Guest Ref Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 Hello everyone, Happy New Year! I used to post on here as AndyUK but that no longer seems to work so I've re-registered, anyway.......... Over the past couple of days Sarah has been coughing/retching which sounds like a seal. Sometimes she will bring up a lot of clear, sticky liquid (phlegm?) and others she doesn't but you can hear there is some liquid in her throat. She is not doing it all the time, just every 4 to 5 hours. Once she has got the liquid up she is fine again. She is her normal self in every other way - still keen on her food, walks, treats, cuddles on the sofa etc etc - though we think she has been more 'dribbly' from her mouth lately. She is up to date with her injections and kennel cough prevention. The vet is not sure what it is and so has given her some antibiotics in case it is an infection. Any thoughts on what it could be or what I should look out for? Thanks Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lovemyhound Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 "Seal-bark" cough might be indicative of a foreign body. Does she tend to get into stuff? Could she have chewed up a toy, chicken bone, anything that may have gotten lodged in her throat/air passage somewhere? In humans, that sound usually indicates airway obstruction of some sort. I have no experience with "laryngeal paralysis" but I've seen threads on here about it. I think that involves a seal-like cough as well, possibly someone else with experience can give some thoughts on that. Good luck, I know how worrisome it is when our babies aren't well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Adrianne Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 (edited) My dachshund, Macy, did this for about the last two years of her life. It seemed to happen mostly when she would get excited. Time for breakfast in the morning or if we came home from somewhere, she would get excited ans start that seal barking. Sometimes she would bring up phlegm, sometimes not. The only thing that had changed for Macy was she had been on a round of prednisone and muscle relaxants for muscle spasms she had been having in her neck. The vet didn't think it had any correlation, and probably it didn't. We never were able to find out the cause. ETA: (Seems like I'm always editing my posts, but I usually think of something I meant to say once I hit 'post".) Macy felt wonderful in spite of the hacking and bringing up phlegm. She was sassy and full of life, active, great appetite--she wasn't impeded in any way because of it. Edited January 16, 2010 by Adrianne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Grhndad Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 I would have the vet check her out again, Heart, lungs and x-ray. I have a 10 year old that was experiencing the same and was diagnosed with CHF, (congestive heart failure). This was 18 months ago. IF it is, it is very easley treated. My girl is on Enalapril, 5 mg, twice a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Energy11 Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 I would have the vet check her out again, Heart, lungs and x-ray. I have a 10 year old that was experiencing the same and was diagnosed with CHF, (congestive heart failure). This was 18 months ago. IF it is, it is very easley treated. My girl is on Enalapril, 5 mg, twice a day. These are my thought, too. MANY times, phlegm is due to fluid in the lungs ,which is can be controlled by Lasix and other meds. I'd get a chest x-ray just to rule this out. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ref Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 Thank you all for your replies. She's not really one for eating strange things - but it is possible. Every night she patrols the garden perimeter for foxes - it's possible one of them has brought something into the garden which she has sniffed. Sarah did have a lot of tests last year by specialists at the Royal Veterinary College in the UK because she was panting excessively and we suspected laryngeal paralysis. They knocked her out and gave her a full body scan as well as passing a tube down her throat and taking lung biopsies. They found nothing suspicious. She has been on vivitonin ever since and that seems to have helped with the panting. I have noticed being excited makes her cough. Perhaps the antibiotics are helping as she has only brought up phlegm once today, thankfully. I have to take her back to the vet next week so will certainly ask for a chest x ray for CHF and fluid on the lungs if she hasn't improved. The only problem with that is she has to be knocked out which I really don't like. Thanks again for your kind responses and I'll update when I know more. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ref Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Update:- That'll teach me to be optimistic that the antibitoics starting to work. We got very little sleep last night as Sarah was bring up phlom (the name given to it by my kids - a cross between phlegm and vomit) for several hours. She had one minor episode during the day which we thought might be the tail end of it. She then ate all her dinner and everything was fine. A couple of hours later she started bringing up the treats she has every evening. We've decided the sound is more like a bear than a seal which is followed by the sound of gargling, until the 3rd or 4th time when she brings up the phlom. This continued into the early hours of the morning. We are now wondering whether she is allergic to one of the treats as we could see some of them in what she brought up (though her dinner stayed down). We just realised that we have only been buyng one of the treats since Christmas. Could this be possible? She is going to be one unhappy dog if she does not get her treats each evening! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Energy11 Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 It COULD be the treats. With all the symptoms you are describing, I'd be leary to have you give anything until she is seen by a vet. Something isn't right. I'd still recommend a vet visit and a chest x-ray. In the meantime, yes, stay away from the treats, and I'd try feeding her a soft diet. Good Luck, and lots of prayers going your way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ref Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 It COULD be the treats. With all the symptoms you are describing, I'd be leary to have you give anything until she is seen by a vet. Something isn't right. I'd still recommend a vet visit and a chest x-ray. In the meantime, yes, stay away from the treats, and I'd try feeding her a soft diet. Good Luck, and lots of prayers going your way! Thanks for your kind thoughts. Treats are out of the question for a while - which is going to make her unbearable this evening. She is a creature of habit and expects treats at 7.30 pm after her dinner and walk. I'll take her back to the vet for a chest x-ray when her course of antibiotics is finished next weekend. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ref Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 We took Sarah back to the vet on Wednesday as it became obvious the antibiotics were not having any effect. They took a chest x-ray which showed a large dense tumour next to her heart spreading upwards to her windpipe. In fact it was pushing her windpipe so much you could see a significant bend in it. She also had an endoscopy which revealed that not only was her windpipe being pushed out of position it was also being squashed and the opening was barely big enough for the scope to pass through. The vet was amazed she'd been able to eat for so long. The clear fluid she'd been bringing up was due to the tumour pressing on her heart. The vet suggested diuretics may give her a couple of weeks of quality life but over the next 24 hours she deteriorated further. On Thursday we made the heartbreaking decision to let her go. The speed of Sarah's illness has left us shell-shocked. The house has a big hole in it where she used to be. Thanks for all your words of advice and kind thoughts over the past few years. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Energy11 Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 Oh Andy, sooo sorry to hear about your girl, Sarah! A part of your heart went with her, I know! She will always, always be with you, no matter where you go! Love you, and God Speed your Baby Girl Sarah! Love and many hugs, Dee, Curfew, Goldie, Oakly, Staggerlee, and Cari. My Bob, Bold Energy, Dasher and Max, who met Sarah, at The Bridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest greymama002 Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 So sorry for the loss of your precious girl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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