Don't Ignore Coughing
lt Could be a Sign of Serious Illness

Excerpts from "YOUR DOG"
Tufts University School Of Veterinary Medicine.

By Janine Adams

A cough might well be a simple variety, like kennel cough. It's an infectious disease -- bacterial or a virus -- that can spread from dog to dog in close quarters, hence its nickname. An inflammatory reaction in the airways, kennel cough can sound alarming. It produces an uncontrollable dry, almost choking cough that can make your dog gag. But it's self limiting, like the human cold, Says Linda Ross, DVM Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine. If your vet diagnoses kennel cough, they might prescribe cough suppressants (which do require veterinary supervision).

A cough can be the most obvious sign of a more serious ailment. If your dog starts coughing, you should take him to the vet. Especially if your dog is older because the cough might be caused by heart failure or other serious problems.

If you can, try using a tape recorder to capture the sound in case your dog doesn't cough at the vet's office. Listening to the cough on tape, as well as the physical exam, can help to diagnose the problem. The most common ailments associated with coughs in addition to kennel cough include:

• Heart disease or heart failure. This condition particularly affects older dogs. As the dog ages, his heart valves degenerate, which can lead to an enlarged heart. That puts pressure on the bronchi and can lead to fluid in the lungs, both of which can cause a cough.
• Chronic bronchitis. A persistent inflammation of one or more bronchi, the tubes that pass air from the trachea to the lungs. It tends to affect older dogs, particularly small breeds. Dogs with chronic bronchitis may suffer from gagging, rapid breathing and shortness of breath or wheezing with exercise.
• Collapsed trachea. A condition which primarily affects smaller breeds. The dog's windpipe, which connects the throat to the lungs, weakens and collapses. The collapse can be brought on during exercise or in advanced cases during normal breathing or only very mild excitement.
• Pneumonia. This inflammation of the lungs is almost always secondary to something - either bacteriaI, viral or fungal infection; inhalation of harmful gases; or inhaling oral secretions, vomit or food into the lungs. Depression and fever accompany pneumonia.
• Heartworm. A cough could be a sign of the adult stages of heartworm, a mosquito-transmitted parasite that lives in the dog's pulmonary arteries -- those between the heart and lungs. Heartworm can be fataI if left untreated.
• Cancer. Lung cancer is rare in dogs but does exist. In addition, cancer that spread can result in tumors in the lungs, cousin" a cough. Enlarged Iymph nodes caused by Iymphoma can also put pressure on the trachea and make your dog cough.

Other causes... If your dog has recently had surgery, a tube was probably put down his throat for the anesthesia. That tube's going in and out can cause irritation, which might cause your dog to cough. Fungal infections may cause a cough. Blastomycosis, a systemic disease caused by a fungus found in the soil of the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio River valleys, causes infection when inhaled by a dog. The first signs arc usually coughing and difficulty breathing. If left untreated, an infected dog can become seriously ill.

As frightening as these illnesses are, bear in mind dogs sometimes just cough. It's not necessarily a problem. If your dog is coughing noticeably, best to play it safe: take him in for a check-up. It may be nothing or an ailment you'll be happy to catch as early as possible.

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