Heavy Panting

If your dog pants for no apparent reason then you should definitely take him for a checkup

Bengaluru, November 1, 2019: Dog panting is not something unusual when it comes to the canine health in general. It’s a normal respiratory response to various factors such as physical activity, heat and exhaustion. However, as you’ve pointed out, excessive panting can be a result of some serious health problems.

If your dog pants for no apparent reason, especially if he has not been physically exhausted recently, you should definitely take him for a checkup. It is a fact that dogs do not have as many sweat glands as we humans do. The only sweat glands they have are the ones on the pads on their feet and their nose. They usually take between 10 and 30 breaths per minute, and that depends on their size or breed.

There are the so called ‘brachycephalic’ dog breeds, such as the Pugs, Boston Terriers, Bulldogs etc. that have small nasal passages and short windpipes, which results in them panting more excessively than other dog breeds. Additionally, you probably have noticed that they pant and breathe heaver than other breeds, and that is especially evident when it comes to Pugs. They are also the dog breeds that suffer more from heart strokes and heat strokes. But if your dog has been panting while at rest in a temperate room then he’s telling us something.

Panting is how dogs regulate their body temperature, through evaporative cooling from the tongue, because they don’t sweat like we do. . So if Fido is hanging out in his dog bed in a 28 degree room with the ceiling fan moving air, and he’s panting hard, we should take note and react. Your vet has to consider a pretty long list of diseases that can cause dogs and cats to pant, including respiratory, cardiovascular, hematologic, neurologic, and hormonal causes. Obesity, anxiety, pain, laryngeal paralysis, and certain drugs can also cause panting. The goal is to identify the cause and correct it with treatment. Don’t expect your canine friend to whimper, whine, or cry to show they are in pain. Unfortunately, the signs of pain are typically much more subtle, and they include heavy panting, trembling, restlessness or not wanting to move around.

Like if a dog has an acute pain in his stomach, he pants and drools. He will also show signs of distress and restlessness – he seems unable to find a comfortable position to lie down. Various health issues can cause acute stomach pain, such as bloating, poisoning, trauma and internal injuries to the abdomen, peritonitis (inflammation of the cavity containing the abdominal organs), to name a few. Of course, other diseases can also cause pain in other parts of the dog’s body. For example, arthritis can cause joint pain, and brain tumors can cause headaches.By far, the most serious condition which results in excessive panting is congestive heart failure. This condition arises almost exclusively in older dogs. By the time your pet begins to pant excessively as a result of heart failure, it may be too late to remedy the condition. However, it’s still important that you work quickly to take your dog to the vet and have him examined and treated as best as possible.

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