[broganangel]

I have a dog I got a couple days ago...yesterday she started this hacking cough like she was going to cough up a furball. This only happened when she went out to go to the bathroom. She doesn't eat much but she also just got spayed 4 days ago, so I thought it might be that. Her distemper shot isn't until next month but her coughing episode has happened twice today once outside and inside..What's the best possile course of action? Her papers said she already got her first shot..Can she get a shot sooner?

[Daveyo]

First how old is this dog???? When was the first vaccination???? How is the stools, and is your dog running a very high fever?????

The hacking sounds like Kennel cough. Take the dog back to the VET ASAP and have him check the lungs by stethoscope. You can do a quick test yourself. Have the dog stand and not move. Then with your hand tap a bit hard a couple times on the side of the rib cage both sides. If the dog coughs right after you tap, it has pneumonia. Penicillin G and Baytril is in order here. If no cough, then the VET has to check the respiriatory system. Treat for what the VET finds. I am almost certain its Kennel cough.

Keep posting and let us know.

[broganangel]

I took her to the vet but the vet said she might be irritated in her throat because of the IV Tube when she was getting spayed. She gave me some anti boitics in case she is getting a cold since she did cough. The dog is getting much better even without the medicine but hopefully the medicine will help her get over the cough faster. Thanks for the info. Odd but she still hasn't barked yet...she's 2 yrs

[Daveyo]

Huh IV down the throat???? Something wrong here. Even spayed dogs have IV on the legs. Then you say your dog is getting better without the medicine. Then you say hopefully the medicine will get the cough over faster.

Wow!!!!!! So what are you saying here???? The dog is coughing, but not barking but medicine no but medicine yes IV in throat (whewwwwwwww) they don't do that in the hospital that I know of on humans, let alone on dogs.

I don't know and will take a pass here.

Whatever I hope all works out for you.

[broganangel]

I didn't mean IV..I meant a tube. By getting better I meant she wasn't as depressed and she was playing more and the cough wasn't as bad as it was. The medicine, as I understand it, will speed up her getting better, if it is just a cough rather than her getting better on her own without meds, as I have seen posted elsewhere (they can get over a cough on their own).
Regardless of how I said what I said, I just meant she was getting better. Vet said it could be a slight case of kennel cough and not hard to get over.
And as far as I know, a cough isn't a bark or close to it..it was just a thought I had that my dog doesn't bark...normal? Not that I am aware of..

Thanks anyways for the advice in the original post.

[whunter]

As a very side note to your story, there are some dogs who just don't bark. We had a german shepherd who just preferred not to. In the many years that we had her, I think I heard her bark twice. For the longest time, I wondered if there was something wrong with her. She had a voice - as she was very "verbal" otherwise in a dog sense (you know the noises they sometimes make to get their point across to us clueless humans!). I've found that the bigger breeds use their bark only when absolutely necessary. That's not a scientific fact, just an observation :)

[Daveyo]

As of your dog not barking consider it a blessing in disquise. My first dog never barked until other dogs started coming around and she was hearing them bark and that is when she started. Its called dog language communication.

Now I wish they did not bark. I have to tell them to be quiet a lot of times.

If a dog barks it is barking for a reason so pay attention and take notice of it and your surroundings as well.

First tell me how old is your dog, and what is the vac history of your dog, and what breed it is.

Lets go step by step OK

Then we can figure out your problem, the sooner the better.