6 Reasons Your Dog Is Coughing (and How to Treat Them Fast!)

Are you wondering why your dog could be coughing? Let's talk about a couple reasons why this could be happening. I'm Dr. Gabrielle Fadl and this is a very sleepy Torchy. So, a coughing dog sounds pretty similar to that of a person where they're expiring forcefully. It can sound anywhere from a quiet cough to a louder honking sound or even a wet sound. If you notice your dog is doing this frequently or there's a pattern to it or it's lasting for more than a day or so, it's probably a good idea to get them checked out. Um, this is especially true if your dog is doing other things that are not normal. So, if they're not eating, if their nose is running, if they seem short of breath, anything along those lines would be a really good idea to visit. So, there's many reasons why dogs can cough. It could be infectious reasons, so an upper respiratory infection or something worse like pneumonia. Additionally, they can cough for inflammatory reasons. So if there's inflammation down in the lungs, something like bronchitis, which we can see occasionally in dogs. And then lastly, it could be related to structural changes, tracheal disease, uh or something is going on with their heart. Many different reasons, some a little bit more concerning than others. So the first one we'll get into is kennel cough. Kennel cough or respiratory infection is an infection that can happen anywhere along the airway. Most commonly it is isolated to the upper airway, the nose, the throat, um sometimes a little further down into the chest. Reason it is called kennel cough is because dogs tend to get this from areas where there's many dogs confined into a small space. So a kennel is a really good example. Um the dog park, uh doggy daycare, places like that. If you do bring your dog in to see us for kennel cough or respiratory infection, they can be treated with antibiotics in some cases, but in some cases they don't need any treatment at all in terms of medication. So another reason your dog could be coughing is pneumonia. Pneumonia can happen for infectious reasons, for example, bacteria or viral infections, or they can aspirate, meaning they inhale either food or something from their stomach typically. So, that is aspiration pneumonia is the name for that. If they're sick, meaning they're not eating, they require oxygen, uh they're they're really not feeling great, typically they will stay at the hospital for either a short period of time or longer if they're not getting better. But thankfully, some of these cases are treatable as an outpatient. Signs of pneumonia can include coughing as well as a runny nose, sometimes goopy eyes. Um, you might notice your pet is not feeling well, so they're not playing, they're not eating as well, um, just kind of moping around. For many dogs, allergies could be the culprit for their coughing. Although it's not a super common reason that dogs will cough, usually it's sneezing, it's not a bad idea to get them evaluated if it's happening frequently enough. Your vet might take a listen to their chest and maybe run an X-ray just to make sure we're ruling out anything super serious. And then we might consider something like an antihistamine or other allergy medication to help with their symptoms. You might notice coughing related to allergies more commonly during times where allergens are particularly high. So during the change in seasons, definitely in the spring and fall time, a cough might make you zero into the lungs immediately, but it might be a warning sign from another part of the body. For example, parasites can cause coughing, specifically heartworm disease. Heartworm disease is a parasitic infection that is transmitted by mosquitoes. What happens is a mosquito injects immature heartworm into the dog's body that then travel to the heart and lungs and mature there which can cause a cough. Thankfully, preventing heartworm disease is quite easy using a once a month preventative medication. If your pup has a cough that won't let up and we've ruled out other causes of coughing, it might be chronic bronchitis. This is something we tend to see in older dogs, but we can see it as a genetic cause in some younger dogs as well. It's usually from chronic inflammation in the lower airways. So, although chronic bronchitis is not curable, it certainly is treatable. One thing people can do at home is making sure your dog is at a healthy body weight as well as using steroids such as an inhaler. And lastly, bronco dilators. They help to open up the airways so that the pet can breathe a bit better. In some cases, coughing can be a symptom of an even bigger issue like heart disease, heart failure, tracheal collapse, or even cancer. If your dog is coughing frequently, it's not a bad idea to get them evaluated just to make sure there isn't something bigger going on. Some signs that may warrant a vet visit immediately are shortness of breath, coughing that simply won't stop, or any discoloration of their lips or tongue that look blue or purple, or anything of that nature. If there's any symptom that is accompanying coughing that is making you uneasy, definitely get them evaluated right away. Thanks for tuning in. We'll catch you next time.