My chihuahua puppy has a hacking cough.?
Its sounds like there is something stuck in his throat. He has been vaccinated for kennel cough. It doesn’t happen often but it worries me. He has a vet appointment next week. My boyfriend says it just may be a hairball or something. Also, I just got some glucosamine tablets for him because I was reading that it is beneficial for small breeds. Am I just freaking out?
He has been acting normally. He’s been checked for wroms, his tests came back clear. I heard him cough like that once this past weekend. He hasn’t ate anything out of the ordinary. His stool is normal.
Sorry, it does usually happen after he plays. I don’t let him outside because he hasn’t gotten all his shots.
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Tagged with: glucosamine • hairball • kennel cough • vet appointment
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Well Chihuahua’s can get a collapsed trachea easily, so that may be the problem.
However you don’t say if this hacking occurs after drinking. My Chihuahua and my Chi-Poodle mix both do this hacking thing after they drink (like little drink hounds who act like this is their last drink before heading out into a desert). My common phrase is SLOW DOWN or DRINK SLOWER!! I will often stand near them when they drink and make them drink slower by moving the dish away and letting them swallow and then putting it back. It makes my Chi-poodle mix annoyed but it does cut back on the hack. (Which sounds as though she is at deaths door.)
Another note: have your chi wear a harness and not a collar so that it lessens the chance of his getting a collapsed trachea.
hacking coughs can be infections, irritation or lung worm
take it to the vets
What did you feed her in the past 24 hours?
It may not be anything. Your BF may be right about the hairball thing. I wouldn’t think that it’s kennel cough if you’ve already vaccinated him for that. He may have a little upper respiratory infection. If you purchased him from a pet store where there are a lot of puppies being handled this can happen. I wouldn’t give him any of the glucosamine until you know for sure that nothing is wrong with him.
Try to pay attention to when he does it. Is it right after he eats, or drinks? Or is it after he has play time, or has been outside? Think of things and write them down. The more info you can give the vet the better.
Good luck!
Some small dogs cough occasionally. unless it is repeated coughing, don’t worry about it. Ask your vet during his regular appt.
Puppys don’t usually get hairballs.
My dog had the same thing. I was told that even though they have been vaccinated they can still get kennel cough. In that case the company who makes the vaccine must pay for all care for the dog. In my case my dog has allergies.
it could very well be a problem with collapsing trachea, a common problem with chihuahuas. Read up on it, make sure your vet is informed about it, too. Not all vets are familiar with the problems that chis can have. Collapsing trachea is usually not life threatening…..we call it the chi wheeze at our house.