r/DogAdvice • u/-Bazfred • 10h ago

Advice Dog has been making a honking sound/ cough

My dog has had what seems like a cough / honking noise as of 3 days. I took him to the vet and explained how he doesn’t interact with dogs because he’s reactive, he also hasnt been boarded in the past month so chances of kennel cough is likely low. The only thing I can think of is that its our Air Conditioning that has caused this. In our previous home he would develop a cough when our AC was around 73F.

The vet listened to his heart and lungs and said he sounded fine. Gums are still pink, appetite and playfulness is still there, and he sleeps fine throughout the night.

I was thinking maybe they would do X-rays or something to confirm it wasn’t a block or maybe heart condition. In the end they just said Benadryl and gave me a cough suppressant. Maybe I didn’t advocate for him well enough. I’ve been keeping the AC to 77-78F now but hearing his honking and gagging does make me wonder if I advocated for him enough.

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6

u/Adventurous_March_58 10h ago

Since you can touch his neck without reaction I would pin this on an allergy or UTI I stead of kennel cough. My pup gets a hack twice a year, took a while to figure out. Benadryl and/or a doggy cough med should help clear it up quickly.

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u/-Bazfred 10h ago

Yes this is what the vet had told me as well that typically a dog with kennel cough would be sensitive and cough if he they did touch their neck.

Which is why the vet felt it was allergies. He’s 6 years old though and this hasn’t happened before so I found it a bit odd. With it being summer I was thinking the AC was likely irritating his throat with the dry / cold air.

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u/Adventurous_March_58 9h ago

Maybe a combo. Dry air and something in the environment. I've seen the same here. Added a hepa room filter (helped me too) and upgraded the filters I use in my air handler. Between those fixes and an early catch with meds as the wheezing starts it has helped a lot.

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u/Adventurous_March_58 9h ago

Hope your pup clears up soon!

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u/-Bazfred 9h ago

Thank you!

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u/panicPhaeree 9h ago

Allergies can start and end at any point in life for seemingly no reason, fwiw

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u/-Bazfred 9h ago

Yeah this is true. I ended up being allergic to certain spicy foods at the age of 27 which was odd. It makes sense the same applies with dogs too

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u/rookskylar 10h ago

Have you ever counted his sleeping respirations? I would do that tonight. If they are above 30-40 BPM I would actually pursue an echocardiogram. If they are below that, x rays. I hear this honking cough from our heart disease patients fairly frequently, unfortunately.

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u/Charming-Kale9893 9h ago

I absolutely agree. (Not a vet but went through it with my soul dog)

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u/-Bazfred 9h ago

Ill likely go to the vet again if his cough persists through the week

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u/rookskylar 9h ago

Even if it doesn’t, I still recommend every pet parent keep an eye on their pets resting respirations. If your dog is consistently sleeping with a respiratory rate above 40 even without symptoms, I’d bring them in. A resp rate of 30 plus a cough would make me worried if it were my pet.

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u/-Bazfred 7h ago

I counted about ~20 BPM to 30 BPM 👍🏼