German Shorthair shortbreath

[charlie]

I have a german shorthair. He is now about ten years old. Lateley he hasnot been eating, and drinking less. When he is laying down I notice his breath is short and quick in and out, then his body quivers a few times then another short breath. The last couple days he hasn't eaten hardly anything. The last time I took him to the Veterinarian they did x-rays and said all is well. Then the blood work showed high calcium, and they couldn't figure anything out. They gave me 1 week woth of Ampicillin, and 3 days Azium? This was about two weeks ago and he gained a little weight and now back to the same thing, but the breathing thing is still there. He started refusing to eat tuesday, and Wed I got him to eat a couple beef hotdogs. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[palehorse]

Originally Posted by charlie

I have a german shorthair. He is now about ten years old. Lateley he hasnot been eating, and drinking less. When he is laying down I notice his breath is short and quick in and out, then his body quivers a few times then another short breath. The last couple days he hasn't eaten hardly anything. The last time I took him to the Veterinarian they did x-rays and said all is well. Then the blood work showed high calcium, and they couldn't figure anything out. They gave me 1 week woth of Ampicillin, and 3 days Azium? This was about two weeks ago and he gained a little weight and now back to the same thing, but the breathing thing is still there. He started refusing to eat tuesday, and Wed I got him to eat a couple beef hotdogs. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Does he cough any? Congestive heart failure can cause shortness of breath, as well as coughing. Also have your Veterinarian check for cancer.

[bitterrootbullies]

Originally Posted by charlie

I have a german shorthair. He is now about ten years old. Lateley he hasnot been eating, and drinking less. When he is laying down I notice his breath is short and quick in and out, then his body quivers a few times then another short breath. The last couple days he hasn't eaten hardly anything. The last time I took him to the Veterinarian they did x-rays and said all is well. Then the blood work showed high calcium, and they couldn't figure anything out. They gave me 1 week woth of Ampicillin, and 3 days Azium? This was about two weeks ago and he gained a little weight and now back to the same thing, but the breathing thing is still there. He started refusing to eat tuesday, and Wed I got him to eat a couple beef hotdogs. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hi Charlie,
the high calcium is a serious issue. Do you know what the calcium level was?
My samantha (9.5 years old) also has high blood calcium and we are currently searching for the cause. My first 2 vets and a Veterinarian I work with all missed it. It took a second evaluation from a 4th Veterinarian to notice the high calcium and be concerned about it. The main cause of high calcium is a tumor somewhere. Lymphoma is the main cause, but anal gland tumors are also high up on the list. When did they do the xrays and what area did they do? The shortness of breath would suggest a problem in the heart or lungs, did they do chest xrays?.

What we have done so far with Samantha is a second blood panel to verify the calcium is truely high and not just an anomaly(it was high the second time too). Then we did chest and abdominal xrays (nothing showed). Next we sent blood to Michigan state university for a malignancy panel for cancer (still nothing showed, in fact the values are lower than expected). Our next step is to go to an internal medicine specialist and do an abdominal ultrasound.

Another friend of mine knows of a dog with the same symptoms as my Samantha and it turned out to be a problem with the parathyroid gland.

The difference between my dog and yours are that my girl is drinking and peeing excessively and does not have the shortness of breath. But she has also started the shaking episodes just this weekend.

If necessary get to another Veterinarian for another opinion, perhaps an internal medicine specialist if you can.

Also make sure your pup stays well hydrated, one of the major concerns with the high calcium is that it can build up in the kidneys and cause kidney failure.

Please keep us posted, it sounds like we are facing similar ordeals

[bitterrootbullies]

I wanted to add that my Veterinarian put Samantha on Flurosimide (lasix) which is a diuretic even though she was already peeing and drinking so much, because it has the additional effect of reducing the blood calcium. This will help guard against it building up in the kidneys.

It sure makes life tough in that now she's peeing even more, but I believe its necessary to keep her kidneys healthy.
amanda samantha sydney murphy and foster