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Old December 9th, 2007, 10:58 AM
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dogmelissa dogmelissa is offline
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Coughing Maltese

Here's what's going on:
- I have an almost-4 year old Maltese cross, Cube.
- I've been working for just over a week at a doggie daycare, but he's only gone with me 3 times, the first time last Saturday (a week ago). None of the dogs there (most come every day) have any symptoms of kennel cough, though I can't rule it out for Cube.
- It's been really cold here and Cube hasn't gone for a walk in more than a week because the cold triggers reverse sneezes (I compare this to going outside on a really cold day and sniffing and having your snot freeze). We have a humidifier in our house that is working properly, and he comes in the bathroom when we shower.
- Today is my one day off this week and I really wanted to sleep in, however, just after 8:30 this morning (it's currently 9:00), Cube started coughing. They sound dry and non-productive, but they're really strong, like they almost make him gag. They sound a little bit like whooping cough in a person, but I really don't think dogs can get that.

I am going to phone my vet tomorrow if he doesn't get better in the next couple of hours, but they are closed today and I don't think this is an emergency (at least not right now, but if it gets worse, I will take him to the emerg)
I read an article just now that said coughing in dogs tends to make their throat irritation worse, and that if it's an allergy cough or pollutant (or from the weather/humidity) that I should give him Robitussin cough syrup. Well, there's no way I'm going to give him any cough syrup cause they contain alcohol and I don't want a drunk dog. But just recently doctors discovered that honey worked really good at stopping kid's coughing. Can I give him honey? Or is there a non-alcoholic cough syrup that I can give him? (And how much of either do I give him? he weighs about 10 lbs) I don't want to make him sicker, but this article said that because of the way their throats are, coughing itself tends to make irritation worse, so I'd really like to help him rest his throat.

Can anyone help??

Thank you,
Melissa
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Forever in my heart: Patches Gizmo (1987 - 2008), Sierra (1999 - 2010), Rusty (1999 - 2012), Aubrie (1999-2014)


"If you can't afford the vet, you can't afford the pet."

Last edited by dogmelissa; December 9th, 2007 at 11:02 AM.
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Old December 9th, 2007, 11:01 AM
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14+kitties 14+kitties is offline
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Have you heard they are talking about pulling all children's cough syrup off the shelves? If it's dangerous for kids I wouldn't want dogs to have it either. Just my opinion. Honey is natural and I would definetely opt for that. I have never had a coughing dog though.
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Old December 18th, 2007, 08:06 PM
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dogmelissa dogmelissa is offline
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Update

I took Cube to the vet today because his coughing turned into honking and he stopped eating/pooping on the weekend and was generally not feeling well.

The official diagnosis: Canine Cough. He now has a prescrip of Clavamox (antibiotics), which I'm not sure I'll give him--Canine Cough is predominantly viral and the vet said it's unlikely it's bacterial at Cube's stage (not in his chest), and I don't like giving antibiotics as a preventative. So I will see on that, if he's not getting better on his own in a few more days, I will start him on the Clavamox.

The other thing she "prescribed" was cough medicine: Dextromethorphan.. this is the stuff that human doctors say should not be given to kids under 2. Though she gave me a dosage to use (based on his weight), it still makes me nervous. Add to that that I had to buy a kid's version in order to get less than 15mg/mL (Cube's only supposed to get 5mg every 6-8 hours), and it's flavoured--which he apparently hates. So it might end up being a struggle to get him to take the medicine which will make him stop coughing and feel better. So I've been giving him honey but it hasn't been doing a lot of good, but I might end up having to go back to it if he refuses to take the cough syrup.

Anyhow, that's my update, now I'm going to go read more about Canine Cough to see what else I can do to make him comfortable. Apparently it may take up to 3 weeks to run it's course... that's a sucky Christmas for Cube!!

Melissa
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Guardian of Taz (10) & one-eyed wonder Cube (11).
Forever in my heart: Patches Gizmo (1987 - 2008), Sierra (1999 - 2010), Rusty (1999 - 2012), Aubrie (1999-2014)


"If you can't afford the vet, you can't afford the pet."
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