My dog with enlarged heart is continuously coughing. What can I give?

Daisy Mae is taking a generally effective combination of medications to manage congestive heart failure. In cases of CHF, a change in coughing is generally indicative of changes in the heart size or fluid accumulation in and around the lungs. In these cases, cough suppressants are not likely to be effective. Do not give her any over the counter cough suppressants without speaking with your vet. If you cannot take her to an ER tonight, closely monitor her breathing for signs of distress and take her to your vet in the morning.

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!

Persistent coughing in older dogs is usually due to heart conditions where the heart doesn't function as well so enlarges, then this puts pressure on the trachea and causes fluid on the lungs, both of which contribute to coughing. Coughing can also be due to infection or tumours etc, but if it has been 2 years I would seriously suspect a heart issue. I understand your dilemma in terms of wanting to make her comfortable, but unfortunately we are legally not allowed to give you specific information on administering medications. I do think that there are medicines that could really help her though, such as furosemide to take fluid off her chest or corvental to help with the cough, and of course painkillers if requiref. However, to obtain these medicines she would need to be examined by a vet to get an appropriate diagnosis. If you really cannot get her to the vet you could try phoning your most local vet as they may be able to discuss her symptoms over the phone, and could potentially send you medication. I hope you can get Tonki something to help her!

I agree that Duke heart looks enlarged and it is pushing up on his trachea. I cannot diagnose his condition without doing an exam but with just looking at the X-rays, I would say he definitely has a heart condition. I have heard coughs from heart problems sound very similar to upper respiratory infections. Your vet will be able to put him in some heart medicine to help him. Heart medicine will slow down the progression of heart disease and help him feel better. I hope this helps. I'm sorry for the news!

Hello His cough previously could've been due to something else and now it's due to his heart disease. Unfortunately without x-rays done at the time of his previous coughing episodes we won't know for sure. However it is very unusual for dogs to go a long period of time in congestive heart failure without treatment and do well. So it's doubtful his heart failure was causing his coughing before now.

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!

Poor guy. The coughing is mainly due to fluid bulid up in the lungs. If the coughing has not improved then ask you vet if adjustments can be made to his current medications, in particulra the Libeo (Furosemide), which is designed to pull fluid off the lungs, reducing the cough. He is on all the medications currently recommended for heart failure dogs, so the best thing to do is increase his medications and perhaps get him on a cardiac prescription diet (i.e. Hill's Science Diet H/D). Also understand that heart medication is not curing the disease, it is merely managing it to buy your pet more time. Unfortuantely the medication may reach a point where it is no longer effective when the disease has progressed too far. I do hope that we have not reached that point yet, and perhaps can still make adjustments in Kenzo's medications to help manage his heart disease for a while longer. Here is more information on heart disease --> https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=8501760 Best of luck moving forward with Kenzo and managing his heart disease. Take care.