Ive just taken my westie to the vets because I thought he had kennel cough as he was coughing and bringing up a greyish mucus. Right on cue Hammy gave the vet a demonstration of this :D and she didn't think it was kennel cough. She gave me some anti inflammitories and some antiboitics. He has to go back for a check up in a weeks time but I wondered if anyone knew what this could be. His heart sounded ok and his lungs were clear. He had this before a while back but it came and went on its own.
Clair

Kennel cough seems to be used to cover any infection to the respiratory system in a dog whether caused by a virus or bacteria. Your dog may have what in a child would be called laryngitis.

Hi,

Keep on a eye on the cough I recently lost jake (STB) to firbrosis he had a cough which would not go had further testing to find nothing could be done, Fibrosis is very comment in the terrier breed especially westies for some reason,

Keep me update

many Thanks

NikiH

Niki,

How old was you dog. Sorry for your loss. :-(

Any reading I have done suggests it is uncommon in westies until at least 8-10 years old.

Storm,

The reason I ask is most allergy symtoms do not surface until dogs are about 2 years of age, and the inverted sneezing is one of the common indicators.

Fingers crossed it is neither of the above.

Pam

Hi Pam,

Jake was 2 years and 10 months when we had to have him put to sleep, I miss him so much

NikiH

So Sorry Niki.

Hugs Pam

I'm so sorry you lost Jake such a young age :( I hope you don't mind me asking, but other than a cough what other symptoms did he have. Hammy is no better than he was last wednesday and is still coughing up a kind of mucus, he seems a bit lethargic but other than that he is eating etc.

Hi Storm,

Jake was him self right up until the end however he did cough up a clear flem from time to time, was short of breath on walks and collapsed on a few occasions, but was eating and drinking right up until the week prior to him dieing.

Hope all is well but please check with your vet if you are concerened and the cough doesn't clear.

Please keep me informed.

NikiH

Just to update, I took hammy to the vets this evening and he has to go in tomorrow for a general anestethic where they will take throat swabs, xrays and test his blood. He is still coughing loads but the vet said that she has had a couple of dogs in with a really nasty infection in their throat so they are going to take the swabs to see what antibiotics to use. Im so pleased I took out insurance for him.
Clair

Hi Storm, a few yrs back one of my girls had a/bs for a cough tha wasn`t K/C & it didn`t clear up. Vet took some swabs from her throat/ lungs & it was just an infection that needed treating with the right a/bs, it cleared up & hasn`t come back again. Hope all is well tomorrow.

Christine, Spain.

Hi Storm,

I really do hope things are fine for you hopefully you should now more once he has taken some samples, please keep me updated.

Thinking of you

NikiH

Thanks for the advice. I will keep an eye on him, he has to go back to the vet in a weeks time so hopefully he will be ok by then.

Storm,

How old is your westie?

It isn't inverted sneezing that he is doing is it??

Pam

HI Pam, Hammy is 2 years old. It's definately not inverted sneezing, he seems a bit worse this morning :( it sounds like a small child coughing very eerie.

Ive just collected hammy from the vets after his tests. The vet said that he has got something on his lungs :( they don't know what they are but could be either a really nasty infection/something else or growths. They took swabs, blood and are sending his xrays off to a specialist to get an expert opinion. I shall know more middle of next week.

Storm,

I will keep my fingers crossed. It is something easily treated.

Pam

Good luck with him and please let us follow his progress

Thanks, I'lll keep you posted. Poor little mite I feel so sorry for him :( he's looking very sad. The vet has given me some more antibiotics and something to open his airways up a bit to help him breath. Its just a question of wait and see what the test results are.
Thanks
Clair

Hi Clair,

How is Hammy, have you had any results from the tests etc, hope all is well.

Please keep me update on how things are.

Thinking of you both

NikiH

Hi Niki, thank you for your concern. No sign of any results yet but hopefully they should be in either tomorrow or friday. He's no better :( hes not too bad in himself but is still having the horrible coughing fits. I will let you know as soon as the results come in.
Clair
xxx

Just a quick update, the vet phoned today to say that they have the xray results back and there is definately something on his right lung that shouldn't be there. They still don't know exactly what is going on but they said one of the things it could be is Lungworm :( apparently normal wormers don't work on this so he is has been prescribed a course of Panacur for 10 days. I had to take a sampe of poo in this afternoon and they are sending that away to test for parasites. The blood tests came back normal, but they are still waiting for the throat swap results. Hopefully the Panacur will work but if he is still coughing he will have to go back in for more testing. I will let you know how he gets on.
Clair

Hi Clair,

I am glad Hammy is no worse, Jake was treated for Lungworm with panacur and steriods for the breathing but nothing worked. Hope all the results are back shortly, waiting is terrible but you should know soon enough.

NikiH

They will probably do a bronchial lavage but even this does not always show up lungworm; depends on how heavily infested he is.

If it is not lungworm or laryngeal paralysis you may find that homoeopathic treatment helps; it certainly did with my dog.

Hello, Good news :D I had the results of hammy's throat swab today and apparently he has two very nasty strains of bacterial infection which only a certain type of antibiotic will get rid of. The vet said in light of the results, he probably hasn't got tumours in his lungs - which is great news :D :D :D. We are now just waiting for the poo sample results that was sent off to see if there are also any parasites lurking. I does seem a lot better since I gave him the panacur last week though.

Thanks everyone, i'll keep you informed of any major developments but fingers crossed Hammy is now going to make a full recovery :)

Clair

Glad to hear he`s OK :)

Christine, Spain.

Hi Clair,

I am so glad Hammy is ok.

NikiH

Good news Clair, Well you know what I mean. ( As I know you were worried it was something very serious)

Fingers crossed Hammy is back to normal soon.

BFN Pam

Hi Clair, have been following your story about poor Hammy. How's he doing now i do hope he gets better soon. Keep us all updated.
Budmag.