Something Stuck In His Throat

[mrs tornsocks]

Archie has got something stuck that is making him cough intermittently, he is trying to bring it up. It may be some cotton, or fluff from a fluffy toy he had been playing with.

I gave him a banana, which seems to have made it slightly better but he's still dry retching.

Any suggestions ? I tried to encourage him to have a drink of water but no go.

[lucknow]

Archie has got something stuck that is making him cough intermittently, he is trying to bring it up. It may be some cotton, or fluff from a fluffy toy he had been playing with.

I gave him a banana, which seems to have made it slightly better but he's still dry retching.

Any suggestions ? I tried to encourage him to have a drink of water but no go.

How long has it being going on for, has he had access to bones or chew sticks/toys, is he a scavenger that will grab an undesirable item, does he have any health problems you are aware of, is he on any mediaction, what age and breed is he, when was his last health check, how distressed is he, has he been well in himself recently, changes in activity levels, appetite, etc?

From the tone of your post I would initially think canine cough - as a generalisation dogs will cough anywhere from intermittently to constantly, a frequent description is they sound as though they have fluff or grass in the back of their mouth. Cough is often worse at night (cold air) and/or after being active (think excited when you get home fom work, going for a walk etc).

Having said that it can never be presumed, very rarely a dog will have a foreign body in the throat region and still be able to eat and drink (we had one a few months ago, liver treat or similiar in the oesophagus for several days - it ruptured and he was euthanased on the operating table at 3 months of age), depending on risk factor plus length of time etc bloat can sometimes present as intermittent cough (non productive attempts to vomit) without any obvious enlargement of the abdomen. Heart disease is another possiblilty. Probably many others not springing to mind atm

if you have any concerns I always recommend you take him to a24 hr clinic for assessment or at least speak to them so they can run through pretty much the check list above and you can make a decision re how concerned you are from there.

Hope its just a cough (if so and presuming no special diet or diabetes honey dissolved in warm water and offered lukewarm will give temporary relief in about 50% of dogs, many people give childrens benadryl also).

[Erny]

Are you sure it is not CC?

Regardless, a spoonful of Active Manuka Honey may help. They usually love it anyway, even if it does nothing to assist, lol. I give this to my boy either straight off the spoon or mixed into a cupful of warm water (that he then laps up from his bowl). Encouraging your boy to drink might help to clear anything that might be there. If it doesn't, then don't rule out CC.

ETA: Lucknow beat me to it on the honey suggestion. The thing with honey, and especially AMH, is that it contains antibacterial qualities - so if there is a scratch in the throat (from whatever) or CC, this will assist.

Edited March 23, 2011 by Erny

[mrs tornsocks]

Thanks guys, no is definitely just temporary. It was more of a retch than an ongoing cough, definitely an irritation rather than something that's been hanging around for days.

He drank a bit of water with honey and it seems to have cleared it.

Yes he's a scavenger but he was playing with an old fluffy toy earlier and I think it may have been a bit of that caught.

Thanks !