When your dog is panting, you may not respond because panting is a normal condition that is gifted to dogs and enables them to relief heat and stress. All dogs are breathing rapidly to evaporate water from their tongue and mouth to regulate the temperature of their bodies. While panting is a necessary process by which your dog will prevent his skin from sweating, not all panting behavior is normal for your dog, it may be a sign of a health problem. It is confusing as your dog finds it difficult to tell you what harts him.
Panting may be normal or not, you may find it difficult to detect that without asking a veterinarian but we will help you to know the difference of normal panting and abnormal panting and what common causes that may lead to abnormal panting with your dog.
Table of Contents
The difference between normal panting and abnormal panting
Normal panting: it is an ordinary and health response by your dog to the increasing heat of his body. During normal panting, the breathing rate of your dog will be from 30 to 40 inhalations and exhalations every minute. It doesn’t need too much efforts or energy to be excreted by your dog.
Abnormal panting: this is considered a symptom of a physical or emotional problem that needs to be solved, if your dog’s panting is excessive with a louder sound and more efforts excreted, so it is a sign of abnormal panting. You can also detect abnormal panting when you notice your dog at unusual times. For example, he may be panting with a cool body that doesn’t need to relief heat.
Common causes of restlessness and abnormal panting with dogs
Obesity
You may love your dog to the extent that make you feed him a lot and keep him with you at home without exercising. This will lead to obesity that will be followed by many problems like diabetes, arthritics and heart issues. Lack of exercise will lead to obesity and it will later be difficult for your dog to restore his physical condition to play and practice exercise.
This will be the main reason of panting in this condition to get oxygen into his chest. This oxygen is processed in his body to be able to move. Once you notice this condition, take your dog to your vet to discuss a new diet that will enable your dog to shift his habit from eating into running with you.
Pain
When your dog plays and doing exercise, his body will be heating, this leads to normal panting. But when your dog suffers from pain related to a health problem, he will not play but at the same time he will not stop panting for no reason. In fact, he is panting for the reason of telling you that there is a problem with him. It’s all up to you to detect the reason of his panting and to schedule an appointment with your veterinarian to determine and treat the problem. To detect it, you will find your dog breathing quickly, heavily and frequently at unusual times.
Anxiety and stress
Anxious and stressed dogs pant to explain that they are not feeling comfortable. The causes of discomfort are variable, from riding in a car, noise, crowds or any other unfamiliar events. You may not expose your dog to these events but he may already have anxiety and stress from his previous life with former owners. When your dog is anxious, he may hide under or behind something, try to bit and prepare himself to fight or he will pant heavily and pace restlessly. To notice the restlessness condition of your dog, you will find him without sleeping for unusual periods. All of the previously mentioned conditions are normal responses, you should take your dog to a vet before developing physical or emotional disorders that may threaten his life.
Heart problems
Perth based Vet – The Pet Practice mentioned that a dog suffering from a heart disease will introduce different symptoms including the reduced ability to practice exercise, coughing, and panting heavily. In more difficult conditions, your dog will be too week and he may faint suddenly. Pumping blood into the overall body of your dog will be affected by his heart condition. So, if your dog has a heart disease, he will have problems with blood circulation. This will deprive his cells from oxygen which in turns will lead to frequent panting as a method to compensate the shortage of oxygen. You will notice your dog breathing quickly and difficulty as well because his lungs will find it hard to transfer oxygen through the bloodstream to reach his body cells. If your dog is old, panting behavior may be related to a heart disease. So, you should immediately take him to your vet for medications.
Anemia
Proper red blood cells are essential for your dog to transfer oxygen to his overall body through his bloodstream. In the case of Anemia, these red blood cells will be lower than moderate levels. So, the body of your dog will lack oxygen and this will not enable him to practice exercise regularly. Weakness and panting will be his appearing state. These symptoms should be treated immediately by your veterinarian because they are similar to the symptoms of a heart disease. Your vet will detect the reasons and provide your dog with reasonable treatments.
Cushing’s disease
This disease is marked by the adrenal glands that produce higher levels of cortisol. When the levels of cortisol increase, it will lead to some side effects including excessive panting. You can also relate your dog’s excessive panting to the Cushing’s disease by observing other symptoms related to this disease such as the increased urination and thirst, changing the color of the skin to grey or black, hair loss and the reduction of calories that lead to putting in weight.
These are the common causes of restlessness and panting with dogs, but there are also other causes that may lead to panting such as feeling exhausted by overheating, liver problems or respiratory conditions.