A vet diagnosed Bill's lamb with dyspnea. What does this mean?

• A. The lamb has difficulty breathing.
• B. The lamb has bluish discoloring of its skin.
• C. The lamb has abnormal heart sounds.
• D. The lamb has normal breathing.

Answer: (A)

Dyspnea is the term for difficult or labored breathing. In this Lamb, that means it is having trouble getting air in or out, which can show up as rapid or effortful breathing, nostril flare, or visible work of breathing. The option describing bluish discoloration would be cyanosis, a color change that can accompany severe breathing trouble but isn’t the definition of dyspnea itself. Abnormal heart sounds point to heart conditions rather than the breathing difficulty, and normal breathing would not be dyspnea. So the lamb’s condition is best described as having difficulty breathing.