Strange coughing/weezing after waking up

megts · Sep 7, 2018

Hi everyone!

My 4 months old girl, Kara has been having strange coughing/wheezing symptoms. They seemed to appear overnight, a couple of weeks ago. A little about the symptoms:
The cough itself is very prominent right when she wakes up, both from a nap and in the morning. It sounds a lot like she has mucus stuck in her throat, which she eventually seems to cough out and swallow back in. I have never seen actual mucus as she never spits it. The wheezing is mostly outside, she just stops, stands very still and wheezes for a few seconds then proceeds with whatever she was doing.

We took her to the vet a day after the cough appeared and they put her on Clavaseptin for a week as a "preventative". The antibiotic did not help whatsoever, and so we had our second trip to the vet about her cough a few days ago. I showed videos of Kara's cough and wheezing. The vet said it could be allergies but that she's very young and the other option could be her soft palate. We were advised to wait it out as Kara has her normal appetite and is very playful.

We cannot help but worry. In our attempt to help her, we have purchased a diffuser and put eucalyptus, peppermint and lavender for her at night.

Any tips, suggestions and just input are very welcome!

Kara just woke up to say hi!

2bullymama · Sep 7, 2018

Welcome! She is a beauty!

Four months of age is young for an allergy to show unless it is severe. Can you post the video of her coughing/hacking?

It could be her pallet and if it is I would still wait until she’s a little older to address it but it be good to see the video to help give some advice

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rosendo192000 · Sep 7, 2018

Very similar symptoms that my frenchie had after a cold and lingered around for 2 weeks until I gave him omegaPet “ breath gold “ recommended from another frenchie owner . His cough and mucus with a week after give him the supplement but was very noticeable difference .

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megts · Sep 10, 2018

2bullymama said:
Welcome! She is a beauty!

Four months of age is young for an allergy to show unless it is severe. Can you post the video of her coughing/hacking?

It could be her pallet and if it is I would still wait until she’s a little older to address it but it be good to see the video to help give some advice

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks! Here is a video of her cough, it can be significantly worse with more prominent hacking sounds right after she wakes up in the morning but this is her usual. She also seems to reverse sneeze at times when out and about, not sure if it could also be related.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvXxAtNLJj8

rosendo192000 said:
Very similar symptoms that my frenchie had after a cold and lingered around for 2 weeks until I gave him omegaPet “ breath gold “ recommended from another frenchie owner . His cough and mucus with a week after give him the supplement but was very noticeable difference .

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you, I just ordered it! She had a cold/runny nose, which got better after her UTI treatment with antibiotics. A few days after she finished the antibiotics, the coughing began. Another round of the same antibiotic didn't help, nor did Benadryl, or a humidifier. I am really hoping this helps!

2bullymama · Sep 10, 2018

megts said:
Thanks! Here is a video of her cough, it can be significantly worse with more prominent hacking sounds right after she wakes up in the morning but this is her usual. She also seems to reverse sneeze at times when out and about, not sure if it could also be related.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvXxAtNLJj8

Lots of mucus.... have you tried a squirt of lemon juice in the throat? it helps break it up

megts · Sep 10, 2018

2bullymama said:
Lots of mucus.... have you tried a squirt of lemon juice in the throat? it helps break it up

So much mucus - the vet doesn't seem to even address it, it makes me rethink our vet choice.

I will try giving her lemon juice right when she wakes up. Thanks!

2bullymama · Sep 10, 2018

megts said:
So much mucus - the vet doesn't seem to even address it, it makes me rethink our vet choice.

I will try giving her lemon juice right when she wakes up. Thanks!

Here is a list of member recommended vet from our sister site EBN... maybe one is near you ad you can do a second opinion
English Bulldog News Forums - English Bulldog News Recommended English Bulldog Veterinarians

megts · Sep 10, 2018

2bullymama said:
Here is a list of member recommended vet from our sister site EBN... maybe one is near you ad you can do a second opinion
English Bulldog News Forums - English Bulldog News Recommended English Bulldog Veterinarians

Thank you! It turns out that we actually go to the one and only vet clinic that is on the list in Toronto, The Animal Clinic. There are a number of doctors there and perhaps one of the other vets is superior. If anyone that recommended the clinic is reading this, please let me know which doctor your Frenchie sees.

2bullymama · Sep 10, 2018

megts said:
Thank you! It turns out that we actually go to the one and only vet clinic that is on the list in Toronto, The Animal Clinic. There are a number of doctors there and perhaps one of the other vets is superior. If anyone that recommended the clinic is reading this, please let me know which doctor your Frenchie sees.

I'll ask a few of the EBN Toronto members which they use...

Honeys Owners · Sep 10, 2018

I live in Toronto, but don't particularly recommend any one vet for bulldogs. You might need to start another antibiotic if the cough doesn't go away.eg. amoxicillin/clavulanic acid 12.5-25mg/kg every 12 hours, or trimethoprim/sulfonamide 15-30mg/kg every 12 hours. The treatment of choice is doxycycline 5 mg/kg every 12hours, but it can cause discolouration of teeth in puppies. Also run a humidifier.

Honeys Owners · Sep 10, 2018

If cough is just a dry nagging cough you can use Hydrocodone 0.22mg/kg two or three times a day.

If dog has pneumonia you should use a brochodilator like salbutamol to help with breathing.

megts · Sep 11, 2018

Honeys Owners said:
I live in Toronto, but don't particularly recommend any one vet for bulldogs. You might need to start another antibiotic if the cough doesn't go away.eg. amoxicillin/clavulanic acid 12.5-25mg/kg every 12 hours, or trimethoprim/sulfonamide 15-30mg/kg every 12 hours. The treatment of choice is doxycycline 5 mg/kg every 12hours, but it can cause discolouration of teeth in puppies. Also run a humidifier.

Thanks!
I posted a video of her cough a few of posts above - it is not dry, there is mucus and it starts right before she wakes up/after she wakes up, lasts a minute and stops. She doesn't show any signs of pain when touched , therefore not pneumonia, and her vet doesn't seem to want to give her any more antibiotics. I don't know if I should change vets or demand another antibiotic to be given to her. We constantly have a humidifier running.

I have ordered Breath Gold by OmegaPet as suggested above, fingers crossed it does the trick.

Honeys Owners · Sep 11, 2018

megts said:
Thanks!
I posted a video of her cough a few of posts above - it is not dry, there is mucus and it starts right before she wakes up/after she wakes up, lasts a minute and stops. She doesn't show any signs of pain when touched , therefore not pneumonia, and her vet doesn't seem to want to give her any more antibiotics. I don't know if I should change vets or demand another antibiotic to be given to her. We constantly have a humidifier running.

I have ordered Breath Gold by OmegaPet as suggested above, fingers crossed it does the trick.

The cough didn't sound too bad to me, probably just lingering on a bit. Hope the Breath Gold helps !!!

megts · Sep 14, 2018

Honeys Owners said:
The cough didn't sound too bad to me, probably just lingering on a bit. Hope the Breath Gold helps !!!

Thanks again!! Breath Gold is arriving today, I also watched a video for coupage and will try that as well. If non of it works, it will be another trip to the vet. Yikes.