My dog licks other dogs and coughs. Is it a hairball? What helps?

Hello. Hope is such a cutie! A cough may be due to inflammation, irritation, infection or something more serious like heart disease, heartworms or some primary lung disease. Hope does not look like an old dog, so a serious problem is less likely. If you have any honey, this is a great, natural way to ease a cough. Give her a teaspoon every 3-4 hours & if the cough continues & worsens into tomorrow, do have her evaluated by your veterinarian. She may benefit greatly from some medications, such as antibiotics or a cough suppressant. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Cough can be caused by an infection, heart problem or lung condition, it is important to first know the cause before treating it as treatment is different from condition to another. The most common disease causing cough is a viral/bacterial infection called Kennel cough, this disease usually resolves without treatment within a couple weeks but if the cough is too severe it is recommended to go to the vet in order to get cough medicine and antibiotics.

Dogs rarely cough due to hairballs since they do not lick and groom themselves as cats do. Instead, a more common cause of a short-lived gagging cough, particularly in a small breed dog, is a collapsing trachea. Other possible causes of Bailey's cough include heart disease, heartworm disease, chronic bronchitis, kennel cough, canine influenza, among other issues. I recommend taking Bailey to her vet for a physical exam and chest/neck x-rays to try to get to the root of this problem in case more immediate treatment is needed. I hope this helps and that all goes well!

It is completely normal behavior for a cat to groom himself and/or other cats. It becomes abnormal if there seems to be areas of hair loss, which it sounds like is not a problem with Booger. Since Booger does seem to groom a lot it may be helpful to have him on a food with a special hairball formula and/or a supplement like laxatone to keep hair balls from causing blockages.

Coughing could be caused by several different things. The source of the cough is the most important thing to determine - meaning is it primarily a respiratory problem or a cardiac problem. Without doing an exam on Bruno it is impossible for me to know what the cause of his cough is. However, I would assume that since he hacked up a hairball he may just have some inflammation/irritation in his throat. If this is the case it should go away within a day or so and you should not need to treat him with anything. If the cough persists for more than 2 days then I would recommend taking him in to the vet so the cause of the cough can be determined. Once it is, your vet can recommend a specific treatment. Good luck.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Bruno is super cute! So I hope I am understanding everything: Bruno got groomed then started coughing and licking his legs. He coughed and vomited up some hair? And since he suffers from gastritis you gave him a zantac. I am thinking he possibly picked up kennel cough from getting groomed. Sometimes they cough and produce phlegm and maybe since he is licking his legs there was hair in his stomach. I would make an appointment to get Bruno looked at. See if the Vet agrees, then they can provide antibiotics and something to help stop him from licking his legs. Good luck!

If Peanut is able to eat and drink normally then that will push the hair into the stomach. If he’s coughing it’s most likely due to kennel cough, an infectious respiratory infection. Since he is so small and young I recommend a veterinary exam and treatment so he doesn’t get worse. Small dogs that cough a lot can develop a collapsing trachea which can become a serious problem later in life and Yorkies are prone to it. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Peanut.