Cough in a dog: causes, symptoms and treatment

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Cough in dogs, like in humans, is an involuntary reflex, which is a resounding exhalation that occurs when the mucous membranes of the lungs and airways are irritated. The main function of a cough is to cleanse the respiratory organs of an irritant, whether it be a foreign object or sputum formed during a disease.

What is a cough like

A dog's cough is not to be taken lightly. Even if this is just a symptom of a cold, the animal needs timely treatment. However, it often happens that this is a sign of a more serious illness.

Distinguish between wet and dry types of cough. When wet, excess mucus secretion occurs, which indicates acute inflammation, in which excess sputum accumulates in the bronchi. A dry cough is not accompanied by mucus and is often a symptom of a chronic illness.

Depending on the duration, a rare, frequent and persistent cough is distinguished. And from the strength expended by the dog on coughing, it is divided into weak, strong,superficial and deep. With a painful cough, the animal makes attempts to suppress it. It looks like the pet is vomiting. Treatment for a cough in a dog that appears to be choking should be started immediately after diagnosis. Late start of procedures will aggravate the depressed state.

Reasons

There can be many reasons why a dog coughs. But it is clear that the appearance of such a symptom should immediately alert the owner of the animal, as this may be a signal of a serious illness.

Cough in a dog begins with the following problems:

• A foreign object has entered the respiratory system.
• The dog caught an infection.
• The pleural region is filled with air or fluid.
• Throat diseases.
• Infection with worms.
• Oncology.
• Oral diseases.
• Heredity.
• Special structure of the muzzle.
• Cardiovascular disease.
• Allergies.

Having identified the cause of the cough, only the veterinarian prescribes therapy. Do not treat the animal yourself. This could lead to tragic consequences.

Diseases accompanied by cough

Cough in a dog often appears with bronchitis or pneumonia, which, in turn, are complications after infectious diseases or independent diseases. In the body of a pet, there are constantly pathogenic or opportunistic bacteria that cause pneumonia when certain conditions occur. These circumstances priordisease, there may be, for example, a low level of immunity, hypothermia and even stress. If pneumonia is caused by pathogenic fungi, then it is very difficult to treat.

With this disease, the cough is wet with gurgling sounds behind the sternum. Among other things, the dog shows lethargy, decreased appetite, shortness of breath and fever.

However, aspiration pneumonia is considered more dangerous and complex, which occurs when the animal inhales chemicals or gets food or gastric juice into the lungs, which often happens with improper anesthesia. If this happens, then veterinary care should be provided immediately, otherwise the dog may die.

Cough due to inhalation of fluid and foreign bodies

If a dog's swallowing reflexes are impaired, foreign bodies can enter the respiratory tract. This happens with disorders of the central nervous system, sore throat, or when eating food too hastily.

The result of a foreign object getting into the larynx, trachea, bronchi and lungs of an animal can be the development of inflammatory processes in these organs and, as a result, the appearance of a cough with blood, which is paroxysmal in nature with wheezing and suffocation. This type of cough in dogs is often accompanied by gagging and vomiting, and is characterized by sudden onset.

Treatment of this type of cough is an emergency visit to the veterinary clinic for endoscopic extraction of a foreign object from the respiratory organs. Sometimesremoval of a large foreign body may require urgent surgical intervention. In this case, to save the life of the animal, there is a need for an immediate tracheotomy with a further operation to remove the object that has entered the respiratory tract.

Cough due to sore throat

In dogs, as well as in humans, tonsils are located on the sides of the pharyngeal cavity, which are part of the lymphatic system. Their inflammation is caused by a runny nose, stomatitis, infections from the external environment and from internal organs.

Symptoms of sore throat are manifested in the refusal of food, a painful cough, which the dog tries to contain because it causes pain. The cough in this disease is dry, and the animal often swallows to relieve the pain. If the inflammatory process is chronically protracted, then the dog vomits as a result of reflex irritation of the vomiting receptors.

On examination, the tonsils are enlarged, redness and purulent rashes are observed on them. At the same time, purulent tonsillitis is often accompanied by complications, while the catarrhal form of the disease passes without complications.

Treatment begins with a thorough visual examination of the oral cavity. If there are foreign bodies, they are immediately removed and antibiotics are prescribed in order to avoid secondary infection. Stomatitis and rhinitis are cured, tartar is removed. If chronic tonsillitis is of unknown origin, then there is the possibility of surgical removal of the tonsils.

