Shaking & Panting in 13 yr old lab
 

My 13 yr old lab shakes and pants constantly. She is also easily confused, wanders the house in the night & has even gotten lost while in a familiar neighborhood. Is there anything I can do to relieve her stress?

13 :thumbs up a senior!! Have you made a quick trip to the vet yet? At that age it could be anything really? age, sight, hearing, most importantly pain...please if you havent gone yet I would make an appopintment.

Good Luck

Winston gave you great advice, we hate seeing our pets get older but we can help them ease into old age by helping them stay healthy as possible, I'd say a vet visit is in order.

Welcome to Pets.ca nvrose,

Excessive panting and shaking can sometimes be associated with the dog being in (severe) pain. As the others have mentioned, a trip to your vet / emergency vet should be done as soon as possible to get your pup checked out.

Best of luck.

Your neighbourhood mod team.

As the mom to two senior dogs, I have to agree that a trip to the vet is in order. A geriatric blood panel can rule out a few things, but panting and shaking can certainly be signs of pain. And remember, dogs hide their pain better than we do, so if the signs are there you need to address them for your old dogs sake.

I will agree with the others. I saw shaking an panting in one of my dogs when she was very sick. Given the age, things can happen quickly. A geriatric blood panel and physical exam would be a good idea given these symptoms.

Older dogs can also get something called Canine Cognitive Dysfunction, something much like Alzheimer's disease in humans. My 14-year-old dog showed some minor signs of this in his last year or so. He would wander into a corner and seem "lost" and would cry. He also would wander and be more active at night. My dog was also deaf, so that could be part of it as well. I found this link helpful in explaining canine cognitive dysfunction, but you would also want to discuss the symptoms when you see the vet:

[url]http://willmydoghateme.com/dog-health/canine-cognitive-dysfunction-a-vet-explains[/url]

When my dog started doing the shaking and panting, I rushed her to the vet. She had several other significant health problems, but the cause of this was a severe, asymptomatic urinary tract infection. I know every trip to the vet at this age is scary, but you will need to get her checked. Good luck.

Yes ...get her checked as soon as you can. There are a number of things that can cause this. Is she drinking a lot of water? You're in my prayers.:pray: