Panting at Night:

Panting esp at night
MOST of the time an old dog with panting at night has:
1. Some anxiety about diminished hearing and diminished vision during the scary part of the 24-hr day.
2. Some anxiety about being left alone with the above infirmities while the owners are unavailable (asleep)
3. Sometimes is manifesting arthritic or other physical discomfort.
4. Decreased pulmonary compliance. Yep, old dogs get 'stiff' chests. The bones of the ribcage are less and less bendy and eventually the dog breathes 'differently' because the chest-bones don't move. Compare the compression of a young dog's chest with the incompressibility of the old-dog's chest. It's like a wooden barrel. There are actually 'joints' made of cartilage in the middle of the ribs, and where they join the breastbone but those stiffen and eventually freeze with advanced age.
5. Enlarged hearts. There is nothing you can do about it. Eventually it will be coupled with heart failure and I'll medicate.
6. Lung cancer. There's a costly workup for that, with nothing you can do about it. You could see blood spit up.