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Won't Eat; sleeps all day

Skylar in the last two days will not eat, she sleeps most of the day and has very shallow breathing as I watch her now. She is 13, actually will be 14 in October. Is this a sign of her age?

Symptoms: Breathing, Lethargy, No Appetite & Anorexia

• Master Advisor Matthew says:

  September 05th, 2008 at 02:10 PM

  Hi

  When an animal is having breathing difficulty and is lethargic, you should get it examined by a vet ASAP. This is because Skylar might be going into heart failure, which could be treatable. Your dog is sadly at an age where things start going wrong, and we could be dealing with a heart problem, a lung problem, cancer...without a proper examination and possibly even chest xrays, I can only speculate.

  Good luck

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• Tina says:

  September 05th, 2008 at 10:52 PM

  Thank You for your advice. I did have Skylar in the vet's office just one month ago, it was time for her yearly shots and senior exam. Everything seemed to be fine. She is actually doing better today. Up and walking more, still not a top speed, but even so better than a couple of days ago. Do you think that she could have been bitten by soemthing, or rough playing with our other dog and gotten hurt?

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• Master Advisor Matthew says:

  September 06th, 2008 at 03:02 AM

  Hi

  From your response it sounds like the symptoms were nowhere near as severe as I understood them to be from your initial question. If Skylar had a check up a month ago, the vet would have listened to her heart and chest so this 'breathing' problem is of more recent onset. Maybe that is a red herring and she is slowing down due to arthritis, and had a flare yesterday. Consider picking up some NSAIDs (anti-arthritic painkillers) like rimadyl to see if it increases her mobility.

   

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  People's Dispensary for Sick Animals

  PDSA is the UK's leading veterinary charity, caring for more than 350,000 pet patients belonging to people in need. We provide free veterinary treatment to sick and injured animals and we promote responsible pet ownership.