What If My Dog Is Coughing & Thirsty?

Cough Indentification

• Dog owners sometimes confuse coughing with other sounds including gagging, retching, vomiting, wheezing, labored breathing and sneezing or reverse sneezing. While these sounds are sometimes similar, coughing is a rapid and hard expulsion of air via the mouth. The type of cough also gives a clue as to the cause. Dry, hacking coughs usually indicate irritation or a foreign body in the airway. A goose-honk-style cough indicates tracheal trauma, and a wet, productive cough almost always indicates infection. The frequency and duration of coughing can also help a veterinarian determine the nature of the cough. If your dog coughs more during the day or at night, or if the coughing persists over a period of days, an infection or illness may be at work.

Causes of Coughing

• Canine coughing sometimes results from an infection. Bacterial, viral and fungal infections can all cause irritation of the throat and lungs, precipitating coughing. Parasitic infestations including heartworms, hookworms and lungworms can all cause a dog to start coughing. Cancer, particularly lymphoma, can also cause a frequent cough. Congestive heart failure produces a moist, productive cough in dogs. Seasonal allergies or irritation due to secondhand smoke, pressure from a too-tight collar or a foreign object in the airway are common causes of canine coughs. Bronchitis results from an inflammation of the airway and can also lead to coughing. Trauma from abuse or pulling against a leash can also lead to a canine cough.

Increased Thirst

• If a dog is coughing and thirsty, the thirst may or may not have anything to do with the actual cause of the cough. Dogs with irritation or allergies drink more water as a means to soothe their irritated throats or in an attempt to remove the irritant or foreign bodies from their respiratory system. Some diseases can cause increased thirst but no coughing. Diabetes mellitus is one example of a condition that causes increased thirst. While coughing is not a symptom of diabetes, another condition such as irritation may also be present. Dogs infested with heartworms usually have a dry cough and are almost always excessively thirsty as a symptom of the disease.

Treatment

• Treatment of coughing and excessive thirst depends on the cause of both the coughing and the thirst. If the thirst is secondary to the cough, treatment of the underlying cause of the cough causes the dog to stop drinking so much. If the thirst and cough are two separate issues, treatment of both underlying causes is necessary to stop the coughing and thirst. In the case of heartworms, which cause both excessive thirst and coughing in dogs, clearing the infection will require medication or surgery.