My dog has a wet cough. Is it heartworm? Should they be active?

I am sorry to hear that your dog is coughing. There are so many reasons for chronic cough such as allergic bronchitis, pulmonary hypertension, heartworm disease, enlarged heart, fungal infection, parasites, and cancer. To answer your question heartworm is transmitted by mosquitoes only and can not pass through people. Also, there is no answer to how long it takes for a cough to resolve. It completely depends on what is causing the cough. I would highly encourage you to consider a follow up appointment with your veterinarian soon. X-rays, bloodwork, and a fecal exam may be recommended to help determine the diagnosis and best treatment plan. Best of luck and thank you for using Pet Coach.

If he is heartworm positive then the coughing is likely associated with it. Heartworms live in the pulmonary artery which is what takes the blood from the heart to the lungs to get oxygen. They can cause significant decrease in the amount of blood flow as well as they are really inflammatory. Their presence makes the lungs really angry and that causes cough. In later stages the heart can be so damaged that they can go into heart failure, which can also cause cough. I would highly encourage you to schedule a follow up appointment with your veterinarian to discuss this disease and how to treat it. I would also recommend an x-ray of the chest to see how much damage has already occurred. In the meantime I would encourage you to keep him on leash and not running around where he might cause more damage. Best of luck to you and Max! I hope he recovers well! Thank you for using Pet Coach.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Besides being due to heartworms, coughing can be a sign of many conditions such as pneumonia, bronchitis, heart disease, among many other possibilities. I recommend that you have Scooby evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. Likely diagnostics to be performed include thoracic radiographs and bloodwork. Treatment would be dependent on findings. Good luck and have a good night!

Coughing can occur from the damage the worms are doing to the lungs. It could also be caused by the worms dying off and causing inflammation, although I'm not sure how likely that is with the slow kill method. I would recommend keeping him crated and resting (no walks, no running, no excitement -- basically no getting his heart rate up) until he can get to the vet for evaluation, which will likely include chest x-rays and a discussion of if he needs anti-inflammatory medication and cage rest to get through this treatment. Wishing you and Bug (love his name!) the best of luck.

I would be concerned about these signs even if they are related to heartworm disease, and would not consider this type of coughing as typical for a dog recovering from heartworm. If she seems to be having trouble breathing you should seek emergency veterinary care. A chest x-ray might be recommended depending on how Tess's chest sounds on physical exam.

This cough could be due to heartworms, especially if your dog isn't up to date on his heartworm treatments, but it could also be due to cardiac disease, respiratory disease, or kennel cough. Given that he has been gagging and hacking for about a week, I would have him seen by a vet tomorrow. The vet can diagnose what is causing his symptoms, and can discuss treatment options with you.

This can be normal after the first round of heart worm treatment. As the adult heartworms die, they cause an inflammatory reaction in the lungs. It is VITAL to keep Charlie under strict confinement during this time. This means he needs to stay in a confined area or crate and then only to be taken outside on a least to go to the bathroom a few days per day. If they are too active the cough will only get worse. You can try to give him some Benadryl twice a day to help with the sniffles/sneezes. See link below. I would also contact your vet just to tell them what is going on to make sure they don't want to add any meds or change any meds for him. Of course, if he stops eating, the cough gets worse, you notice labored breathing, or he is coughing up blood then I would have your vet take a look at him immediately. I hope this helps! https://www.petcoach.co/canigive/dog/benadryl/#!