My Dog Is Coughing...help???

[zydecohead]

Thanks for the help...

My 10 year old labrador has been coughing off and on for the past few monthes along with sneezing and white phlem being hacked up... His overall health is great other than that, could this be kennel cough and how does one treat this???


Thanks for any advice.
Zydecohead

[StaceyB]

Your dog is a senior and should see a vet regarding this. There are many things it could be and since it has not gone away on its own it will need to be treated in some way. Please take your dog to the vet.

[Prin]

Kennel cough should disappear on it's own in a couple of weeks, with rest and fluids, UNLESS there is a secondary infection, at which point a visit to the animal ER is absolutely necessary. Vets usually do give a course of antibiotics if the dog is high risk for secondary infections, as a preventative measure. Please get this furry to the vet and come back with an update.

[coppperbelle]

Your lab is 10 and considered a senior dog. My 13 year old golden developed a cough in the last year of her life. It was not something that was there every day but once in awhile. It turned out to be heart failure. Please have your dog vet checked as soon as possible. There are drugs available.

[Beaglemom]

Please take your dog to the vet. It is not likely to be kennel cough unless your dog has been recently boarded in a kennel with other dogs.

Because of the age of your dog, the likelihood of it being heart failure related is pretty high. This needs to be treated with medications prompto. We currently have a dog that is in heart failure. He has been now for a couple of years and is living comfortably on his medication. He too developed a cough and would hack up fluids as well. This is due to water in the lungs, indicative of heart failure.

[StaceyB]

Although I don't think this is kennel cough the cases I have seen rarely are from a kennel anymore because most kennels now require that a dog has been vaccinated for bordatella before they come in. The cases I see are from parks and walks. Anywhere where dogs are.

[Jazz&Cricket]

I second all the 'take your dog to the vet'. My miniature schnauzer (10 yrs old) had/has a cough. At first it was thought he had chronic bronchitis (we recently moved to the country) but in fact he has a heart murmur and the cough is related to his heart problem.
Don't take any chances...see a vet.