Often our pets fall ill. And, although only the competent veterinarian can understand the symptoms and causes of the diseases, the owner of the animal will also be useful to know what to do if his four-legged friend has overcome this or that disease. Let's find out why the dog coughs, as if she choked or choked.
Possible reasons for the dog coughing
First of all, you must understand that it is not so easy to recognize the true cause of the disease. For this, it is necessary to conduct a thorough examination of the sick animal and evaluate it according to the following indices:
- general state;
- character of cough;
- appetite and activity level of the animal;
- color of the dog's gums;
- whether lymph nodes are enlarged;
- other unusual symptoms (runny nose, watery eyes, hard breathing, fever).
Based on these symptoms, there are several different reasons why a dog coughs and suffocates.
- Viral, or avian cough is an infectious disease that your pet can get from a sick dog. It is called aviary (or nursery), because they are often sick animals, which are kept in large numbers in nurseries. The main symptoms of a viral cough: a strong dry cough, as if the dog choked on something. With severe form, loss of appetite, apathy, and unusual discharge from the eyes or nose may occur. For treatment, expectorants and antibiotics are used, and for prevention - vaccination against adenovirus infection.
- Invasion - caused by the migration of the body worms (toxocars and hookworm). Cough while dry or moderately moist, it becomes stronger when the animal lies down. Treatment of helminthic invasion is necessary, because in time the pathogens fall into the internal organs of the dog and can adversely affect its health.
- In addition, if the dog coughs, as if she had choked, perhaps in the respiratory tract she really got a foreign body . The dog will cough convulsively, with wheezing and attacks of suffocation. To extract a foreign body follows immediately, this should be done by a doctor in a veterinary clinic.
- Allergy is a more rare disease that is similar to the human. Allergic cough can be manifested by contact with chemicals, various plants, food allergens, and also with insect bites. In addition to the cough itself, the dog is disturbed by lachrymation, sneezing, and the gums will be of a cyanotic color. To treat such cough separately does not make sense - first you need to eliminate its main cause.
But remember - only a veterinarian is able to recognize the true cause of the disease and prescribe the correct, adequate treatment. On this depends on the recovery of your pet or possible complications.