How to comfort a dog with collapsing trachea and harsh cough?

Some dogs with tracheal collapse need to stay on hydrocodone long term and also a bronchodilator. You should call your vet and give him/her an update and maybe your vet can just prescribe additional medications without having to take him back to the vet.

Hello, and thank you for your question. If Lacy is only coughing once or twice at night, you can ask your vet about trying a cough suppressant for the night time only. However, if she is coughing frequently at night, I'd also want to rule out heart disease as an underlying cause. Coughing due to heart disease often happens during rest, as fluid accumulates in their lungs when they are lying on their sides. Chest x-rays would be necessary to rule this out. For dogs with collapsing trachea that cough regularly at all hours, you can ask your vet about using a bronchodilator, and/or inhaled steroids, which get the medicine directly into her lungs where she needs it, with minimal absorption into the rest of her body, in turn minimizing side effects of steroids. Check out the Aerodawg, which is an inhaler designed just for dogs. However, as stated earlier, if her coughing is minimal, just a cough suppressant at night may be enough. In addition, switching to a harness instead of a collar can be very helpful, as it minimizes pressure on the trachea when the dog is pulling on the leash. I hope this helps, and that Lacy is doing well!

Typically, medical management of collapsing trachea includes cough suppressants such as hydrocodone, tapering doses of prednisone or inhaled steroids such as fluticasone. If Chaisey has developed an acute worsening of symptoms, thoracic radiographs and an airway wash should be considered to rule out infection. Albuterol is typically not helpful in my experience.

Unfortunately, it is illegal for anyone at Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to provide dosing instructions for any medications since we have not examined Dyamond. If Dyamond is coughing, your safest plan is to take her to a vet for an exam. Dogs cough for a wide variety of reasons (heart disease, heartworm disease, kennel cough, viruses, pneumonia, etc.), and cough suppressants can make many conditions worse. I hope that she's feeling better soon!

Poor guy. If the Temaril alone is not helping him I would highly recommend telling your vet so that they can also prescribe additional medications. Tracheal collapse is often treated with several medications in more severe cases. Cough tabs or Torbutrol tabs are given to help reduce the cough. Also a bronchodilator is helpful in some pets to open up the airway just before the thoracic inlet. For now you can mix a small amount of honey mixed with water and offer that to Ferris until you an get him seen again by your vet. Honey has anti-inflammatory proerties that may be somewhat helpful. Also make sure not to place a collar on him, harness only, and try your best to keep him in a quite room with limited stimulus. I hope that Ferris feels better soon! Best wishes and take care.

Unfortunately medication won't improve this sort of cough because it is due to a functional problem not irriation. She is coughing because her trachea is collapsing. I would not recommend over the counter human medicine as sone cough bottles have ingredients toxic to dogs, and it wouldn't help anyway.

Tussigon (hydrocodone bitartrate) is good for collapsing trachea along with using a harness instead of a collar, as well as keeping Kasey as calm as possible. Daily VetriScience Composure chews (available on chewy.com and petco.com) are highly effective in many dogs to ‘take the edge off’ their excitability in a natural way. Tussigon contains a narcotic with potential sedative effects so not exceeding your veterinarian’s prescribed dose is important. In severe cases of tracheal collapse, surgical correction is an option. Good luck!