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My dog is lethargic, not eating, and breathing hard. Is it stress or mice?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | American Pit Bull Terrier | Male | unneutered

My dog has been acting completely different. He's having loss of appetite, lethargy and a difficult time of breathing. We have mouse around are house that we've been killing with regular mouse traps that don't have poison on them. But I was wondering could it be that? As well as we also just got him out of the dog pound so maybe it's just stress?

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Lauren Jones VMD

Veterinarian

Published on June 6th, 2017

I'm sorry to hear that Max isn't feeling well. His difficulty breathing is pretty concerning. Stress can cause a mild loss of appetite, but would not cause breathing changes and notable lethargy. Since the mouse traps do not have poison, it is less likely that this is directly related to Max's clinical signs unless one of the mice had previously ingested a rat poison elsewhere. If Max ate a mouse that had previously ingested rat poison, he could secondarily experience effects. Breathing difficulties should be evaluated by Max's vet urgently to get to the bottom of this issue. I hope that all goes well!

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    Answered By Rebecca, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    Hi. If max is having trouble breathing he needs to be examined by a vet. He may have kennel cough or pneumonia given us history at a shelter. Or heart disease can also cause breathing difficulty. If there has been any exposure to rat poison that can cause bleeding in the lungs, butnit sounds like you haven't been using rat bait poisons. I hope Max feels better soon

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