Why is my senior dog coughing, vomiting, and has an enlarged heart?

Question

I took my 11 year old lab to the vet last night for coughing and vomiting clear liquid. The tested for pneumonia and Heartworm, both were negative. The vet seemed like he didn’t really know much about what was going on. He said her heart was enlarged and there was something going on with her lungs and maybe the liver, but refused to do any further testing. My question is, what do you think about these X-rays? Do you see anything that could be helpful in finding a diagnosis? Thanks in advance! Pet's info: Dog | Labrador Retriever | Female | unspayed | 11 years and 1 month old | 115 lbs

Ann Dion, DVM · Accepted Answer

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Coughing and bringing up clear liquid could be coughing up stuff instead of vomiting. This is important to try to differentiate. Coughing up liquid is more consistent with heart disease. The x-rays are difficult to read as the image transfer through is of poor quality and to really assess the lungs you need good quality images, however the heart does look a bit enlarged and the lungs do look a bit 'white'. I cannot assess the liver on these radiographs as you cannot see them. An enlarged heart, white lungs (fluid in the lungs), and an enlarged liver is consistent with both right and left sided heart disease. I recommend you return either to your vet, or another vet, and get a specialist ultrasound of the heart (an 'echo') to determine if heart medications are required. Your vet can also listen to the heart to see if a murmur is present in the heart, or 'crackles' are heard on the lungs. Heart disease is very serious and needs medications to manage. Without these Lily unfortunately will essentially drown in her own lungs, if heart disease is the problem. I suggest a recheck as soon as possible to get this figured out. Best of luck with Lily, I hope she feels better soon.

Why is my senior dog coughing, vomiting, and has an enlarged heart?

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