My dog aspirated cough syrup, now has wet breathing. What should I do?

She needs to see a vet for treatment. Treatment for aspiration which can turn into aspiration pneumonia is oxygen therapy, intravenous (IV) catheter access, IV fluids, and IV antibiotics. Please take her into a vet now. Best of luck.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! While antibiotics can cause vomiting and nausea, a cough can definitely be due to aspiration pneumonia. However, other conditions unrelated to possible aspiration such as heart disease, infectious pneumonia, or heart worm infection can cause coughing as well and may just be a coincidence. If you are concerned about Chester’s cough, I recommend having him seen by his vet to rule out the conditions above. They can perform bloodwork and x-rays to make a diagnosis and begin the appropriate treatment. I hope this helps and that all is well with Chester!

I would be really careful with human cough syrups as some ingredients can be toxic to dogs. It certainly sounds like it could be a kennel cough infection. Before you can get to the vet I would recommend making a home cough syrup of warm honey and lemon to soothe the throat. It is less risky than human cough bottle.

My guess is that during the bath he aspirated some water down into his lungs. I recommend you stop trying to give him water for now. You need to get him to a vet if he is lethargic (just laying around) and groaning. This could be a serious issue in a small breed dog that is so young. I would consider this an emergency. I hope this helps and that Jasper Jr gets back to normal soon!

Poor pup! It sounds like he has a severe respiratory infection, and I would take him into the vet right away. It's quite serious that he is struggling to breath, and he could go into respiratory distress if he can't breath well. He may need a decongestant to help him breath better, which can be prescribed by a vet. Please take him into one now.

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Roxie. You don't need to worry about signs of aspiration in this case. If any of the medication had gotten into her trachea, she would have immediately started coughing. Think about how you react if liquids or food go down the wrong pipe. You start coughing forcefully right away, and a dog would do the same. Since she is fine, it didn't happen. I hope this helps!

I am concerned that she is having such trouble breathing. This could be another pneumonia, an upper respiratory infection, a fungal infection, a congenital heart problem and much more. If your vet has already done X-rays and they were normal, you may want to talk to them about having an ultrasound of the heart done. Also, I would have her blood work checked to see how her liver and kidney values are and see what her white blood count looks like. Finally, I would talk to your vet about whether see needs some antibiotics and medicine to help her breathing. I hope this helps and she starts to feel better soon.