Dog cough - help!

[babyproblems]

One of my lovely golden oldies has heart disease which is incurable but we are treating and he still has a good quality of life EXCEPT he is coughing. A lot. please wise women of MN have any of you used a dog cough medicine that you could recommend we try???

He has been given an anti vomit medication which apparently has the side effect of reducing coughing. There isn’t much else our vet has to offer.. the coughing in itself is severely reducing his quality of life because he cannot sleep well & he has a sore irritated throat from the coughing. His lovely bark is all raspy and I can see he isn’t his best. I have given him some honey occasionally to try and relieve some of the discomfort.. all advice welcome! X

The coughing is due to his heart failure. If the meds aren't helping and the cough is severely affecting him I think you need to go back to the vet and discuss his quality of life and what other options you have. Hugs, it's so hard watching them grow old.

@Springadorable thanks for your reply. Yes I know it’s caused by the heart failure; the dilemma we have is that his quality of life is still great with the exception of the coughing. He is still very active and enjoys life, it’s only at night when he is lying down the coughing begins. The other thing the get mentioned but didn’t want to offer because it would exacerbate the heart failure was steroids. We’ve seen a specialist for a heart scan to assess the level of degradation who said it wasn’t bad (yet) and that he was likely to have a fairly long road ahead.. I know things can change but I think if I can improve his cough even a bit and treat for sore throat he will be much more comfortable x

Lift his food and water bowl up onto a stand to make eating easier.
Our old dog had a cough due to something wrong with his throat.
Don’t use room plug in scenty things. They can irritate dogs’ breathing which leads to coughing.
If he’s still enjoying his walks, sniffing and eating well, maybe he’s not ready to go yet? However, better a day too soon than a day too late.

I feel for you as I love dogs. However his cough is mostly likely the result of his heart failing. Heart failure causes accumulation of fluid on the lungs. So your boy is ok during the day with better circulation. He is drowning at night. Please take him to the vet to discuss options

There are lots of natural treatments for coughs (such as manuka honey or using a humidifier) but they're for things like Kennel Cough and are unlikely to help a cough that's caused by heart failure I'm sorry to say 🥺

I would speak to your vet to discuss your options as you probably need a specific medication linked to his condition. Big hugs to you x

I work with adults with heart failure. Night time can be hard as lying flat induces coughing and shortness of breath. As well as maximising the treatment for the HF the only thing that can really ease it is not lying flat. Manageable for a human with lots of pillows, a hospital bed etc. Not so easy either dogs 🙁. When he lies down the fluid is pooling and causing the cough.
I'm sorry love but you need another good chat with the vet. Sending hugs.

Go back to the heart specialist

There are lots of medication options to help with the fluid causing the cough. Not sure if appropriate in your case but cardalis can help a lot

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I will go back to the specialist! He is really quite well generally, very much full of life, walks well, eats well, bubbly in himself. I am not yet of the mindset that he has reached the end because he still has a great quality of life - apart from the coughing at night. Will go back to the specialist! Thanks all x

Sorry to hear about your dog OP

Is he on a diuretic to help remove all of the extra fluid? If not it might be what he needs, the cough is usually from the build up of fluid.

My old girl had to go on a diuretic eventually

Sorry about your lovely dog OP. 💐 Hope he gets lots more happiness from life for a long time. Would it be possible to put a cushion under his head when he’s finally settled down for the night?

@BeansOnToast32 thankyou I will look into a diuretic- no he isn’t on one. He is only on heart medication and also an anti nausea tablet to help reduce coughing which isn’t working very well..

@EatCrow thankyou ❤️ yes I am trying to help him sleep more comfortably with another cushion. He won’t stay all night unfortunately he likes to stretch out on floor next to his bed which is not helping at all!!

You can use Benylin just to help the sore throat, it is used for dogs who have kennel clough, but just check it is ok with any other meds he is on.

The cough is likely from the heart failure. The lungs are fluidy and so doggie coughs to try to relieve it. You may notice the cough is worse when doggei is laying down. In the final stages they might start to cough up some fluid but until that stage it is more of a dry, hacking cough.

Diuretics may help and you may also be able to stop a bad coughing fit by gently holding doggie's neck as if they have a collapsed trachea, if that makes sense. Hold the throat gently from behind.

I have sadly had 2 dogs die of heart failure and it is the awful cough that is usually the symptom that will make us say enough is enough. It gets worse and worse until they are coughing more than they are not coughing.

Hello just thought I would update in case this is useful for anyone else- well my Ddog is still going somewhat strong & still on his medication for heart failure BUT he has no fluid build up in the lungs and has been diagnosed with a collapsed trachea aswell; which is causing the cough. We couldn’t understand why on the scans it wasn’t showing really advanced heart failure with the amount of coughing he has; but after some further prodding the vet has discovered his trachea which is very degraded and this is causing his terrible cough. In some ways good news but other ways not good!!! He is ok in himself and continuing treatment. Thanks for all your posts! Xox