Irregular breathing?

Directorthiang · Oct 27, 2009

Hi all...

My chin, Dash, has always seemed to breathe irregularly. Kind of huffs, it seems. No noise or rasping, just big heaving breaths two at a time, and then some normal ones.

I'm only concerned because he just doesn't seem to be feeling his best. He took a bit of a fall Friday night and is moving around fine, just seems to have less energy than usual. Also, his eyes aren't as wide open as his cagemate's. This, too, is normal for him, but seeing as how I've only had him since August, I wonder if "normal" isn't just misinterpreted signs of illness.

Thoughts?

Laurie · Oct 27, 2009

Heavy breathing to me could be a sign of chest problems or an URI. The only way to be sure of anything is a visit to the vet where they can listen to heart and lung sounds to make a diagnosis.

tunes · Oct 27, 2009

Since he fell, I would be more concerned about him having sustained an injury at this point than a URI, although anything is possible. The fact that his behavior changed after the fall though would make me wonder if he hurt something when he landed. Loss of energy/abnormal behavior could be a sign of illness, but it could also be a sign of having hurt something internally. A vet visit would let you know for sure if he's been hurt, ill, or just being himself.

AZChins · Oct 27, 2009

Irregular breathing or heavy breathing can occur after periods of intense activity. I see that a lot after playtime, after five minutes they aren't breathing quite so hard.

However, sometimes that little air pump type of breathing can be a sign of pain or that there is something impeding air flow through the nose. (Or it can be a sign of the lungs not working properly.) It seems to be a symptom of every single chin ailment that there is. It can indicate URI, pneumonia, intestinal blockage, intestinal pain, bloat, etc etc etc.

If he doesn't seem to be normal after a few minutes and his breathing seems to be off, take him to the vet. Just because there are no other respiratory issues does not mean that irregular breathing isn't a symptom of something else.

Please don't be like me though. I will spend 30 minutes staring at a chin's breathing sometimes thinking there is a problem when there is not. or, I'll get up every 45 minutes at night to check. It really is better to not dismiss your feelings that "something is wrong." Most of the time my feelings about that are 100% correct.

Peep_erz · Oct 27, 2009

My Kuzu was a heavy breather. Turned out he had a tumor on one of his lungs and started getting fluid in there after the tumor got to big and caused a bunch of issues. He also had a heart murmur and stuff. I would get to a vet asap.