Mary Allen
Does your dog wheeze when breathing?
There can be different reasons. In addition to age, race or excitement, this behavior can also be due to an allergy, a foreign object in the respiratory tract or an infectious disease.
In this article we would like to inform you about the possible causes and suggest what you can do about it.
If your dog regularly wheezes or grunts when breathing, it is advisable to consult a veterinarian.
In a nutshell – Why is my dog rattling?
If your dog wheezes, whistles or snorts when breathing, this can have various causes. Most of the time there is just a banality behind it. Your four-legged friend may only have a mild cold or choked. However, if the wheezing does not go away and even gets worse, you should consult a veterinarian. Maybe your four-legged friend has asthma or suffers from a heart or lung disease.
Under no circumstances should you take a rattle while breathing lightly or do a self-diagnosis. Make an appointment with your vet. He will take a closer look at your dog, make an expert diagnosis and initiate a healing or therapy process.
Is your dog in danger?
Your dog is not in danger with an occasional soft rattle.
However, if the wheezing persists, becomes stronger and occurs together with shortness of breath, listlessness, choking, vomiting or diarrhea, the situation is alarming.
A serious illness such as asthma, laryngeal paralysis or bronchitis could be behind it.
If you have the slightest reason for concern, you should take your dog to your trusted veterinarian and have your fur nose examined. As a rule, behavior of this type can be brought under control with special medication or separate therapy approaches.
Is your dog wheezing? 12 possible causes
If you notice your dog breathing heavily and gasping, don’t immediately assume the worst. There can be many ways to do this. It doesn’t have to be heart problems right away. We have put together a few reasons for you here.
1. Tracheal collapse
Does your dog have bad breath and wheeze? It could be due to race. Such behavior is not uncommon in some breeds. These include primarily boxers, Pekingese or bulldogs.
Because of their size and distinctive head and nose shape, these dog breeds are prone to collapsed trachea. Other warning signs would be, for example, choking, a dry cough or rapid exhaustion.
Experts assume that this is due to a genetic problem.
2. Laryngeal paralysis
If your old dog wheezes while breathing, this may indicate laryngeal paralysis. This disease usually affects older and/or larger dog breeds.
Laryngeal paralysis leads to breathing problems and impaired eating. If your dog barks, coughs, or chokes more, it may have laryngeal paralysis.
Your veterinarian can provide a more accurate diagnosis and start the necessary treatment.
3. Cold
In winter, many dogs suffer from a cold.
When you have a cold, your dog wheezes and finds it difficult to breathe. Coughing or sneezing also indicate a cold or other infection.
If left untreated, a cold can quickly turn into bronchitis.
You should not take a cold or bronchitis in your dog lightly. Make an appointment with the vet! He can help you and your four-legged friend.
4. Allergy
If your dog sneezes and wheezes regularly, then an allergy can also be behind it. Allergy or intolerance to certain foods is very common. However, the reaction can also be caused by pollen, grass or mites.
Dogs with allergies wheeze when they breathe, sneeze, like to move around, gag and suffer from diarrhea.
Good to know:
You can get a free allergy test at any veterinarian.
5. Asthma
A wheezing breath in a dog indicates asthma. Gagging, loss of appetite, shortness of breath and permanent panting of your animal are also classic side effects of this clinical picture.
Asthma cannot currently be cured. However, your vet knows different treatment options and approaches on how best to live with the diagnosis of “asthma”.
6. Swallowed foreign body
Dogs like to put something in their mouth, chew on it or even swallow it. Unwelcome foreign objects such as a piece of cloth, a bone or a branch are rarely a cause for concern. They usually get out just as quickly as in.
Do you notice a rattling breathing in your dog? Then the bully may have just swallowed a larger and more stubborn foreign body. In the worst case, this can block the airways. Your dog then wheezes as if he has something in his throat. This also includes gagging, vomiting and bloating.
In the event of acute danger, you should take your feeding machine to the vet as soon as possible.
7. Change of teeth
Does your puppy wheeze and wheeze when breathing? Then he is only in the change of teeth. The “farewell” to the milk teeth in puppies regularly leads to an inflamed and swollen throat.
The change of teeth causes shortness of breath in puppies, which, however, disappears on its own after a few days.
8. Excitement
You’ve probably already noticed that your four-legged friend rattles when he’s excited. This has a very simple and harmless cause. When your dog is happy or excited, his breathing rate will increase.
Once your dog has calmed down, the rattling will stop.
9. Snoring
If your dog wheezes while sleeping, then he is simply snoring.
10. Swollen airways
Swollen airways can also cause your dog to wheeze. Breathing becomes more difficult and the four-legged friend can hardly breathe.
Swollen airways can be caused by injuries, insect bites, foreign objects, broken teeth, inflammation or tumors.
If you suspect swollen airways, you should consult a veterinarian. He can tell you more about it and offer healing methods.
11. Heart or lung problems
Diseases in the heart or lungs can also cause your dog to wheeze. In addition to the aforementioned wheezing, spontaneous coughing fits, shortness of breath and lethargy also occur.
Heart or lung problems in dogs are no joke. Please make an appointment with a veterinarian immediately. He will then look at your darling and take countermeasures in an emergency.
12. Parasites
If your dog is breathing heavily and wheezing, then it could also have a parasite infestation. Reference is made here to hookworms, heartworms or roundworms.
A parasite infestation in dogs is nothing out of the ordinary. The animals ingest the pests through meat, garbage or faeces. Stray dogs are particularly affected.
A wormer from the vet can help with parasites.
Dog rattles and chokes
Raking and gagging are two symptoms that should be considered separately. When you wheeze, there may be a negative impairment of the airways. A gagging, on the other hand, is a sign that your dog has something in his throat or esophagus.
If your dog is wheezing and gagging at the same time, this can have various causes. Maybe he just ate too fast, a foreign body in his esophagus or an infection in his airways.
However, it can also be a gastrointestinal disease or a lung disease.
Your vet can tell you more about this.
When should you go to the vet?
If your dog occasionally wheezes while breathing, that’s not a cause for concern. However, if this behavior occurs more frequently, worsens, and is accompanied by other side effects, you should consult a veterinarian.
If the following symptoms appear, a vet should take a closer look at your dog:
- Regular extreme rattling
- Cough
- gagging and vomiting
- Lack of energy and drive
- loss of appetite
- difficulty breathing
- Sneeze
- Diarrhea
- Watery eyes and nose
Conclusion
Many dogs wheeze when they breathe. At best, this is rare and short-lived. However, if the wheezing persists and mixes with side effects such as choking, vomiting or diarrhea, you should consult a veterinarian.
Maybe your loved one has an allergy, suffers from a respiratory infection, has parasites, or even has heart or lung disease. The vet should definitely examine your animal and get to the bottom of the rattle.