My dog has a cough – causes and symptomsWhen dogs cough, an accurate diagnosis is important. Cough type and accompanying symptoms such as gagging, mucous nasal discharge or shortness of breath provide clues here.
Cough in dogs can have various causes. As different as the causes are, as different are the symptoms that develop. A close observation of the symptoms and the accompanying circumstances can therefore provide the first clues to a diagnosis.
Dog cough – symptoms and causes
Dry cough
Dry cough in dogs usually indicates a disease of the respiratory tract.
– A mild cold or bronchitis is the most harmless diagnosis. – If the cough comes on suddenly, a Foreign body in the airways have set. Especially with young dogs an infectious kennel cough is not improbable. Here, the symptoms of mild fever, retching and nasal discharge are often added. Lungworm infestation Is a rather rare trigger of a dry cough.
If dry cough in dogs lasts longer than 2-3 weeks, it is probably a chronic event.
– Chronic bronchitis is a common condition associated with a dry cough, tough sputum and declining performance. – If the dog coughs primarily during exertion or at night, a Heart diseaseor asthma in question. – If dogs of smaller breeds cough especially when they are excited or happy, this is a disease of the trachea probably (tracheal collapse)
Damp cough
Wet cough in dogs is a sign of a bacterial infection, especially in combination with fever.
– If moist cough is not treated with medication, a Pneumonia arise with purulent sputum. Dogs with pneumonia are also listless, listless and have little appetite. – Also an advanced Heart disease with pulmonary edema is accompanied by a wet, chronic cough. Mucous sputum is choked out by the dog in the process, which owners often describe as vomiting because the cough is quite powerless. – With a Left heart failure cough that occurs at night or early in the morning is typical.
Choking
Coughing is often accompanied by retching in dogs. Particularly at the end of a coughing attack the dog then chokes out mucous secretion – typical are thereby also swallowing movements, if the dog tries to swallow the regurgitated mucus down again.
Dogs showing these symptoms may have chronic bronchitis or heart problems. Therefore, they should be examined by a veterinarian.
Dogs with cough – When to go to the vet?
If dogs cough for more than 2-3 days, they should generally be examined by a veterinarian. The possibility of serious diseases such as chronic bronchitis are not small. Timely treatment can decisively influence the course of the disease.