old dog cough

ronman

Hi, I have a 14 nearly 15 yo pom, until recently she was in great form but over the last week has developed a deep, dry cough. she literally coughs and tries to cough up phlegm but never coughs up anything. she is coughing all the time when active. she also seems less active as she did not want to go for a walk last night and just sleeps most of time. i am bringin her to vet saturday anyway but has any1 any ideas, i was not at all worried first few days as she had coughs before but just worried it mite be more serious due to her age. otherwise she is fine eating well and happy to see people.

andreac

It could be Kennel cough or it could be a respiritory infection other than kennel cough.
As your dog is quite old it could turn into something more serious if not treated in time. Could you not get her to the vet any sooner? Saturday is very far away and its a long time to leave an old dog sick like that and it could turn into something much worse by then.

Sigma Force

It could be just a cough that needs some antibiotics but it could be her heart either so the sooner she goes to the vets the better, being the age she is if you can get her there sooner than Saturday it would be best.

ronman

ya will get her to the vets this evening or tomoro to be safe. as i ave said she is not sick or disimproving in any way thats the only reason i havnt brought her to the vet yet, its not easy to have 50 euro for every vet visit with the amount of visits ive had ther in the last 2 yrs.

carleigh

A bad cough can also be a sign of liver problems, so you are doing the right thing in getting her to the vet as soon as you can. My 13 y/o Golden Cocker suffers from liver cancer and one of the signs was a very deep cough. He still has it 11 months since his diagnosis, but other than his problems he is a happy dog and as long as he is, we will keep monitoring him and taking him regularly to the vet. Hopefully your girl is just suffering with something simple, and she will bounce back in no time

ohmfg

A cough like that could be a sign of early heart failure.
Glad she's going to the Doc, hope it turns out to be nothing to serious.

lorebringer

A cough, particularly when the dog is active, is a sign of heart problems. Often dogs will not want to partake in activities (such as going for a walk) that will stress their hearts - or from the dogs point of view, make them more tired. Your dog is probably less active due to feeling more tired from the heart issue (if it is that). At 14/15 years old, heart problems are not uncommon but many dogs can lead ok lives once a dose of medication is sorted.

Bringing the dog to the vet as soon as possible is definitely the best option, to ease your own concerns and to make sure the dog is doing ok. When you bring the dog to the vet, make sure they really check the dogs chest well and highlight your concerns. Your vet will be able to inform you about lifestyle changes, medication or anything else that may need to be done to make sure your dog is as happy and healthy as possible for the rest of her days!

ronman

had dog at vet last week, vet confirmed it was enlarged heart and gave us medication, she seems to have improved a lot already and is doin well but i imagine with the heart she will slowly decline anyway. she is coughing a lot less and is lot more active than last week.

boxerly

Sorry to hear that,Is she on Vetmedin and Frusamide?My Bruno had that xxHopefully the meds will kick in and she will feel better xxx

Sigma Force

Great you got it sorted, the fact the meds are helping is great. With the right vet supervision he could still be around for a good long while.

ronman

boxerly wrote: »

Sorry to hear that,Is she on Vetmedin and Frusamide?My Bruno had that xxHopefully the meds will kick in and she will feel better xxx

think those are the ones there is a small round white tablet and a browny cylinder one, full round one and half other one a day. they are meant to speed up the heart flow and get it pumping around the body better.

boxerly

Yep thats them,the small white ones drain any excess fluid away from the heart

ronman

my dog died last week. A great age at 16.5 years but she got a heart attack in the end. she had a few minor seizures/ attacks over the last year but was in great form up until 30 mins before she died so i suppose a good way to go. I think the medication defo lengthened her life by 18 months and kept her in good spirits.

Toulouse

Sorry to hear that Ronman.

Great that she had such a good run of it and was mostly in good health up until the end.

Sorry to hear that, ronman
Our Kiki has the same issue and the vet said nothing can be done, beyond steroids or something for a couple weeks and that's it

Gael23

I think I've seen this in my guy. It was like he was going to vomit but nothing came up.
The vet gave us diuretics for 2 weeks or so and it didn't completely stop but got alot better.