antibiotics won't cure my miniture pinchers cough what could it be? Crackly cough went away and now is back?

Question

Has been on two rounds of antibiotics. Plus hydrocordone for coughing. Vet says he wants to do exploratory surgery. This will cost 1500.00 dollars to see if she has a foxtail in her lung. In this day and age you mean to tell me there is no machine that will show a foriegn object in a dogs lung? Also what else could it be like congestive heart failure. She is nine years old. I had a friend who had to have there dog on lasix when it got older. She is 2lbs overweight and I have her on diet food. DO you think this could be the cause too? She still is eating fine and running around. What about steroids like prednisone?
Thank you in advance for anyone who might be of help/
Jenaette

Thank You for all the insight and opinions.
I am so glad I trusted my gut instinct and I have an appointment with a new vet on Mon. I will giver her robitussin dm childrens dose until, keep her calm. She is still running around and happy so I think I will be able to get her through the weekend no problem. I actually had read about the vitamin c too and I will ask the vet about it. When I told the VA today about the exploratory surgery they wanted to do already she gasped and was like "WHAT!"
No offense but the VCA animal hospitals are cut happy in my opinion. They always want to do surgery I have friends that have had there little guys misdiagnosed several times. I think they are so busy all the time too. I will take to my dog there for shots but other than that I think this small vet is the way to go. They have a new xray state of the art digital I was reading on their website. The tech told me they should be able to see the foxtail and that surgery was a little extreme. Thanks all

Answer 1

If the only thing your vet has tried is antibiotics and now ants to do exploratory surgery, I say get a second opinion. Earlier this week we ad a boxer in from another vet that had a chronic cough, had aniiotics, cough supressant, and antihistamine and it wasn't getting any better. We took x-rays and did an ECG and found out he had congestive heart failure. He was put down the next day, unfortunately:(

9 years s not very old for a min pin, but I would still try to look more into getting chest x-rays taken, and possible an ECG. Also, has any bloodwork been done? If not, you should probably have your vet run some bloodwork. I would imagine if it has been going on for a long time, it is not a foreign body in the lungs, especially if it went away and came back. It could be an infection that is resistant to the antibiotics, or it could be allergies or bronchitis or any number of diseases. It may be kennel cough/bordatella, but if it's been going on for a while it;s not very likey, as it doesn't take long for them to get over kennel cough.
being overweight may contribute to eart failure if that is the problem with your dog. If the problem is swelling/inflammatory related, steroids will usually help, and this includes if it is bad allergies. Many things can cause inflammation in a dog's respiratory tract.

I really, really hope you can get a second opinion from another vet. I would not recommend doing an exploratory surgery for a cough that hasn;t been fully evaluated, especially since it is a really invasive surgery, and if the reason for the cough is heart failure, the anesthesia can very well be fatal.

Best of luck getting this problem resolved. Tell her to get well soon:)


Just one more little note, some vets do have access to scopes that can be used to look into the dog's lungs. If your vet doesn't have one, find a vet that does if he's so sure it's a foreign body in the lungs.

Answer 2

I can totally sympathize with you on this one. My 14 y/o mini daschund has been going through the same thing for the past 5 months. The cough also started out crackly and then changed to a dry hacking one. He was coughing almost constantly while awake.
My poor dog has endured SIX visits to the vet, 3 sets of x-rays, 5 rounds of various antibiotics, 3 different cough meds, a diuretic, a $55.00 Aerodawg Inhaler and the $197.00 prescription that went with it, a round of prednisone and simplicef (an antibiotic to counter the side effects of the steroid)!!!! He was miserable and I was almost broke!! During the last visit my vet said that it might be time to start thinking about "quality of life".
I was not ready to give up just yet and I started doing a little research and found a website, doctoryourself.com, that suggested massive doses of Vitamin C for a cat with chronic bronchitis(as well as many other human illnesses). I printed it out & went back to my vet and asked if he would be open to helping me try this. He said he would try anything as long as it would not be harmful. He ordered Vitamin C that could be injected and showed me how to give my dog the shot at home. It was amazing!!! Within 2 days, the cough was completely gone and my dog was back to his old self again... playing with his stuffed animals and barking at the vacuum cleaner!!
I wish you the best of luck with your dog and I hope this helps!

Answer 3

Wow! I think your vet is taking you for every penny you have! You definitely need a second opinion!!!!

If two round of antibiotics didn't cure it, then it can only mean two things: either your dog has built up immunity to the antibiotics, or there's no infection.
Exploratory surgery???? Crazy.............A simple x-ray will show a foreign object in its lungs, if any there.
Congestive heart failure can be diagnosed just by listening to the heart first, and then be confirmed by blood work...........why haven't your vet been able to rule it out????
Lasix is a common "water pill" usually taken by dogs with congested heart failure, along with a heart medication, but it's not easily prescribed because of the danger of dehydration, and/or potassium deficency.
Two lbs overhweight can cause some problem in a little dog, so it's best for you to keep her on a diet food.
Prednisone, like all steroids, it's best if not given unless it's absolutely necessary, inflammation/extreme water retention, as it causes more harm than good in the long run.
Get a second opinion: have a vet listened to her heart and lungs, he/she will be able to tell you right away if there is any congestion in them. Any vet would.
I don't know what's wrong with your dog, but I like to mention something very common in small breed dogs, a simple problem, that is often use by crook vets to get money out of caring pet owners: small breed dogs are prone to laryngitis (scratchy, irritated troath), they get it by getting excited, barking, and it doesn't have to be excessive barking. It causes a dog to "cough" continuously for several weeks at times, as they try to clear it up. The best remedy for it is a mild sedative, to calm them down some, and it'll go away just as fast as it came.
Consider it, as it might just be your dog's problem, but you must get a second opinion, as I don't feel your vet would admit his wrong prognosis at this point...........your dog and her wellbeing is what matters!
Good luck, and I hope she'll get better soon!

Answer 4

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I would really not think it could be a foreign object, if it got better for a while. The first product will help any allergy problems, and the second is a super immune system builder.

Yes, it could be CHF, but that wouln't need exploratory surgery! I would even travel a bit to find another vet!