Heart or Lung problems??

17 years ago

Our old boxer-pitbull has been having these mini 'hacking/retching' episodes off and on for the last month or so. We had appointments for them both next week. Get our beagle's urine PH re-tested, and a general check up on him, and to look into his episodes.

But last night he started retching, and it did not stop until nearly 12:30 this afternoon. It wasn't so bad last night - but was terrible and fairly often this morning. Like every 5 to 10 mins he'd have a 'spell' So I called the vet and got him in. It's a noise I've never heard before, and never want to hear again. Not a normal noise at all.

They listened to his heart, and it's not a murmur - so tomorrow they are doing chest x-rays to see if something is in his lungs or if his heart is enlarged.

They said otherwise for being 14, he looks pretty healthy. Arthritis and bad teeth, but healthy.

However, he has a growth on his leg, which our OLD vet said was nothing and it was A OK. This vet seems very concerned about it, and she's drawing fluid from it tomorrow. He also does a few things that could point to heart problems. Pants when it's not hot or he's not been active - drools sometimes for no reason, when he never used to - although she said thats probably from his teeth.

Just wondering if anyone else has dealt with something similar to this (the retching specifically) and what it turned out to be??

At this point, we have decided regardless of what's wrong with him, we want to do what keeps him comfortable and pain free. He's too old to go through anything invasive, or surgery, etc.

I'm pretty worried about him.

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Comments (5)

weed30 St. Louis
17 years ago
I don't remember all of the details, since I was a teenager at the time, but our 12 year old poodle had those symptoms. She had fluid in her lungs, (from heart issues??), and was essentially "drowning", thus the hacking, retching. I think she probably panted too, but she didn't drool. Definitely have the lungs looked at.
ilmbg
17 years ago
Congestive Heart Failure-CHF- Physiologically,the heart and lungs are tied together for function.There are two types-at least in people- I can tell you about people, and sometimes it is quite the same in dogs, but I am just giving you an overview. There is systolic-where the heart does not pump well enough, diastolic- whhere the heart does not relax enough to let the chamber fill with blood. Blood carries oxygen- so if the cardiac blood supply is not enough, there isn't enough oxygen in the lungs to make a gas exchange. There is right sided and left sided heart failure. If it is left sided(the most important side), then fluid builds up in the lungs- making someone cough. When the fluid buildup is behind the ight ventricle, the leg swell.
There are different levels-I to IV.
There are good drugs to treat dogs- some are the same as for people.As a body gets older, sometimes the heart is just not as effective- don't dispair.
Is the dog free of heartworm? That also causes shortness of breath and coughing.
If he has bad teeth, it is soo very important to have them cleaned- in both people and dogs-probably other species, too- clean teeth are important for a healthy heart! Bacteria gets under the gums in a dirty mouth that has less than optimum gums. The bacteria then gets into the bllodstream, where it then settles in the heart- causing the heart tissue to get infected.
I am glad you are getting him to the vet to find out- if it is an enlarged heart/CHF, depending on the level, there are good drugs that make a big difference.
Good luck with your pup.
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lilod
17 years ago
My min-pin Taschi is going through CHF. She is 14 years old and the symptoms began about 6 months ago. She is on a daily dose of a diuretic, had to have some teeth extracted just recently because of gum-infections. So right now she's still on antibiotics for that.
She is doing very well, eats well and is her old, somewhat stubborn and somewhat grumpy self.
munkos
Original Author
17 years ago
Being that he is part boxer, he is at a risk for a unique form of Cardiomyopathy, which is what I personally suspect. But, we won't know until later.

And Ilmbg thanks for the explanation on heart failure. He's at the vet now getting xrays and tests, so hopefully we'll find out today. His teeth aren't bad in the sense that they're rotten, they're just really worn down. The vet said they're nothing to worry about, though.

Thanks for the info, guys!
munkos
Original Author
17 years ago
Vet just called.

They really can't find anything overly wrong with him. He DOES have masses on his lungs - but they're not sure what exactly they are. They said it's definitely not normal - but they're not shockingly abnormal masses, either. We can send them to a radiologist to get a more conclusive answer.

His heart looks okay. He has some normal changes being that he is geriatric.

They are putting him on a two week course of prednisone to see if that takes down some of the inflammation in his lungs - and if he begins retching again they'll want to put him on it for the duration of his life. And probably do a few more tests.

I'm not sure I'm too thrilled with this diagnosis - it's like "We don't know, take these pills" but, for now it will do, I'm going to discuss it more when we go pick it up and see if they have any other ideas.