Breathing Problems-HELPPPPPPPPPPPP

[Terry G]

Hello everyone and I really need some advice or help if possible. I have a 4month old puppy who just started breathing problems suddenly-about 2 weeks ago. He can't do anything without struggling to breath in. Even walking and getting up now cause the same reaction. We have been to 2 vets and had all x-rays of his vital organs-heart, lungs, chest, throat, kidney, liver etc and blood tests for any diseases. Of course he has had all his shots when due. NOTHING bad in all the tests.
The 2 vets have tried antibiotics in case there was swelling in the throat etc, but no help. All they do are make him sleep all day and when he wakes up, the same if not worse.
We are going to try a 3rd vet today but was wondering if anyone has any experience with anything similar. And /OR if anyone has any advice for us. We live in Japan and perhaps the vets here aren"t as thorough as I would like BUT the fact is that the problem still exists and no one can tell us what it is YET.
Thanks and any advice/Help would be appreciated.
Terry GUSTERSON
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[Judi W]

My immediate suspicion would be cardiac problems.

[BostonRott]

Xrays do not work for any organs, they are only good for bone. You will be able to see pneumonia on an xray, or a collapsed lung, but I'm guessing they've ruled that out.

His blood counts are normal? Is he coughing anything up? Is either of the vets a pulmonary specialist? Can you find one near you? I really know little of the veterinary system in Japan.

Is there any chance he's ingested anything? Or inhaled something that is causing major problems? Here in the US we have some weeds that can cause major respiratory problems if parts of them are inhaled (this occurs mostly out in California and the West Coast).

Do his lungs sound clear on auscultation? Or is he wheezing?

Specifically what blood tests did they run?

Has a cardiologist checked his heart for murmurs?

[Terry G]

Thank you for your quick response and advice. The vets did rule out pneumonia and collapsed lung (but don't know how much i trust their findings). His red and white blood counts were normal(from the vet), and at this stage, he isn't coughing anything up-other than food(sometimes). We are trying to find a pulmonary specialist near us now. It is possible that he has inhaled or swallowed soemthing so that is what we asked the vet to do next-look in his throat with a camera. Hopefully that will be happening today too. The sounds he makes now are wheezing like. It sounds like he jsut can't get enough air into his throat. If he gets excited it gets worse. Don't know the exact tests they did withs the blood and we haven't had a cardiologist check him out. Again, trying to find these specialists here seems to be nearly impossible BUT of course, we won't give up.
Thanks again and i will post the results from the latest vet visit after my wife gets back from there.
Thanks again. Terry

[BostonRott]

One other question I forgot to ask.......how is the color in the dog's gums? Does it seem pale? If you push on the gums with your finger or fingernail, does the color return quickly after the gums blanche to white? (Try this on your own finger tip....press hard, see it blanche white and then quickly the color returns.....this is called capillary refill and if it's delayed, that's usually indicative of a circulatory problem).

[MARYDVM]

If his attempts to inhale are forced and very noisy, I would be concerned about laryngeal paralysis. In this condition, the vocal folds fail to move when air is inhaled, and actually prevent the puppy from getting enough air. This is usually a problem in older dogs, but has been seen occasionally at an early age. The literature mentions one Rottweiler litter documented to have started showing laryngeal paralysis at about 12 weeks of age. It was related to a general nervous system deterioration ("polyneuropathy"). Not trying to scare you, but when they scope him they will be able to see if this is the problem by observing the larynx while he breathes without a tube in.