All mammals need to breathe in air, but dogs have a particular way of doing it. They inhale deeply through their nose and exhale quickly through their mouth. That causes the throat to close and the nose to breathe more air than usual. A dog’s fast breathing is a unique reflex that triggers when they feel stressed out, afraid, or threatened. Here are the aspects you need to know about why your dog breathes fast.
Lower airway disease
Several diseases can impact your dog’s lower respiratory tract, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and bronchitis. Debatably, continuous inflammation contributes to the narrowing of lower airways. That makes it more challenging for oxygen to move to the lungs.
If your dog has a lower airway disease, it might start coughing frequently. That means they might display heavy, fast breathing and even often pant.
Heat stroke
When the body temperature rises, the dog’s breathing and heart rate increases. Ideally, the dog gets excitable and restless when the body temperature exceeds the normal range. Usually, dogs have a good sense of temperature and avoid getting overly hot while they are active. However, when they develop heat stroke, they can pant rapidly within a short time.
Respiration includes one of the critical components that must be maintained in a normal condition, keeping it at its maximum levels can prove fatal if not maintained at the recommended levels. Dogs with heat stroke often look pale, with their lips and tongue turning blue or dark brownish-red, ultimately meeting their demise due to exhaustion.
Laryngeal paralysis
Laryngeal paralysis is a respiratory problem that affects the voice box of dogs. The condition is also known as Laryngospasm. The larynx makes up their voice box or Adam’s apple in dogs. The larynx consists of cartilage that serves to protect the windpipe and the small air passages in this part of your dog’s body.
Laryngeal paralysis occurs when a dog suffers from weakness in its muscles that control respiration and swallowing movements. This disorder may also result from injury or some neurological diseases but more often results from infection in the head area. This condition can make your dog breathe fast because it causes the muscles surrounding the dog’s windpipe to become weak and even paralyzed.
If breathing is difficult, dogs will breathe heavier and faster to obtain oxygen. The symptoms of laryngeal paralysis are continuous coughing if your puppy has a cough that does not seem to go away.
Since dogs usually try to hide their suffering, you may not notice these early symptoms. However, as the disease progresses, you will realize that something is wrong when your canine friend has difficulty breathing and refuses to eat or drink fluids. That means you should look for appropriate treatments to address this issue.
Dogs are like people when it comes to their respiratory system. If they are happy, they breathe more rapidly. When a dog’s health deteriorates or they are scared or stressed tend to breathe more slowly or even stop breathing entirely for a while. In most cases, lower airway disease and laryngeal paralysis, and heat stroke can all lead to panting in dogs.
