Panting?

[Mak]

Hi, we just had our dog Charlie de-sexed. He is doing great Its 6 days after the operation, first few days he was sleeping a lot. But now he just lays down and pants. Is this normal? We always give him water and he drinks some, but still pants. Do you think he has a temperature? Or maybe its a bit too hot for him, with all the heaters on, when hes on the balcony he is fine. Is there anything we can do about it, or is this normal?

Mak

Edited July 17, 2007 by Mak

[SwaY]

If he is fine outside, but not inside i would say he is to hot.

Dogs pant to cool them selfs down.

Turn the heaters down and see how you go.

[Miranda]

I agree with Sway, as he's ok out on the balcony chances are that he's too hot inside, dogs are generally far more tolerant of the cold than humans, after all they are wearing fur coats. Excess panting can also be a sign of pain or anxiety although I don't think that's the case here.

[Poodle wrangler]

I have woolly dogs, too, and the standard poodle is a Charlie, too. He finds it too hot with the heaters on (his coat's longer than the mini poodle's at the moment). While the mini will be curled up in bed away from the fire, Charlie will be stretched out on the cooler tiles, instead. I first thought there might be something wrong, too, until I thought about it a bit more.

Is your dog otherwise OK? Eating normally? Plenty of energy? Stitches look OK- no redness or swelling?

If so, I'd say he's just hot. He's got his own inbuilt fleecy jumpers .

[Kirislin]

what's the incision look like. If he didn't do this before his op. panting could be a sign of pain.

Linda

[PAX]

If you are worried at all take the dog back to the vet for a check up, even if it's just to reassure you that everything is fine. I'm sure the vet wont mind.