[Olivias mom]

O.k, I'm asking this question on behalf of our new pup who is not a basset however his big sis Olivia is so I'm hoping someone can help anyway.
Little Owen is a "shih poo" ( toy poodle/shih tzu cross). He is a 2lb, bouncy bundle of fluff! We've had him 11 days now and he is just a couple days shy of 10 weeks old. He saw the vet a couple of days after we brought him home and was declared healthy. I am concerned though that over the last 2-3 days he's had little episodes of coughing. It kind of sounds like a cat coughing up a hairball and lasts 2-5 seconds. It happens only once or twice throughout the day. He has no nasal discharge, no sneezing and his lungs sound clear. He runs around like a little wild man wrestling with his toys or chasing Olivia's tail. Activity doesn't seem to preceed or agrivate the cough at all. He is eating very well and growing. He is litter box trained and catching on nicely so no exposure to other dogs fecal matter. He hasn't been around any other dogs( other than Olivia) or places where dogs have been except for his check up at the vets. Olivia is fully vaccinated including for kennel cough and hasn't been exposed to other dogs withing the last 2-3 weeks either. She seems perfectly healthy.

Anyway we have an appointment for Monday for Owens second set of shots but I called the vet today to see if I should bring Owen in this afternoon. For the above reasons they(vet) said that Owen doesn't sound like he has kennel cough. They suggested he might have some sort of allergy developing and to just watch him. They didn't feel he needed to be seen earlier than his regular appt. on Monday unless he gets worse.
I of course have been unable to stop obsessing over it. He is so tiny.

He coughed this a.m while in his crate and again this evening while in his play yard. Both times he was chewing on his toys. I'm wondering if he's inhaled somethng like fuzz from his faux fur bed or grass from the back yard. He does love to pull up clumps of grass and shake it furiously :roll: .
I always remove the grass from his mouth and do try to stop him before he does it. He's low to the ground and fast so I dont always stop him in time.
My question for you experts is " Have any of you experienced this with a puppy and found it to be something other than kennel cough? If it was another cause such as an aspirated substance what were the symptoms and how was it treated? Right now Owen is snoozing atop of his stuffed frog as comfy as can be. Am I being overly concerned or is this just something these toy breed puppies do ? :?:

 

[biscuit]

i can't say much about coughin puppies, but the way he's coughing sounds like the way my dogs cough.

they have allergies. oddly, they appear to have the same allergies i have because when they're coughing, i'm having allergies. we all seem to have the worst time with dust :?: :?:

i'm guessing no one smokes in your house? because i've seen that trigger coughing in both my dogs, too

i've never had to treat my guys for allergies, so i can't help you with that. but i do have to dust constantly :roll: . i've also found, if they start coughing and don't stop, i can touch them lightly on the back, and they'll stop coughing. :?:

 

[Betsy Iole]

Tracheal Collapse. Supposedly doesn't usually manifest in puppies, but a toy dog forum might have some additional information for you.

Tracheal collapse is a commonly recognized disease of toy and miniature-breed dogs (e.g., Toy Poodles, Yorkshire Terriers, Pomeranians, Maltese, Chihuahuas) associated with tracheal cartilage flaccidity and flattening. Either sex may be affected and most animals are middle-aged when clinical signs are noted; however, animals as young as one year of age may be diagnosed with this condition. The etiology of tracheal collapse is unknown and probably multifactorial, but may include genetic and nutritional factors, neurologic abnormalities, and cartilage matrix degeneration. In affected animals, the cartilages usually collapse in a dorsoventral direction, with the cervical trachea collapsing during inspiration and the thoracic trachea collapsing during expiration.

With tracheal collapse, clinical signs often progress with age and include abnormal respiratory noise, dyspnea, exercise intolerance, cyanosis, and syncope. Clinical signs are more severe in obese animals. Respiratory noises include wheezing, hacking, coughing, and stridulous breathing, although some dogs do not make abnormal respiratory noises. The cough may be productive or nonproductive but is classically a \"goose honk\" cough. Coughing often becomes cyclic and paroxysmal and gagging is common. Signs may be elicited or exacerbated by tracheal infections or tracheal compression. Second-hand smoke may also precipitate clinical sign

 

[Olivias mom]

Thanks for replying. I'll watch for a pattern. I'll ask the vet about tracheal collaps but from the description it doesn't seem likely. The sound is like a soft dry cough or hacking noise. really like a cat with a hairball. There is no wheezing or honking noise and stops as suddenly as it begins. I am hoping it is something as simple as an allergy. I'm wondering after reading buiscuits post if there might be something to it. His episodes have mostly happenned at night when his crate has been in my carpeted bedrooom or early morning just before or after his crate is moved from the bed room to the family room down stairs. ther is no carpet down stairs. Maybe the solution could be as simple as vaccuming the bedroom carpet more often ! I hope so. I have all of these horrible worries about aspiration pneumonia, killer puppy viruses and collapsing airways running through my mind :shock: . Owen meanwhile is oblivious. He is happily tucked away for the night- fat little belly and four tiny feet pointed at the ceiling. :wink: