Maks - Caughing & Heavy Breathing!

[mmloda]

I have a 10 year old Doberman and he recently started coughing and breathing very heavily, he has a very faint percolating kind of a sound coming from his nose as he breaths!
The cough goes on and off but his breathing remains heavy, I can see him breathing and his body moving up and down, which is unusual!
He seems to be eating and he's still playful with my other Doberman. I know the best thing would be to take him to the vet but he has been through a lot...4 years ago he was diagnosed with stomach cancer, which my vet now and since then has no explanation for so I am a bit weary taking him to the vet again.
when he starts to cough I stop whatever I am doing and whatever he is doing and slowly pet his chest which seems to help him, maybe because I am calming him down!
any suggestions on how I can possibly help him would be greatly appreciated!

[mmloda]

So we took Maks to the vet, all of his blood work came back good, there was no abnormalities in any of his results, his BNP levels came back at 1300 which our vet said was concerning, I guess anything over 750 for Dobermans is?
His X-rays show a bit of congestion around the lungs are but his heart looked fine, it was slightly enlarged on the right side, but I am not too sure if that is abnormal or not?
Other then that we have him on an anti-biotic right now and his cough seems to be getting better, it's still here but not as bad as before and his breathing is also getting better.
I was advised by my vet to monitor his breath count, I just started this today and while he was resting it was 18 to 22 breaths per minute, depending on if he was dreaming or not, when he was dreaming it was at 22.
My vet also suggested that we put him on diuretics, but I am not sure if I want to do that just yet, I know that they can have a negative affect on his kidneys and I just want to make sure that it's right next step.
So we are still in the process of trying to figure this out but if anyone has any thought, please feel free to share them with me.

[Margot49]

Unfortunately, not sure what you can do for him at home other then make him comfortable.
With the history of cancer and his age, I think you know he really should be seen by the Vet.  Hopefully, the cancer has not spread but that is a possibility.  He could have a lung infection going on or some heart issues.
I hope you can get him for a consult with your Vet.
Good luck!