Update -Shortstack had a BAD episode last night. As usual, it started right at bedtime (for the humans) and lasted until about 3 in the morning -though it stopped several times and we'd go to bed, then it would start up again. My wife and I discussed taking her to the emergency clinic, but her tongue and gums were pink and her pulse was normal-ish, so I decided it wasn't a medical emergency. After a few hours of sitting with her and loving on her, she fell asleep and didn't even snore. We made an appointment with our regular vet for first thing this morning.

The dog woke up energetic (for her) and hungry, and had a perfectly normal, routine morning. We took her to the vet where they took a few X rays and the vet discussed the (unclear) findings with us. Her heart looks normal from that imperfect image, though there was something -and pardon my layman's nomenclature -about the bronchial passage that looked slightly raised at some point from a side view. But he stressed it was slight and showed us a comparison x ray of a "normal" dog. The airway goes up a few millimeters at a point and then drops back down. I have requested copies in case anyone here can read an X ray or might have experience with this issue -they should be emailed to me tomorrow.

We went over and over anything that could lead to the symptoms, but came up with nothing. The emergency clinic has a veterinary cardiologist on staff every other Wednesday, who he emailed the x rays in hopes she can look at them tomorrow. I called to have her see Shortie, but the emergency hospital said she was overbooked until May 24. We have made an appointment to see her then.

The regular vet suspects there could be fluid in the chest cavity attributing to the labored breathing. He wants to do a 10 day trial of Lasix (sp?) and see if this helps until we can get booked with the cardiologist. The technical drug name Furosimide, 20 MG, and we give 2 & 1/2 tablets a night. Starting this evening.

I am still inclined to take her to the other vet on Friday. My wife and I will decide on what to do by how the Lasix (sp) works. Though knowing she will have these "hard pants" one night and then sleep fine for four before doing it again, on average; it will take a lot to make me think this "works."

I hope I covered everything. It was a tough morning. We arrived at the vet's office to a crying receptionist and two tearful techs from the "surprise euthanasia" that came before us. My wife and I are on borrowed sleep (to say the least) from these incidents, and process things very differently. She was inclined to think that they care so very much about the animals. I was in a place where I wondered how thorough they are. Even though upon learning the euthanized dog's story -a dog they had diagnosed with diabetes two years ago who forewent insulin treatment, and the blame ultimately lies in the owner's lap; I still had skeptical thoughts.

But at the end of the day I have to admit, this seems like a good vet clinic, and the 65ish year old vet genuinely seems to love my dog. Perhaps I could do better, but if I see Science Diet or Royal Canin I walk out of a vet's office. He also seemed enthusiastic a couple trips back when I talked to him about "Pet Fooled," and the (and I think I'm up to 5 now) other local vets have either said, "never heard of it or even Netflix" or said it was raw feeding propaganda.

Apologies in advance. I've taken way too long to type way too many sentences to say what I needed, since getting off work -and I need sleep. Hope to have those x rays in the morning and I'll post them here then. Thank you all so much.

Oh, what good news on the whole. I hope so much that the examinations to come will also show a great result. Obviously your vet isn't negligent as I thought first.I have met varios awfully negligent and desinterested ones, when my cats had a problem. Here it doesn't seem to be like this. I think you can be with very good hope and relax a bit. I hold my fingers crossed.

As someone who just lost 2 dogs, leaving techs and vets crying is not difficult to do when they care about your dog. Caterina passed at home, but we took her body in for cremation and there wasn't a dry eye in the house by the time we left. The same with Tyra's euthanization. They know the animal, the owners, and they care about the pain involved in loss. They hurt too. I would be skeptical of a vet clinic staff that did not show emotion in those situations...

Now, back to Shortie...

Lasix is a decent medication. I have never used it in canines, but have used it with my horses a few times. It has helped breathing problems tremendously, and in my horses there had not been any side effects. Hopefully it will work for your dog as well.

Best of luck!

Kel

Lasix is a pretty strong diuretic, so one of the most likely side effects would be increased urination. You might want to make sure she gets out for potty breaks more often than usual. Fingers crossed that she will start doing better.

Ist day on Lasix has not been a success. She's panted most of the day. If I can get her to lie on her back (not to hard for a roly-poly) she breathes normally. I just can't get her to stay that way. She's only urinated once since I gave her the drug around 6 PM.

My wife is inclined to take her to the emergency clinic. I don't think the animal is in even a medium level of pain or distress and that we should call them tomorrow and schedule an ultrasound. Guess it will all depend on how she does going forward. Her gums are still pink and pulse is normal, though her breathing is shallow and frequent.

Many dogs, in particular the bully breeds are very good at hiding or ignoring their pain.

