Helpful Info from Chewie’s Playland
Common Reason’s for Dogs to Cough and/or Sneeze:
1) Allergies: Even though the most common symptom associated with environmental allergies or irritant is itchy skin, some dogs involve the respiratory system, with coughing, sneezing, and/or wheezing. Runny discharge from your dog’s eyes or nose can also be seen. If you feel you dog has allergies there is many over the counter medications as well as prescription medication that can help.
2) Foreign object lodged: A cough that is violent sounds and sounds like gagging, especially when accompanied by lip licking, drooling attempts to swallow, could be a sign your dog has something irritating it’s throat or something stuck. Pawing at the face is another symptoms of this. Sticks, bones, toy stuffing and other toys/treat can get stuck on the roof of the mouth and in your dog’s throat. If you cannot easily remove what the cause is call your veterinarian to prevent further distress and harm.
3) Reverse sneezing: This is a common occurrence mostly in small breeds and brachycephalic breeds but any dog can do it. The reverse sneeze can be mistaken for coughing or choking but is caused by muscle spasms of the throat and soft palate. The trigger for it is usually an irritant such as pollen, change in temp (Like cold air), drinking water, excitement, heavy panting or even pulling on a collar. Some have even noticed reverse sneezing and regular sneezing during a puppies teething phase.
4) Collapsing trachea : A cough that sounds like a goose honk can be a sign of a collapsing trachea. This happens a lot in small breeds and the episodes can be either congenital or acquired. Trachea collapses happens because of the weakened cartilage rings causes the ligament along the top of the windpipe to loosen. The cartilage rings get progressively flatter until eventually the trachea collapses, leaving the dog trying to pull air through what is essentially a closed straw, which makes the dog cough. This condition can show signs of exercise intolerance, respiratory distress and gagging while eating or drinking. There are medical treatment available if you believe that this condition highly effects your dog’s life. Most of the time working with the condition and avoiding having anything around your dog’s neck helps tremendously.
5) Heart disease: Coughing can be a sign of heart disease in dogs. Usually seen as dog age but can be noticed in younger dogs that were born with heart disease. Heart disease includes other signs such as bluish tongue/gums, decreased endurance and difficulty breathing. If your dog has been diagnosed with a heart condition and coughs mainly while he’s resting, lying down or at night, it could be a sign the disease is progressing. Treatment depends on a variety of factors and the severity of the disease which usually involves an cardiac ultrasound by a specialist.
6) Bronchitis: A cough with acute bronchitis is short term and is associated with reversible changes in the structure of the airways. It may be caused by infections, parasites such as lung worms and heartworm, allergies or inhalation of airway irritants such as dust, pollen, smoke, fumes, and sprays. Chronic bronchitis includes daily coughing, difficulty breathing or wheezing for a long period of time (Months). The cough is often heard more in the morning when waking up and then reduces as the day goes on. Episodes of coughing can mimic vomiting because the dogs coughs followed by retching.
7) Pneumonia: If your dog’s cough sounds wet or they are producing fluid or phlegm it is a red flag for pneumonia. There is Bacterial pneumonia which is caused by a pathogen, fungal pneumonia caused by fungal infection and there is aspiration pneumonia in which the lungs become inflamed and infected as the result of breathing in a foreign substance like vomit, regurgitated gastric acid or food. This is very serious and will need medication attention to get better as additional testing such as x-rays.
8) Kennel cough: Kennel cough is a sudden persistent cough in an otherwise healthy dog is often due to viral or bacterial infection. These infections tend to produce deep, dry hacking coughs, sneezing, snorting, gagging and in some cases, vomiting. There can be coughing fits or spasms if the dog becomes excited or while exercising.
With all of these reasons for coughing and sneezing how can you rule out why your dog is coughing? An exam, testing and recent history will help you and your veterinarian narrow it down. It is easy to diagnosis heart disease, chronic bronchitis, collapsing trachea, and a foreign object. When there is no hard evidence as to why your dog is coughing with testing then the veterinarians decision will fall basically on your dog’s history and life style. If your dog has been in contact with other dogs in the last 3-4 days such as a dog park, daycare, boarding facilities, groomers, dog shows, heavily populated trails your veterinarian will lean towards kennel cough. If you dog has not been in contact with other dogs your veterinarian will lean towards bronchitis (allergies and airway irritants).
If you feel that your dog may have a mild case of kennel cough it will normally resolve on its own. There is over the counter and home remedies that you veterinarian may have you try, always discuss any treatment with your veterinarian so you know you have the correct medication and dosage.
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU KEEP YOUR DOG AWAY FROM DAYCARES, DOG PARKS, GROOMERS, ETC. IF YOU HAVE VISITORS INFORM THEM SO THEY CAN WASH UP AND CHANGE CLOTHES PRIOR TO SEEING THEIR OWN DOG. TRY TO KEEP YOUR DOG ISOLATED AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE TO DECREASE THE CHANCES OF SPREADING IT TO OTHERS. THIS SHOULD BE DONE UNTIL YOUR DOG HAS FINISHED MEDICATION AND HAS NOT BEEN COUGHING FOR 5 DAYS.
It is also very important that you inform any place with a large presence of dogs that your dog has visited in the last week so that they can be informed and tell other owners if necessary.
If you feel that your dog may allergies you can contact your vet and given other symptoms may have you try over the counter medication. If you feel that your dog may have coughing due to airway irritants remove the dog from the situation and monitor closely for the next few days, if no improvement or worsens call your veterinarian.
When to seek help ASAP:
1) When coughing interferes with normal actives
2) When coughing interferes with sleeping
3) Lethargy
4) Loss of Appetite
5) Fever
6) Difference in breathing pattern or difficulty in breathing.
