Why is my senior dog breathing heavy, losing balance, and falling?

Question

My dog Zoe is now 14 years old and she has been acting a little off. After laying down for a long amount of time she will wake up and walk around but to long after she begins to breath heavily and sort of loses balance or coordination. In these episodes she does fall over but eventually after about 30 sec or less she does stand up and act like nothing happened. She acts like a completely normal dog afterwards. Her eating and drinking has not changed. What if anything could be the reason for this. Pet's info: Dog | Vizsla | Female | spayed | 13 years and 4 months old | 100 lbs

Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS · Accepted Answer

Poor Zoe! I would be very concerned that she has a serious medical problem causing her symptoms such as heart disease, which is common in senior dogs. Heart disease leads to exercise intolerance, and it would cause her to become weak during normal activity and fall over. These symptoms are certainly not normal, and she needs a visit to the vet as soon as possible for a physical exam, routine blood tests, urinalysis, and chest x-rays. Once the cause of her symptoms are found, the vet can discuss treatment options with you. Heart disease cannot be cured, but it can be medically managed. I would get her into a vet tomorrow or first thing Monday. Good luck, I hope this helps!

Why is my senior dog breathing heavy, losing balance, and falling?

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