First of all I will let you know I am going to be addressing all these concerns with the vet on Thursday. But I am hoping maybe some other poodle owners may have some info or advice, maybe some of you have been in a similar situation with your poodle.
Thanks
I have a 2 year old minature poodle (Well 2 years and 4 months old) and he has always had some issues with his breathing and he coughs a bit but as of late he has gotten worse. The vet he was at before said the breathing issues, wearing out real easily, the coughing, and constant panting was from allergies (seasonal). But he does it all the time. The new vet (who we really trust and he treated my childhood poodle) said the racing heart and constant panting was from anxiety and he was just an anxious dog by nature.
He is a very hyper dog and always has been. I will tell you he did come from a hobby breeder (aka Backyard breeder) and boy have we learned our lesson about that. Anyway we have had him since he was 9 weeks old and we have been working on his separation anxiety ever since but it just keeps getting worse. So his current vet has him on a sedative as needed. The vet feels that the anxiety is what triggered all his gastro problems as a young pup. Which are now pretty much under control.
Some things about my dog. When at play He can't seem to keep up with the other dogs. He wears out in the first 10 minutes of play. My dog is constantly panting even when not at play. We are talking that my dog pants most of the day active or inactive. Especially when he gets excited. He chokes and coughs a lot when running and sometimes even more so when resting. Lately (and this is where my concern comes in) in the middle of the night he will wake up having severe coughing fits and I give him his allergy medicine (which is also as needed) and it does nothing for him. We thought originally he coughing and hacking was 2 years of pulling while walking on a leash (we never could find a harness that fit him right) We finally have him a good harness and he doesn't pull anymore, but still when being active he gets coughing.
I guess my question is: Why would a dog this young have so many problems running and playing, especially when the weather isn't hot. Why would this dog constantly pant? Why would this dog wake up coughing at all hours of the night and start coughing really hard when he is at play? And when you pick him up his heart always feels like it is trying to beat right out of his chest.
It just seems like something else might be going on other than allergies and anxiety. But I can't put my finger on it. Someone suggested that we have a heartworm test run and sure enough we looked at his records and he has never had a heartworm test done in his life. how do you go two years and not have a heartworm test done, he is on heartguard and has been on it since we got him. But how does a vet miss that he needs a heartworm test and as many times as we have been into all these vets (he has had like 6 different vets, now all were at 3 different practices. The first 2 vets offices we went to you never saw the same vet twice, now we are at a vet where he sees the same vet all the time)
But he is having a heartworm test ran on Thursday. But if something is wrong I have no idea how we are going to treat him. I'm sure we will find a way but financially its going to be difficult and with the new baby on the way. I know we will find a way but its going to be hard. Especially after the thousands we have already put into getting him well in the past.
I'm hoping his problems are simply allergies and anxiety but I fear something more is going on.
What are your thoughts?
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