Hi. This is my first post. I adopted an older sheltie from a rescue 1 1/2 years ago. He was being starved, had been in an abandoned house with 3 others for two years that the rescuers know of. He was a very sick boy when they found him.
He is precious
, has issues that we are working on...some separation anxiety and excitement when seeing other dogs.
Outside of that, he is a precious and gentle little spirit. He is wonderful.
Anyway, we have a problem. He has a chronic cough. My vet has tested everything and nothing shows up. He coughs in the evening around 9 p.m. and sometimes in the morning. He coughs with 6-10 hacks and then sounds like he is spitting out a hairball.
I am wondering something----> I found myself jerking his collar, as they used to do in the 70s with training
, when he gets excited about other dogs. Could this be what is wrong? My vet said that it wouldn't because when he was on a strong steroid, his cough went away. I really am not certain that he quit coughing when he was on the steroid because he will go for periods without coughing.
I was mortified when I found myself jerking him and have stopped. But, could I have caused this? Does anybody know anything about chronic coughing? My vet said that sometimes dogs just have it and that it is not a serious condition. I would like to find an herb that would help.
Thank you. This little
guy just does not need anymore pain in his life
.
Debbie