excessive panting

My 13 year old female lab pants excessively. This has been going on for a couple of weeks. If she is awake, she is panting even in the air-conditioned house, and even upon waking up from sleep. Bloodwork has turned up no abnormalities. Pain meds have neither caused nor cured the problem. I am at a loss. Any ideas?

Is she overweight? If she is put her on a diet. Extra weight on the heart and lungs could make a dog pant a lot more than she should.

just wanted to add my 2 cents: — Abnormal Breathing

Rapid, Labored Breathing

A dog at rest takes about 10 to 30 breaths per minute.

Breathing at a faster rate suggests fever, pain, anxiety or a problem with the lungs or chest. Rapid breathing should be distinguished from panting. Panting is the primary way a dog lowers his body temperature; water evaporates from the mouth, tongue, and lungs and warm air in the body is exchanged for cooler air in the atmosphere. Rapid breathing, when accompanied by labored or difficult breathing, is a sign of distress. Dogs with congestive heart failure and/or lung disease often have rapid labored breathing at rest or with only mild exertion. Other causes of rapid, labored breathing

are shock, heat stroke, dehydration and ketoacidosis associated with diabetes, kidney failure and some kinds of poisoning. Dogs with rapid, labored breathing should be seen by a trained professional.

Noisy Breathing

Noisy breathing indicates an obstruction in the nasal passages, the back of the throat or the larynx. Snorting and snoring are typically heard with the brachycephalic syndrome. If your dog normally breathes quietly but suddenly develops noisy breathing, this is a cause for concern. He should be checked by a trained professional.

Stridor (Croupy Breathing)

Croupy breathing or stridor, is a high-pitched raspy sound caused by air passing through a narrowed voice box. It may be heard only when the dog exercises. When the onset is sudden, the most likely cause is a foreign body in the voice box. When croupy breathing has been present for some time, laryngeal paralysis is a possible cause.

Wheezing

A wheeze is a whistling sound heard when the dog inhales or exhales, or both. Wheezing indicates spasm or narrowing in the trachea or bronchi. Wheezes in the lungs are best heard with a stethoscope. Some causes of wheezing are chronic bronchitis, congestive heart failure, and tumors of the larynx, trachea, and lungs.

Shallow Breathing

Shallow breathing is seen in dogs with broken ribs and severe bruising of the chest wall. Blood, pus or serum in the chest cavity (called pleural effusion) restricts breathing by interfering with the range of motion of the chest and expansion of the lungs. A dog with shallow breathing compensates by breathing more rapidly.

Brachycephalic Syndrome

Bulldogs, Pugs, Pekingese, Shih Tzu, English Toy Spaniels, Boston Terriers, Chow Chows and other dogs with broad skulls and short muzzles frequently show some degree of airway obstruction, known as brachycephalic syndrome, manifested by mouth breathing, snorting and snoring. These difficulties become more pronounced when the dog is exercising or is overheated and tend to get worse as the dog grows older. The obstructed breathing in these dogs is caused by deformities that include collapsed nostrils, an elongated soft palate and eversion of the laryngeal saccules. These deformities often occur together. Collapsed nostrils and elongated soft palate are congenital. Eversion of the laryngeal saccules is acquired.

Stenotic Nares (Collapsed Nostrils)

In puppies with stenotic nares, the nasal openings are small and the nasal cartilage is soft and floppy, causing the nostrils to collapse as the puppy breathes in. This produces varying degrees of airway obstruction, manifested by mouth breathing, noisy breathing and occasionally a nasal discharge. In severe cases the chest is flattened from front to back. These pups fail to thrive and are poorly developed.

Elongated Soft Palate

The soft palate is a flap of mucosa that closes off the nasopharynx during swallowing. Normally, it touches or slightly overlaps the epiglottis. In dogs with an elongated soft palate, the palate overlaps the epiglottis to a considerable degree, partially obstructing the airway during breathing. This is manifested by snorting, snoring, stridor, gurgling and gagging. The obstruction is worse with exercise. In time, stretched ligaments in the larynx lead to labored breathing and laryngeal collapse.

Eversion of the Laryngeal Saccules

Laryngeal saccules are small mucosal pouches that project into the larynx. In long-standing upper airway obstruction the saccules enlarge and turn out (eversion), narrowing the airway even further.
You can read more about this at www.healthydogexperts.org/id14.html — This paragraph is refferring to the article that peteritzel wrote about her panting labrador. I hope this helps you