Kennel cough

Coughkennels in dogs is an acute inflammation of the tissues of the upper respiratory tract. In veterinary medicine, this disease is otherwise called infectious tracheobronchitis. The complexity of the pathology here lies in the combination of many pathogens, including viral and bacterial microorganisms. Similar symptoms are observed when animals are infected with certain parasites, among which, for example, lung helminths may be.

However, most often, kennel cough in dogs is caused by an infectious etiology. The most common triggers are:

• parainfluenza;
• bordetella bronchisepsis;
• second type of canine adenovirus;
• reovirus (canine herpes virus).

But still, basically, the causative agent of kennel cough in a dog is the parainfluenza virus. With good immunity and physical condition of the pet, the disease caused by this agent does not last more than a week. A polyvalent vaccine against infectious tracheobronchitis can provide good protection against this pathology.

The most common bacterial pathogen is Bordetella bronchiseptica. Here the incubation period lasts from 2 to 14 days, and the disease itself, if no complications are observed, proceeds within 10 days. It should be borne in mind that a recovered animal can be a carrier of the infection for about 16 weeks. For humans, this pathogen is not dangerous.

In infectious tracheobronchitis, parainfluenza and bordetella have a combined effect on the dog's body. The disease here lasts for 14-20 days. It is fortunate that kennel cough in dogs can now be prevented by vaccination.

Symptoms

Kennel cough in dogs with a mild form of the disease is accompanied by the following symptoms:

• Spastic cough. When listening, extraneous sounds may not be observed, however, if infection occurs a second time, wheezing may occur.
• Temperature slightly increased. The acute stage of the disease resolves in about three days, but the cough persists for up to 3 weeks.
• Thirst increased slightly. At the same time, the appetite is preserved. In general, the animal behaves like a he althy one, the only difference is the presence of a cough.

However, with a more severe course of the disease, the symptoms of coughing in dogs are aggravated by the fact that spastic paroxysmal cough is accompanied by vomiting, intermittent fever may occur, the pet shows lethargic behavior and lack of appetite, and often drinks.

Diagnosis

To understand how to treat a cough in a dog, it is necessary to correctly diagnose the disease. To do this, you need:

• Conduct a series of laboratory tests to rule out other possible causes of the dog's depression.
• Vets strongly recommend chest X-rays and ultrasounds of dogs to show the severity of the disease.
• Along with this, it is necessary to remove a sample of material from the bronchi in order to determine the type of pathogen, which is a very important point when prescribingoptimal therapy.

Quality treatment of a dog's cough depends on the reliable identification of pathogens, which can be several at the same time.

Treatment

When conducting therapy, it is important to exclude re-infection so as not to aggravate the symptoms and not provoke complications. When treating kennel cough in dogs, it is necessary to provide the diseased animal with complete rest, high-quality nutrition and protect the pet from stress as much as possible.

The use of antibiotics should only be allowed if a bacterial infection occurs again. In order to reduce the likelihood of chronic bronchitis and significantly reduce the resulting inflammation, experts prescribe corticosteroids.

Medicines containing codeine are often prescribed in the treatment of kennel cough in dogs. But this is in cases where bouts of spastic cough are of a protracted nature. In mild cases, using an ordinary nebulizer, you can arrange an aerosol inhalation with a saline solution for your pet, which thins the secret in the bronchi and improves sputum expectoration.

Efficiency in the treatment of kennel cough will take place if, along with corticosteroids, a veterinarian prescribes bronchodilators, such as Albuterol and Terbutaline. Antibiotics of the cyclosporine group will also help in the treatment of the described disease.

Prevention

Kennel cough in dogs can be prevented if preventive measures are followed. Whenthe occurrence of this disease in the region, it is necessary to immediately introduce quarantine. At the same time, it is better for the pet to put an autoimmune serum, with which you can prevent the development of the disease.

However, of course, the most effective preventive measure would be to vaccinate the animal in a timely manner with all recommended respiratory vaccines.

If suddenly a dog has coughing fits, then you should immediately take it to the veterinarian, because timely therapy will stop the signs of the disease within a couple of days, preventing them from developing into more severe forms.

Cough with heart disease

In addition to the cough associated with respiratory diseases, there is also a cardiac cough in dogs, which is a pronounced sign of cardiac disease. Such as:

• heart failure;
• cardiosclerosis;
• myocardial infarction;
• arterial hypertension;
• some of the types of heartworms.

