Can dogs have lung cancer?

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My 12 yr old pointer x has had an intermittent dry cough (similiar sound to a cat trying to bring up a furball!!) for a few mnths now. He only coughs when lying down, not when excercising, and there is no blood or mucus coming up. He was exposed to cigarette smoke as a younger dog, but my husband and I gave up smoking 7 yrs ago.
He is due for his vaccs next week so will obviously mention it to the vet then, but any ideas? He has been healthy all his life until he turned 12, and now is being treated for arthritis, has developed cataracts and has a lump on his tongue also - poor lad has everything going wrong at once!
 
Yes. I very sadly lost the best show bitch I ever had with lung cancer, she was only 4:( However, no one in our house had ever smoked, so it certainly wasn't due to passive smoking. She never had a cough, just lost weight and started to lack energy, it was only when her breathing became laboured that x rays showed the shadow on her lung. At 12 years old it could possibly be a slight heart problem with your lad, so would be worth asking your vet to check him out, which in fact he probably would be doing anyway . I
 
It could be his heart, early signs of heart failure are a dry cough at rest, may be worth phoning your vet for a chat to see if he should be brought in sooner than next week.
 
Are you sure it isn't kennel cough, that is a really horrible choking cough and they sound like they are trying to clear their throat and cough something up. Sadly as others have said it could also be an early sign of heart failure too. A trip to the vet is advisable. You MUST tell them the dog is coughing because they ought to advise you to wait outside the public waiting room because if it is kennel cough it is highly contagious and you should not take your dog near others.
 
He is innoculated for kennel cough so doubt it would be that.

Harper girl - the cough is 'intermittent', not persistant, ie he may not cough for a few weeks and then will have a few bouts over a couple of days, then not cough again for another few weeks. He has been back and forth to the vets over the last few months for his arthritis, so we have been so pre-occupied with getting his medication at the correct dose to keep him sound, with the cough never being present at that time.

Now we have him sound and comfortable again, I will get the cough investigated fully, as I certainly did not apprecaite it could be heart related. Unfortunately he has had to go on Rimadyl for his arthritis, and was just wondering if the cough could be a side effect as co-incided with the beginning of his treatment, hence asking for advice.

Please rest assured this is one pampered pooch and I am only asking for ideas - of course he will get the appropriate vetinary attendance and do not expect any of your advice to be a substitute.......
 
Sorry, also meant to mention that it is unlikely to be contagious as he lives with other dogs who are not coughing.
Will let you know what the vets says.
 
Would definately be best to chat about it first. My dog only coughed once, weeks ago, yet when he went to have his boosters they found his chest was severely congested and they couldn't give boosters with him so rattly.

He still hasn't had them more than 4 weeks later and £350 quid later, bloods, xrays and small scan we still don't know for sure what's wrong with him.

pos. deep seated chest infection, but we'll see.
 
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