Why is my dog coughing and throwing up
Coughing, Gagging and Choking in Dogs Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments
0:00 / 0:00
Timecodes:
hi there welcome to the top dog tips
youtube channel thanks for joining us
we're going to be talking about
something that we all fear and hope to
never happen with our dog we're going to
be talking about coughing gagging and
choking in dogs and the symptoms causes
and treatments we can do before we begin
please be sure to like and subscribe to
our youtube channel also be sure to
subscribe to our website topdogtips.com
we've provided a link below in the
description if you click on that link
and subscribe you'll receive a free
ebook on 25 vet recommended homemade dog
food recipes with that let's get into it
coughing for humans is our body's
natural way to respond to the presence
of any irritants or abnormalities
existing in our airways on the other
hand gagging or choking is a reflex that
usually happens after or before coughing
and just like us dogs cough and gag
occasionally when they have something
irritating the back of their throat or
there's something lodged in their airway
hopefully that's not the case but it's
something to note if your dog is
persistently coughing gagging or choking
and it can be a symptom of some more
serious underlying illness or medical
condition so loosely speaking the reason
your dog is gagging coughing or choking
persistently is because it's throat
that's irritating it or something
obstructing the airway or there's
something else going on the symptoms
might include mucus production from both
of your dog's nose and eyes or nothing
at all your dog may also experience
coughing frequently in occasional
vomiting from time to time if the
coughing continues your dog will
eventually feel pain in its throat which
then can result in them having a reduced
appetite to eat which results in
lethargy and extreme weight loss these
are obviously extreme examples and
hopefully you catch it earlier before it
gets to something like that so the
severity of the cough can range from
mild as i described to life-threatening
signs of any respiratory infection
generally there are four types of coughs
in dogs a hacking cough this is when
your dog lets out a dry hack sounds like
they're getting a blockage out of their
mouth or throat a wet cough this is when
your dog emits kind of a phlegmy cough a
gagging cough this is when your dog
constantly makes gagging sounds as you
kind of know or you've probably seen it
a honking cough i've heard this before
the only thing was my dog had i think
water go down the wrong way there she
was drinking it too fast so she sounded
like a geese when she was coughing so
let's talk about the common reasons why
your dog would be coughing or gagging
number one tracho collapse it's a kind
of respiratory distress in dogs that
causes the trachea or the windpipe to
become soft and floppy this tends to
happen in smaller dogs unfortunately
once a dog's cough starts it doesn't
really calm down immediately overweight
or obese dogs tend to have the worst
case of tracheal collapse especially
when exposed to heat or irritants dogs
with tracheal collapse are not as active
as other dogs and they have exercise
intolerance and have difficulty
swallowing food and water a collapsed
trachea treatment includes a regulated
diet and weight loss plan cough
suppressants and antibiotics the
veterinarian also might recommend
surgery a second common cause could be
kennel cough it's a condition caused by
a certain bacteria where your dog's
airways and trachea is inflamed this
condition is actually common among
seemingly healthy dogs that have been
adopted or bought from breeders or
shelters if your dog acquires kennel
cough or if your dog gets kennel cough
they might experience a hacking dry
cough due to upper airway irritation
this also later on could lead to
wretching and possible vomiting keep in
mind that this condition is very
contagious it may spread through you
know other dogs kennel usually
resolves itself over time but they may
require prescribed antibiotics and dog
cough suppressants to secure itself
quicker and prevent secondary symptoms
one might also be able to avoid it if
the veterinarian has the vaccine for it
which is something you would obviously
speak to your vet the third common cause
is pneumonia dog pneumonia is a severe
one where the inflammation of your dog's
lungs is caused by pre-existing
conditions like for example with a
canine influenza virus or a bacterial
infection or a parasitic invasion based
on the dog's condition they can either
have the primary or secondary disorder
although pneumonia can happen to any dog
breed older dogs are more prone to
contracting the illness due to
complications in the respiratory tract
symptoms of pneumonia can include
coughing difficulty swallowing and
difficulty breathing and also might
showcase particular issues with them
being able to lose weight unlike other
conditions dogs with pneumonia they
cough softly so it's not like a big like
hacking noise or like a honking noise
occasionally they'll sound like they're
gasping pneumonia is not contagious but
it will rapidly become fatal if not
treated or appropriately addressed the
fourth common cause is heart disease
dogs with chronic heart disease are more
prone to coughing than other normal dogs
their coughs are usually soft and
continuous and may worsen at night while
lying down depending on which types of
heart disease they have they continue to
