Hacking cough (been happening for years, not CHF)

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Jason_C

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My Katy has had this hacking cough for at least the last 6 years. It starts out looking like a cat coughing up a furball, then ends with a loud BLAKGH!! Like maybe there's a hair in her throat that she's trying to hack out.

First time it happened, I panicked because a previous dog had congestive heart failure (CHF) and this was the first sign. But the vet found nothing wrong, and if that was the problem she would have died years ago.

As she's gotten older (12 1/2 now) it does seem worse. She often hacks so hard it makes her fart... which was funny at first! Now it's more scary. And she'll do it 5 or 6 times in a row, and by then it starts to get a little scary, too.

I've given her Benadryl but it doesn't seem to have any impact, so I don't think we're talking about allergies. And I vacuum daily, so I don't think it would be a loose hair in her throat.

Is this a common Sheltie thing?

If not, any suggestions on what might be causing it?
 
my previous boy Gavin had a terrible hacking cough. and yes, the episode would end like it was a hairball.
i figure it was a collapsing trachea.
It would present on being held for a long period of time (positional? how he was held?). but this was a brief hack on getting down.
But mostly it happened if he was in his wheelchair for an evening walk (when he first started with the wheelchair I would walk him every evening in it). it got pretty bad and he would hack multiple times at night. I stopped the walks and left the chair for the beach and maybe 2 short walks a week and it went away. I eventually got a different harness for the wheelchair.
I figure it was the way the original harness hit his trachea.
 
Hmm. You're right that she does do it more when I pick her up to help her onto the furniture! She's never liked being picked up, so it's possible that this has always been an issue and she's just showing it more now.

She rarely has a problem when wearing a harness, but I have it pretty loose around her neck and more snug on her chest. This is her harness:

https://www.lupinepet.com/store/dogs/dog-harnesses/roman-dog-harnesses

She'll also do it more if I'm petting her for too long or too aggressively. I assumed that was causing her to salivate and she was getting choked on it :-(

I don't suppose there's any treatment for a collapsing trachea?
 
I'd google it. its more common in small dogs. maybe there is some advice on small dog forums. I do think they can do surgery but that is only for serious cases.
Gavin's wheel chair harness was an issue because it was used to pull him and the pressure was a lot.
I don't imagine a walking harness would be a problem.
but even after I figured that out, he would still have a shorter abbreviated hack when letting him down from being held (I would hold him under the chest with one arm while using the other to do something like open the door or similar)
 
Checkers hacks after I carry her, which I figure is the result of my holding her under her rib cage. It doesn't matter how far or back I put my hand, she always hacks when I put her down. Since I carry her up and down stairs, this can be several times a day. She's done this for a few years. My vet suggested giving her Cerenia (prescription you'd have to get from vet), usually prescribed for nausea but also can help decrease inflammation in the airwaves. I give her 15 mg every other night and it does keep her from coughing when she's not being carried.

Cerenia is super expensive, about $10 per pill, so I have my vet prescribe the 60 mg tabs from Chewy and I split them in four. It might be worth asking your vet if that would help Katie.
 
FWIW, after Katy's stroke I had to pick her up sometimes whether she liked it or not! I started scooping under her butt first, tucking her tail under, so that when I picked her up she was in a more seated position. And then my hand on her chest was just for balance, with no real pressure. She still hates it, but hacks less afterward.
 
Jason_C said:
FWIW, after Katy's stroke I had to pick her up sometimes whether she liked it or not! I started scooping under her butt first, tucking her tail under, so that when I picked her up she was in a more seated position. And then my hand on her chest was just for balance, with no real pressure. She still hates it, but hacks less afterward.
Click to expand...

That's exactly how we carry the girls when they're pregnant. It works really well. Checkers, like Katie, doesn't like that either. Interestingly, picking her up that way makes no difference in her hacking when I put her down! She's another one who doesn't like being picked up, although she's learned to accept it now and will wait for me to get her instead of bolting for the stairs or deck. I'm assuming that the hack is due to my pressing on something when I carry her. At least it stops right away.
 
Again, you really need to check for reflux as this is a classic sign.

Tully has always had this cough thing, it was mostly after she drank or I picked her up. It happens all the time now with her GI and reflux issues.
 
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