Is my puppy sick? Young puppy breathing heavily

by Caroline
(Kent, England, UK)

My bitch just delivered a litter of 7 puppies. All appear to be absolutely fine and are now a week old.

However on day 5, one of the pup's began wheezing quite heavily for several minutes, would appear to stop breathing for a second, and then continues to breath apparently normally.

It hasn't worsened over the last couple of days and continues to eat and acts as the other 6 pups.

Is this something to be concerned about, or will it stop naturally? Or maybe need some antibiotics?





Hi Caroline
This isn't normal and I'd definitely have this puppy checked out by your veterinarian if I were you.

It's possible that he's inhaled some fluid into his lungs while nursing, or has vomited a little and aspirated it.

What you describe sounds as though he has an upper respiratory issue of some sort and that needs to be professionally evaluated asap.

It's good that he's still nursing and acting normally, but things can change very quickly in young puppies and it's always best to be safe rather than sorry.

An upper respiratory problem can quite easily (and frighteningly quickly) turn into pneumonia and that is a serious threat to a small, young puppy. Have your vet take a look at him asap so that if he does need antibiotics or any other treatment you can get it started.

Best of luck, hope he's doing much better soon.