Due to the existing disorders, the heart cannot pump blood as it should, so congestion occurs in the lungs and a fluid called effusion appears, which irritates the receptors. In this case, the heart muscle increases in size and presses on the trachea, blocking the access of oxygen and provoking coughing fits. With a strong heart cough, the dog has blue gums. Such a disease for a long time (from 6 to 8 months) proceeds in a latent form, which makes it difficult to timely diagnose.

Most often, large breed dogs weighing more than 7 kg, whose muscle mass is increased, but the heart is of normal size, most often suffer from heart cough. Up to a certain point, it copes with the functions assigned to it, until high loads begin to disable the organ, which is the cause of the development of pathology.

Signs of a heart cough

To keep your pet's he alth at a non-critical level, you need to closely monitor his behavior. Signs that should alert the owner:

• The dog ceases to be active, walks and games become uninteresting to her.
• Even with light exertion, breathing becomes heavy and intermittent.
• Cough becomes dull and uterine, and also more prolonged.
• No phlegm.
• In severe cases, spotting may occur instead of phlegm.
• Coughing like a dog choking and unable to cough.
• Shortness of breath.

For accurate diagnosis, it is necessary to do an ultrasound of the heart using a Doppler machine in order to assess the level of blood circulation and correctly determine the pathology.

Heart cough treatment

Treatment of a cough in a dog that occurs with cardiac pathologies should never be done on its own. Taking antitussive drugs without a proper examination will not lead to a pet's recovery, but will only delay precious time.

Based on the results of the examination, as well as the symptoms of coughing in dogs, only a specialist veterinarian prescribes treatment. In cases of heart problems, the cough is not directly treated, but complex therapy is carried out aimed at eliminating the pathologies that have arisen. The set of measures includes:

• use of mucolytic drugs that relieve spasms of smooth muscles;
• lifelong prescription of cardiac glycosides;
• diuretics to prevent pulmonary edema;
• vitamin complex;
• dieting.

In the event of an acute heart attack, subcutaneous administration of camphor, caffeine is allowed, and intramuscularly - Cordiamin, Sulfocamphocaine. The owner will be required to limit physical activity for the pet, a ban on walking in hot weather or severe frosts, and the exclusion of fatty foods from the diet.

Allergic cough

Allergies in dogs are as common as in humans. More than others, representatives of exotic breeds, whose immunity is rather low, are predisposed to various allergies. This type of cough can be caused by chemicals, food, flowering plants.

The most common allergens that cause coughs are:

• pollen;
• dust;
• household chemicals;
• medicines;
• synthetics;
• poor quality plastic;
• air fresheners and deodorants;
• cigarette smoke;
• garden chemicals;
• flea remedies.

Cough in dogs caused by allergies is usually choking anddry. When reacting to pollen, it intensifies after walking in nature. However, allergies often have other symptoms and complications. For example:

• lacrimation;
• eye irritation and redness;
• blue gums;
• swelling of limbs and muzzle;
• otitis and bronchitis;
• skin rashes and itching.

It is useless to treat an allergic cough without finding out its root cause. That is, it is necessary to protect the dog from the allergen, otherwise the cough will return endlessly, acquiring complications. In order to permanently rid the animal of the suffocating effect, it is necessary to undergo a full veterinary examination with it and pass an allergen test.

If the allergic cough is caused by low-quality food or a new bowl made of bad plastic, then all you need to do is change the diet and throw away the dishes to stop exposure to the allergen. However, it is very difficult to protect a dog from irritants such as dust or plant pollen. In this case, only the regular intake of properly selected antihistamines will help.

If a choking attack of coughing occurred unexpectedly in a dog, then you can give the animal "Suprastin", calculating the dosage in proportion to weight. But in the near future, you should definitely seek the advice of a specialist.

In no case should you treat an allergy on your own or, worse, ignore its manifestations. It is necessary to take the pet immediately to the veterinary clinic for a detailed examination and treatment. Incorrectly selected allergy medicationslead to hormonal disorders and endocrine pathologies. In addition, therapy includes not only taking medications, but also the right diet, the parallel use of drugs to prevent complications in the form of otitis media, bronchitis and dermatitis.

It is impossible to completely cure an allergy in a dog. However, you can greatly reduce its manifestations and eliminate complications, thus making the pet's life quite comfortable.