Please use your head and not your heart when the time comes for your dog.

Hopefully thought you'll find and answer for Shortstack.

I recently had a similar episode with my Boerboel, she went splat on the concrete whilst chasing a cat out of the garden, she didn't show any signs of the torn muscle in her shoulder until the next day, when she panted and paced for an hour, and because the symptoms were similar to the dreaded bloat, I got the vet out. It turned out she was in considerable pain, which was apparent when the shoulder was manipulated, and she screamed.

Like Bob says, Bullys are very good at hiding pain, and they are quite stoic and hardy.

I hope your girl can be made comfortable, I have a fourteen year old pointer, who occasionally pants and drools for maybe an hour at a time, with him, its dementia, and just old age, looking at that grey face and cloudy eyes breaks my heart, I send my best wishes to you and your girl, and sincerely hope for a good result for her.

He's a cutie, Tracey! Those gray muzzles tug on the heartstrings.

Update -after about four hours of panting, we went to the emergency clinic last night. And wouldn't you know it, she stopped panting by the time she was in the car. No one was on staff at 4 AM to do an ultrasound, so they just gave an overall exam and said she looked good. Of course she did, she was breathing normally, calm and alert. At one point she did yelp when they applied pressure on the stomach. They didn't suspect acites (sp?) fluid in her abdomen, but said the Lasix should help with that even it it were present. They also suggested that the Valium might be having the opposite effect since she seems more wound up than tired from it. Considering stopping Valium.

I do have painkillers from the last two dog surgeries -50mg Tramadol, and another one I recall being codeine based, though the label is faded, I can make out that it says "every 4 hours for pain." Both were prescribed for my other dog of the same weight, neither has expired. Until we can see the cardiologist, would it be prudent to try painkillers? At this point, I just want her to be comfortable and be able to sleep through the night. Partly selfishly, because we haven't slept 8 hours in the past three nights combined and we've both been sub par at work this week. Thanks for everyone's thoughts and wishes.

I have Pardale V tablets in the cupboard for all three of mine, for when the arthritis is bad, its 400mg paracetamol/8mg codeine, and it works a charm, but I reckon your girl would need to be weighed to get an accurate dosage, my Boerboel has 3 tablets 8 hourly, but the pointers only have half a tab, so if you are back to the vets with her, get her weighed and check the tabs you have are still in date.

I was pleased to find a drug that isn't an nsaid's, I'm not a fan of them long term, but that's just me, other people have great results with them, Pardale was a good choice for my dogs.

Hope you all had a better night with your girl.

Thanks, Tracey. We're back from the ultrasound and they also did blood work. This was an all-day affair; our appointment was at noon, and we're just getting home at 6 PM. In short, the new vet really didn't find much. We talked about the condition, showed her a video of her panting, and the vet took her vitals and said her heart was "remarkable." In fact, she all but said an ultrasound would only stand to completely count out a cardiovascular problem that she doesn't suspect. I was on the fence about even going through it, but just wanted an answer, so eliminating everything we can seemed prudent.

After getting the results, they said a slightly leaky tricuspid valve and the right side isn't perfectly symmetrical, but nothing out of the ordinary for a bulldog _or_ a 14 year old dog, let alone that combination. No fluid, so stop Lasix. BUT, it could still be heart, so they gave me the most expensive dog meds they had, with no human equivalent or generic - Vetmedin, 5mg, 1 1/2 tablets twice daily. She said Viagra was the second drug she would try. At least that's one I could potentially buy over the internet without a prescription.

The vet didn't have the best bedside manner (manor?), and would ask my wife and I a question and then interrupt before we could finish giving her the info. She made me feel like I was bringing an old dog to them and asking, "why is she old?" and I was having a hard time communicating how bad the symptoms are when they are at their worst. She downplayed it like we should just go to bed and not worry about it. At one point I had to slightly raise my voice to say "YOU haven't been there to see her going through this!"

I still suspect a low grade epilepsy or underlying neurological condition. She waves her head back and forth before these episodes (I used to call it "Stevie Wonder") before I realized it was more than a weird dog trait/OCD type thing. Add to that how she drools and licks. And this is a dog that never drools in spite of her breed's reputation, and flat out doesn't lick.

There was a little off in the blood work, but nothing that couldn't be explained by age. The vet seemed skeptical that we fed raw, but at that point wasn't going to challenge me about our choice. So we've spent more at the vet's than the car we took the dog there in is worth, and still don't know what is wrong with Shortie. But last night was the first time she's (or my wife and I) slept through the night in over a week. And I wanted to chalk that up to Lasix, and now it's off the table. Dang, all I wanted was an answer, or at least an idea. Will update as I know more.