Panting, whining, etc.

[rockymomtoo]

Rocky is 9 years old and has recently (about a week) been whining and panting, acting generally nervous, but only in the house. He's always been a bit anxious about things but he's always been a great sleeper and the last week or so he's awake at night panting, whining and just generally unhappy. If I let him out, he goes and lays under a tree and I have to go get him. (this was at 2am and 6am)

He's eating and the funny thing is that he is absolutely normal outside. He takes 2 walks each day, one to the beach where he runs around. All that seems normal.

the vet ran some tests and they were all fine. He put him on anti-inflammatories and that seemed to work for a day or 2 but now he's back at it. We also got a prescription for valium but haven't given that to him yet.

 

[SabrinaMN]

My first thought is that he's in pain. Is he drooling a lot? Our boxer did this and I now realize it was likely from headaches. Mine had a brain tumor. I'm not saying this is what yours has and I don't want to alarm you, but it's worth looking into more. Mine was still eating and acting pretty normal until 2 hours before she died. Hopefully this is not the case for you, but I wanted to throw the idea out there as we just went through this. Our girl was just shy of 8yo. Best of luck and keep us posted.

 

[BlazenStorm]

My boy did this once too, he was panting heavily but not whining. He was also pacing circles around the perimeter of the house. When I let him outside he laid in the grass (not normal for him) for hours. We had been playing fetch off of our wood deck out back the day before and it sits about 3 feet off the ground. We have stairs but he was too excited to use them and jumped over them. We determined he must of pulled a muscle in his groin area, after about 24 hours he was back to normal.

Have you guys done any strenuous activity lately that is out of his normal routine?

praying he is back to normal very soon!

 

[Cami]

Since this has been going on for a week I'd say further investigating is needed to determine the cause.
In all honesty I'd suspect one of three things.
Pain caused by something unknown (injury or cancer) heart or thyroid. The fact that it doesn't happen outside isn't a-typical. When he leaves the house he is doing something he likes and is fun (beach and talking walks). Happiness and excitement releases adrenaline which is like an anesthetic and can reduce pain and or at least get their mind off things.
I'd personally start with a complete thyroid panel. Since he has always been a bit "nervous" it would be a great place to start. If that comes back good you can rule something out and then proceed on to something else.
Anti-inflammatories and Valium are taking a shot in the dark. Since the blood work came back fine (assuming a complete blood count-CBC), it *potentially* rules out certain types of cancer, lymphoma perhaps but there are so many other things that a normal CBC can miss.
I hope you get some answers very soon.

 

[gyspy boxer]

My Roxie used to do that. She was eleven years old when she started to doing it. My Roxie had cancer and she also had an auto immune disease. I thought it was her heart. We took her to the vet and they thought she had an upset stomach. Gave her a shot was fine for day then back to wining and panting. I don't want to scare you. She started to looseing blood on me took her back to vet and thats when they did blood work and found out what was going on with her. The vet wanted me to try and treat her but it would of been very expensive. I decided to have her put down broke my heart. I thought it was best for her. I would have the vet keep an eye on him. Good luck.

 

[SevillaBrian]

When Lulu took a tumble off the back seat of the car whilst attached to a 'safety' harness when I had to brake sharply the next day she was panting, very subdued and arched her back a lot. She didn't whine, she yelped! She went off her food. We figure she had pulled a muscle. The vet put her on a course of Valium injections which we administered and, fortunately, after about six days she recovered.

I often wonder about these safety harnesses. We have stopped using it now and Lulu is much better free in the rear of the Land Rover with a dog guard to prevent her distracting the driver which is what the law requires in Spain.