradually.

The other thing we worry about, especially in Golden Retrievers is cancer. If there is cancer in her chest then this will definitely affect her breathing.

And there are many other possibilities such as an infection in the chest, laryngeal paralysis and even something totally unrelated to her chest such as liver disease or a bleeding spleen tumor.

Your vet will have a good listen to her heart and determine whether the murmur is worse. (However, the scale only goes up to 6, so it can't be much worse.) They will also listen for signs of fluid on her lungs. They will likely want to take an xray. The xray really should tell us if this is heart disease or if it is cancer. If the xray is inconclusive, however, they may want to do some bloodwork.

The rest of your questions are hard to answer without knowing what the diagnosis is. If this is heart disease then we do have medications that can help. Some dogs can live for another year or more with heart medications, but others do not do well and continue to decline. If there is cancer that is throughout the chest then her prognosis would be very poor.

It's very hard to say whether she is in pain, but if she is having trouble breathing then she is definitely uncomfortable. I would recommend you have her seen as soon as possible.

I really hope everything is ok!

Dr. Marie


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Dr. Marie replied:

You're very welcome! And thanks so much for the bonus. :)