Dog hacking with a bit of throw up

[fred04]

My parents' dog has been coughing and hacking up somthing. Not much comes up, because nothing will come out of his mouth. It's like he has acid reflex or something. This results in a sour smelling beard. And he has a large beard since he's a schnauzer.

Any suggestions?

[Trinitie]

As the title of this forum says: "if your pet is vomiting, bleeding, has diarrhea etc. seek vet care."

Bring him to a vet, or at the very least, have your parents do it.

[JudieB]

I have a 10 year old boxer named Sophie who has started losing weight and coughing and hacking quite a lot. In September, I had the vet out to check her out, and she gave her a cortisone shot and an antibiotic. She seemed to do a little better, and then about Thanksgiving, she started in again. When I got the vet out here, she did a complete blood work on her and said that everything checked out good. So, she recommended a dose of allergy medication(or benydrl) or else 2 tsp. of robitussin dm. That didn't help at all. I don't know what to try next. I know she is getting old (for a boxer, 10 is very old), but would like to be able to help her, as when she coughs, she also has a problem with incontinence and with winter weather, I like to keep her in the house as much as possible.

[Trinitie]

If you're not able to take her for a second opinion, then you'll have to abide by what the first vet says. It's possible that she's reaching the end of her "puppydom" and is having some difficulties in old age.

If you want to keep her inside more, but don't like her coughing and peeing, then you may want to keep her on a blanket or pee pad.

[Carina]

Fred - could it be kennel cough? If so it would probably run its course, but a vet should see the dog to figure out what is going on for sure.

Judie...I'm a big proponent of second opinions if the first vet hasn't any real answers. Has she been checked for heartworms? Coughing & weight loss could indicate (among a bunch of other things) heart problems. If you haven't already done so, make sure you rule that out.