Breathing & Cough Red-Flag Check
Your dog or cat is breathing fast or hard, coughing, or making a noise, and you are not sure how worried to be? This quick, vet-built check walks you through the red-flag signs vets look for first in a breathing crisis, so you know what to tell your practice when you ring. It is a guide to the signs, not a diagnosis, and it cannot examine your pet. Only your vet can tell you your pet is okay.
Is your pet a dog or a cat?
Some of the advice differs between the two.
Open-mouth breathing in a cat, or blue or grey gums in any pet, is an emergency. Call a vet now.
The number behind the heart-or-lungs question
Coughing and fast breathing are the shared signs of both heart and airway disease, and the single most useful thing you can do is count the resting breathing rate. A raised rate leans toward the heart; a honking cough with a normal rate leans toward the airway.