Dog with CHF coughing badly. Is there safe cough medicine for her?

There is no harm in giving her honey, though it may not help at all. When dogs are in heart failure, or have a history or congestive heart failure or heart disease, usually a cough is due to one of 2 causes-- 1) fluid in the lungs OR 2) the enlargement of the heart pushes on the on the large airways, causing a "tickle" type cough response. Take her in to see your vet. It would be best to have some chest X-rays taken to see if she is in congestive heart failure, and to monitor the size of the heart. If she is NOT in congestive heart failure, your vet may prescribe a cough suppressant medication to help ease the cough. Thank you for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

It sounds as though Dixie is going through a lot at the moment! Yes, Dixie should absolutely continue taking the enalapril and furosemide, unless otherwise directed by the prescribing vet. The hydrocodone/homatropine medication is a cough suppressant, but may make her a bit groggy. The heart valvular insufficiency can progress to congestive heart failure, which can cause a cough to develop as a result of the fluid accumulation in and around the lungs. If her cough continues or worsens, Dixie may need to go back to her vet for another exam and chest x-rays, and may need additional medications to manage her heart disease. I hope that all goes well for her!

Unfortunately, there are no OTC medications you can give your dog for her cough. The cough will be related to her heart disease, and is likely caused by a build up of fluid in her lungs. There are medications you can get from your vet that can help with that help with called diuretics. An example of a diuretic would be furosimide. I would speak to your vet today about possibly putting her on a diuretic to help with her cough.

Poor Sophie. If her coughing is extremely bad, I would not wait until the morning to take her into a vet. Please take her into an ER vet clinic; if there isn't one in your area, there will be a vet on call for emergencies. The information to reach that vet is found on a clinic's answering machine or website.

It sounds like Ace might need medication at this point, but it can be really difficult sometimes to determine whether a cough is related to heart disease or respiratory problems like collapsing trachea or chronic bronchitis which can also be very common in senior small dogs. I would contact your vet and let them know that Ace is now coughing so much that he can't rest. They might recommend an echocardiogram to completely rule out heart disease and heart failure as a cause, or they might recommend trying some other medications for cough. If Ace has not had chest x-rays recently they would probably recommend x-rays as well.

If his respiratory rate is normal, he's eating and drinking, seems to be feeling good (not acting lethargic), and recovers quickly from these coughing fits (within 2ish minutes), I don't think you need to take him to emergency. A mild degree of coughing is to be expected in these guys. Try to get a video if you can, that way when you do take him in, the vet can see the severity of what you are seeing at home. I would recommend you call your vet and see if you can increase the dose of Tussigon. Use the following guidelines for when to take him to ER: *respiratory rate at rest persistently above 40 breaths per minute *unrelenting cough or any coughing fit that causes his tongue to turn a blue or purple color *not eating, or acting increasingly tired and lethargic *any new symptoms arise (vomiting/diarrhea, change in the appearance of his belly such as appearing bloated, etc) I hope that's helpful for you! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Poor Chloe! You can put her in a steamy bathroom for five minutes twice a day. Start her on an omega-3 fatty acid supplement for pets as this can help to condition the lining of her trachea. You can also try an over-the-counter antihistamine but you will have to call your regular veterinarian for a recommendation as online veterinarians are prohibited from discussing human medication usage in pets. If the coughing continues beyond two days or if it gets worse, have her examined by the veterinarian.