Hello All. My pup Cooper (16 weeks tomorrow) woke me up this morning at 3 AM with an awful noise (thought he was barking to go out) that turned out to be a dry gagging sort of cough thing. I was shocked but then thought it could be something he had in his throat since he chews EVERYTHING, including the sofa and whatever they stuff in sofa's.....but he was in his crate and there was nothing there for him to chew but his kong and nylabone. Could this be kennel cough? Could this be "just a cough"? I took him to the emergency vet's at 3:30 AM and they took x-rays, blood test, and examination....U$S500 dollars worth!....and found nothing in his stomach or throat, his blood was "a little off" whatever that means, and his lungs were a little "rough"....but they were going to have the radiologist look at the x-rays because the Doc could have missed something. Do you have any suggestions? I was given an antibiotic to give every 12 hours and Robitussin DM (cough syrup) every 4 hours. I am a first time "mother" so am worried to death for my little Cooper who, right now, is sleeping on a towel in the family room where I am sitting. I feel so bad he has to go through this.....Thanks, All.
Re: Cough....dry gagging Oh no, sorry to hear Cooper isn't well :'( hopefully the radiologist will be able to he more tomorrow. If his cough doesn't improve in the next few days I would take him back to the vets. Fingers crossed he gets better quickly x
Re: Cough....dry gagging It could be kennel cough (which sounds more like they are about to throw up than coughing) It's like a bad cold for us Manuka honey is soothing for it.
Re: Cough....dry gagging It sounds like kennel cough to me, as Mags said it's just like when we get a cold. The symptoms can very from dog to dog; some may have a fever, some get really snotty and congested, some are very lethargic where others may have very minor symptoms. The cough can vary too from a chesty, productive cough, to a dry hacking. If the cough is productive you should not give the cough syrup. Obviously the radiologist has yet to look at the X-rays but hopefully it's nothing too serious. The proper name for kennel cough is bordetella. It's called kennel cough as it's so prolific in kennels and anywhere else the dogs are in close proximity to each other, but dogs out and about can pick it up too as it's pretty contagious.
Re: Cough....dry gagging I'm sorry to hear about cooper. I hope the medicine you've been given works quickly and the radiologist has good news. Let us know how you get on .
Re: Cough....dry gagging Sorry to hear about Cooper. It does sound rather like kennel cough. Molly had that recently and she sounded like a goose honking, and went on all night. However it wasn't 'dry' because she was bringing up little pools of frothy saliva. She had antibiotics and the cough lasted less than 2 days - she didn't seem to feel ill i.e. not lethargic and eating & drinking normally. Do hope Cooper's is nothing more than this.
