Dog still coughing - any ideas

zandp

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Posted this in May

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=372462

He's still coughing. He's now been scoped, had multiple sets of x rays, urine tests, blood, liver & kidney function tests and the vet still hasn't got a clue. All the tests came back clear apart from the urine - very low blood level seen but apparently nothing to worry about as kidneys etc all working fine.

It's got slightly better with Piriton but not cleared up, I'm going to move onto a cough medicine next (in desperation), was thinking of using a childrens / paediatric one as probably safer, does that sound sensible ?

I'm also giving him echinacea in hope but is there anything else I could try ?
 

cobgirlie

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Yes you can use kids cough medicine, just one t-spoon will do (assuming dog is not a toy breed?)

Also try liqurice root in his water, I use it for anything that comes in with KC, works well (also helps their Liver and can help with itching..fyi!!:D).
 

haycroft

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Yes you can use kids cough medicine, just one t-spoon will do (assuming dog is not a toy breed?)

Also try liqurice root in his water, I use it for anything that comes in with KC, works well (also helps their Liver and can help with itching..fyi!!:D).
yes you can use benelin cough mixture..i havent used it but i do know a few which have

also do you think hes allergic to anything which is making him cough

have you tried the homapathic route
 

zandp

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Piriton and ecchinacea seem to be helping, he didn't cough last night at all which was amazing.

Homeopathic route was next, I have been working on my vets to get them to refer me to one who a friend's recommended but as this seems to be working we're going to carry on giving him Piriton.

Slightly peeved that the vets have been investigating this since April/May this year and have continually said "it's not an allergy to anything", despite his incredibly itchy skin starting at the same time as the cough.

Anyway all seems to be well now. Fingers crossed this is actually working and not just a non coughing blip.
 

Booboos

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Betty had a mechanical cough secondary to heart disease as her enlarged heart put pressure on her trachea, so perhaps something to discount.

If it is an allergy, a steroid inhaler could work really well and does not have the side-effects of oral steroids.
 

zandp

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Heart, lungs, liver and kidney are all working fine (well for a dog his age) no abnormalities with anything, he's had the whole gamut of tests.

We're about to finish 2 weeks worth of Piriton which is the length of test we agreed with the vet so if he starts coughing again we'll be back to them to talk about steroids and steroids vs Piriton, nice to know about the lack of side effects with inhalers, something I was worried about.

Really annoyed with the vets that, unlike my horse vets, there's been no proactivity from them re his treatment, it's been me pushing for the tests because their first reaction was to say : worm him and try these antibiotics and let us know. We let them know immediately the first medicines were finished that there was no affect and have had to really push for them to investigate further. Oddly the horse vets are at the same practice. Steroids have been mentioned but when I've expressed concern about side effects there's been no explanation about different types of steroids just an attitude of - well this is the only possible treatment.
 

zandp

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Thanks for the link :) haycroft

KissyCat - Lungworm was our first thought, the first thing we did was worm him after the first vet visit but there was no change at all.
 

Booboos

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Are you still with your local vets? It might be worth getting a referral to a specialist unit. Our local vets misdiagnosed Betty's enlarged heart which was causing the cough as a lung tumour...

Nasal steroids, as far as I understand it from Jakey's treatment, have no side-effects and are compatible with other medications such as anti-inflammatories if he ever needs those.
 

zandp

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Our next step is referral to one of 2 centres around here apparently. We're currently trying to get the vets to tell us what this will involve - he's an old dog, is going blind and deaf and gets very stressed away from us/home/familiar surroundings. I don't want to put him through too much if the Piriton is removing the problem.
 
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