My dog is breathing strangely. She's been trying to cough something up for 2 days. She's foamed at the mouth

Question

The foaming has come at the corners of her mouth as she's tried to cough something up. Sometimes, she throws up a little water with foam, usually nothing.
Her energy has been fine, her mood fine, otherwise. A friend who is very familiar with dogs said she probably ate a frog, so we didn't worry too much. Tonight, I got home from taking my husband to the ER (bronchitis) and our dog, when laying down, was breathing so strangely we've become alarmed.

Then, she stood up and stopped breathing strangely. Now, she's been standing up for half an hour, just looking at us. When she's standing, her breathing is fine, but she seems disoriented, almost. She does turn her head and look when we say her name. She won't come to us or lay down.

We have about an hours drive to the 24 hour pet hospital and it is snowing heavily. I will be happy to take her but I don't want to risk other problems if it's not necessary.
She is a 10 month boxer/black mouth cur.

She has eaten the past two days, but eaten less, and she's had bowel movements which appear normal. She is always trying to eat sticks and blocks.

THANKS TO ALL FOR YOUR CONCERN AND ADVICE!

I got Pepper to the vet at 1am and she was admitted to the hospital. The possibilities are pneumonia or a congenital heart problem.

Poor pepperdoodle has a seriously enlarged heart from a heart valve problem (grade 3 murmur - not echocardiogram, but stethoscope measured only at this point.)

Answer 1

Sounds like it could be a number of things. Pneumonia is one or some other lower respiratory infection. Has she been up to date on her heart worm preventives? We went through this after taking in a friends dog who was very ill from heart worms and he had they same symptoms that you are describing (and after $800 he died). Which includes the lower respiratory infections, so really it can be anything. I would take her to the vet asap. Even if it means calling or getting her to the emergency vet. in the snow.

Answer 2

I had a hound showing the same symptoms, this was a day or so after losing what looked like a large mucous like mound around her jaw, which later disappeared...I'm thinking it caused pneumonia. She acted fine for a day after, and went down the next day, hard. There was little we could do...she passed away a little over 12 hours later, she couldn't be saved. Partially our fault for not getting her into the vet sooner, but it was also a Sunday when she had the build-up disappear. It was timing that hurt more than anything, with it being a Sunday and her acting fine there were no warning signs, and then the next day she was out of it, couldn't get up, etc. This is the obvious difference I'm seeing here if your dog can stand. She had trouble breathing though as well, like a wheeze.

If it's anything similar with your dog, I'd get it to the vet ASAP. Like I mentioned with ym dog, she acted fine and then it suddenly came on.

Rabies is also a ditinct possibility, especially if you live in or around the woods, or have had rabies going through your area wiping out other animals.

Answer 3

I had a dog who loved to play with frogs. One time I noticed some foam coming out of her mouth and she was trying to cough. I didn't notice her breathing being bad though. She did seem a little disoriented,but within about 15 Min's. time she was fine. From then on I would have to keep my eye on her whenever she was outside,cause invariably she would see a frog. I would never let her get a hold of another one. She wouldn't eat them,but just bark and want to play with them.They were brown in color and bury their selves in the dirt all along the edge of the garage. After that I was reading somewhere,I think on the Internet that there are some frogs that excrete some kind of stuff from their body and it will definitely make a dog sick and can even kill them if they ingest enough of it.
It's very possible your dog could have swallowed a frog if she was outdoors.
I would take it to get ex-rayed.

Good Luck... I pray your dog will be okay because our animals are precious, just like children.

Answer 4

I am kind of wondering if she has not aspirated on something, as in some object went down her windpipe instead of her throat, which if the case could become very serious if infection starts in the lungs, and infection may be starting with may be the reason for the odd breathing and maybe dissiness, and would explain the coughing

Is your husbands bronchitis a result of a strep infection? Strep infections can be passed to dogs, but in them can be extremely serious, in a greyhound kennel in Florida a dozen or so dogs died as a result of a trainer who entered the racing compound who had strep throat, the dogs will sart coughing but later the develop a fever and very thick mucus in their lungs that makes it very hard for them to breath

Just a couple thoughts but both thoughtd do require a vet and soon

Answer 5

She might have pneumonia, I don't want to scare you, but with the way the weather has been changing it could be that. I had a German Shepherd how was acting funny and breathing weird. I ended up taking her to the pet hospital and she stayed for 3 days. They had to do x-rays and give her anti-biotics. She was fine after that. If possible call the vet hospital, maybe if you can explain her symptoms, they might be able to tell you whether or not you should take her in. Good luck. I hope everything is okay.

Answer 6

It sounds a lot similar to a problem I had with my dog about 3 yrs ago. I never knew exactly what was wrong but she was dehydrating. I had to give her some pedilite (?) every 2 hours for 10 hours, then every 3 hours for the next 10 hours. She was fine after that and we never had another problem. It was like having a baby all over again....... She was like in a daze and foaming too. She lost weight and her skin was wrinkling.

Answer 7

My puppy had a weird cough and threw up like that when he had kennel cough. I took him to the vet right away, so he didn't get the breathing problem your dog has. It could be that. It sounds scary to me. Can you call the 24 hour Vet and ask about the symptoms? Or she may have punctured something eating rocks and sticks... good luck with her!

Answer 8

Please, call the 24 hr. vet ASAP! Describe what is going on with your dog, see what can be done for her. She might have a bone or something stuck somewhere that you may or may not be able to see, or get it out. The vet is trained for this. See if a vet can come to you, if not, drive safely, but get her to a vet. She is a baby! Please, at elast call the vet ASAP. Take care.

Answer 9

I am sorry to hear about your husband...but you have obligation to get that dog to an emergency Vet. I don't know what you're thinking but the dog is obviously in serious distress. She is standing up looking at because she is asking you for help......so please give it to her.

If this were your husband, would you just assume he ate something that didn't agree with him.....I don't think so.

Answer 10

i'd probably take her for peace of mind at least for an x-ray two days is a long time if she's got a blockage from something she could of eaten (not food) or a blocked airway could explain the disorienation