cough due to breathing difficulties that
is resulting from the compression of
significant airways in your dog's lungs
chronic heart disease is common to large
dogs and miniature toy breeds alike
fifth common cause is heartworm disease
dogs infected with heartworm are also
predisposed to any coughing and can
experience hacking coughing sounds or
choking or gagging it also includes
bloating and lethargy mosquitoes are
known for the carriers of this parasite
and are they're prevalent in warmer
areas of the country like texas and
florida so outside of that the risk of
your dog getting heart warm is not super
high but it's possible number six canine
chronic bronchitis also known as
tracheobronchitis
it's a respiratory bacterial infection
where it flames the linings of the
airways so basically causes inflammation
in the lungs and will result in swelling
and excessive mucus production making it
harder to breathe for your dog this type
of bronchitis is a progressive disease
that will worsen over time which can
lead to severe breathing problems aside
from having trouble breathing its
symptoms also include lethargy so like
say they're not really having a lot of
energy and wheezing like cough sounds
and as well as a sore throat it's not
really easy to tell if your dog has a
sore throat that would be something a
veterinarian would diagnose man if it
seems like they're having a tough time
swallowing generally affects any type of
reed but miniature sized dog breeds are
more prone or dogs with shorter snouts
the seventh common cause is laryngeal
dysfunction and paralysis also known as
vocal cord paralysis laryngeal
dysfunction just basically your dog has
the inability to bark while also having
difficulty breathing the potential
causes for this illness are tumors on
the dog's throat neck or chest when the
paralysis sets in the larynx does not
expand hindering their ability to
breathe and gives off a like a honking
cough its coughs are continuous loud and
very laborous so it looks like the dog
is definitely it's like wearing them out
as the dog is attempting to free their
airway the eighth common cause is lung
cancer it occurs among dogs who have
tumors as well growing in their lungs
this would be obviously discovered after
if they seem like they have trouble
breathing then you take them to the vet
and the vet would do x-rays and further
tests it's quite scary obviously for dog
owners fortunately only one percent of
the dog population is diagnosed with
lung cancer the lifespan of dogs with
lung tumors often varies if they have
lymph nodes present you definitely need
to take this one seriously as it can be
potentially life-threatening your
veterinarian may suggest chemotherapy
for this type of disease the ninth
common cause is reverse sneezing it
usually occurs in short-snouted dogs
wherein they produce cough or choking
sounds it's kind of like you would know
what it sounds like just youtube like a
video or a google video of what it
sounds like it sounds like they have
like water in their nose or something
like that and they're like trying to
inhale but yeah that's basically what
reverse sneezing is and it's like a
spasm where they like inhale inhale
inhale and it sounds like they have like
some water in their nose or something
like that some of the reasons this
happens is irritants including like poor
material actually as well as an
excitement sudden changes in the weather
and temperature as well as exercise and
a collar that might be too tight it's
not a severe condition but it can be
problematic if it becomes chronic and
prolonged the final common cause for
coughing is allergies and contact with
foreign objects there may be an instance
where a dog can inhale like a foreign
object such as like spores or pollen and
then have an allergic reaction causing
them to choke or cough and gag let's
talk about some treatments for dog
coughs so dogs with kennel cough as long
as it's mild just make sure you
prioritize hydration nutrition and rest
and it'll kind of handle itself however
the condition seems severe you may have
to contact your vet and then antibiotics
cough suppressants steroids and even
sedatives are the standard prescription
for dogs diagnosed with tracheal
collapse and chronic bronchitis and then
if diagnosed with heart worms treatments
vary depending on the stages of the
condition dogs without symptoms may be
prescribed some prescription pills to
reduce and eventually kill larva in the
earliest stage heartworm can be fatal if
they don't receive early and proper
diagnosis so how can we prevent some of
these coughs and treatments it's
definitely important to have your dog be
fully vaccinated by like making sure
that they have their vaccines taken care
of that's the bordetella vaccine the
heartwarm vaccine i didn't get the
heartwarm vaccine but my dog every
summer go to the vet and they prescribe
her stuff for heartworm just to be
taking as a preventative because i live
in florida and mosquitoes can be bad
your dog may only have to take pneumonia
shots once every five to seven years and
flu shots at least annually well that's
gonna do it for us here at top dog tips
if you like our content if you learn
something new if you find our content
helpful please be sure to like and
subscribe to our youtube channel as well
as share the channel share it with your
friends that's how we continue to grow
and continue to put out great content i
hope you have a great rest of your day
and we'll talk to you soon
[Music]
you
