My dog has a sudden cough and gagging. Is it kennel cough?

Poor Charlotte! Any dog with kennel cough should be isolated for at least two weeks, possibly longer depending on the severity of the infection. Keep your dog in a well-humidified area, and use a harness instead of a collar to minimize coughing. Rest your dog for at least seven days to minimize irritation of the airways caused by excessive coughing. Take her into the vet this weekend to confirm she has kennel cough, and the vet can prescribe medications to help with her symptoms. Best of luck.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Dory! There are a few things that come to mind for causes of Dory's symptoms: the more common reason is kennel cough, which is a tracheal cough from bacterial or viral infections. The cough is "goose honk" like and is worse at night and with activity. The dog usually eats and drinks. The cough can trigger the gag reflex which causes the dog to make a gagging sound and motion that sometimes is productive. Dogs can get kennel cough from boarding, grooming, doggie day care, dog parks, playing with other dogs or even from us if we were around a coughing dog. The other possibility is she ate something that irritated her esophagus like a raw hide. I would have her seen by your Vet Wednesday. Most vets treat kennel cough with antibiotics and anti-cough medication. It usually resolves with in 2 weeks. I wish you and Dory the best!

I'm sorry your dog is having this issue. Kennel cough is typically a dry, almost "honking" cough that can produce a white foamy/mucus substance- they can cough so hard it causes a gag reflex. It usually starts at one time of day and then gets worse and more frequent. Do you have other dogs in your home or neighbor dogs that play with your dog? If so, are they gagging or coughing? Kennel cough is very contagious thus can spread to other dogs in close contact. If you are noticing this, I would contact your vet so they can determine if your dog needs an antibiotic. Some other possibilities for what you are noticing are other respiratory infections, allergies and/or a reverse sneeze or there may be something stuck in your dogs throat (like a grass seed or part of a rawhide chew). Also, some dogs can simply drink too fast especially when it's very hot- this can cause some water to go down "the wrong pipe" and then a gag response. If your dog continues to gag or, especially if the gag becomes more frequent or severe, I would take him back to your vet. Your vet can listen to your dog's lungs for sounds of infection and may want to take a chest X-ray as a next step in working this up. I hope your dog feels better soon!

He could have gotten kennel cough while he was boarded, which is not unusual in situations where dogs are kept in fairly close quarters. I recommend getting your dog in to see your vet as he may need a prescription for cough suppressant and/or antibiotics to help him recover more quickly and easily.

Coughing 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.

It sounds like Zoey may have an upper respiratory infection such as kennel cough. This is a very contagious disease and she may have picked it up while walking outside, or when sniffing another dog. This is usually a self-limiting disease and will go away by itself within 4 weeks. If she gets a purulent discharge (nose and/or eyes), has trouble breathing or coughs more than a couple of times a day, you need to take her to the vet for an exam, antibiotics and cough medicine.

This is likely an upper respiratory infection called Kennel Cough, this usually resolves within 2 weeks without treatment, but if the cough is too severe it is recommended to go to the vet in order to get cough medicine and antibiotics.