White foamy stuff

Hi vets, my dog has something white on the back of his throat. It’s in the centre, right at the back so I can’t take a picture of it as I can’t move his tongue out of the way to show it. He’s been panting quite a bit the last day. He’s still eating, drinking and wanting to play but he is getting more out of breath than usual. He does have mitral valve disease and kidney disease if that’s any help and he’s also 10 years old.

Hello - I'm afraid I'm not sure what the white at the back of the throat is, but getting out of breath easily is a warning sign, especially with existing heart disease and it may be important to rule out fluid / odema amongst other things, so we would recommend an early vet appointnent.  Perhaps if you call and mention what it's for (breathlessness), they may be happy to triage the case (that is, assign a priority order as to how quickly your dog needs to be seen).  It does sound as if there is high potential for this case to be an emergency.  Possibilities may include a foreign body, odema, worsening heart disease, thickening saliva, dental disease, cancer, lungworm, burns to the throat or other causes of pain (causing panting).  I hope that they can get to the bottom of it for you - tests may well be needed.  Please would you let us know how you get on?

Hi sorry for the late reply, he seems better today. We have put it down to pain for now, I had given him a diuretic but it didn’t make much change to the panting etc. he’s not very good at showing me pain in general terms but he has got something going on with his backend as he has weakened hind legs (not that it stops him from wanting to go for walks and that) but maybe yesterday he’d pulled something or was just having a more painful day. He’s already on gabapentin and I’ve been advised to give him quarter a paracetamol if he happens again and if the paracetamol doesn’t help then to get him back into the vets

Im pleased that he's feeling better for now.  You'll appreciate that the way you phrased that is quite alarming to me - diuretics are an over the counter drug, usually prescribed by a vet in response to things they have heard / found on examination - generally something like fluid on the lungs / odema.  If a diurectic has been prescribed then it generally ought to be given.  If it has not been prescribed, we fully recommend calling your vets before giving it.  Fluid on the lungs is not one of those illnesses that can be diagnosed by an online description to a stranger, so please do speak to a vet before changing your dogs' drugs.  I hope that things continue to improve for him.