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coughing after spay...

aleethomas

Well-known member
So seems as though Padden is sick AGAIN! She was put on antibiotics 2 weeks ago which cleared here up quickly and then last night she started the bad dry heaving coughing again & had junk in her eyes. She was spayed on Friday (we waited an extra week to make sure she was 100% better from her cold). I called the vet this am and I'm bringing her in in a few hours. I'm not sure why she keeps getting colds/sick.

We do live in the city and she is around other dogs often because there aren't any other options. I've stopped taking her to day care and we only go to the dog park when they aren't packed so she can run. I can't trust her off leash because she's obsessed with birds. Could she be picking this stuff up in the beauty bark that all the dogs potty in?

Anyone else have a puppy that's continually picking up colds? Any advice to keep her off antibiotics?

Just really frustrated right now and not wanting to take her back to the vets. I hate having to keep putting her on antibiotics. anything else we can do?
 
You know that I'm glad you are taking Padden to the vet!

Normally if a dog is coughing just after a surgical procedure the blame is the fact that they had her hooked up to oxygen with a tube in her throat during the surgery. This can create a bit of soreness in the throat, which leads to the cough. But given her history the wisest thing is to take her in.

It is possible that she could have some sort of allergy that is causing the problem. I don't know of anything to do in place of the antibiotics, but there may be some supplements you could put her on that would boost her immune system.

Good luck! Let us know what the vet says.
 
Hope she is just sore from the tube. Kosmo coughed for almost a week after his neutering procedure (believe it or not!) i thought he was dying and called the vet frantically. It seemed to heighten when he would get excited, but it did go away. :)

Good luck and let us know.. hope she's OK! :)
 
Cavaliers often have gunk in their eyes all the time -- this isn't necessarily anything unusual. I have to clean some goo out of Jaspar's eyes every morning and the others often have a bit of runny discharge, all totally normal in the breed. I'd ask your vet whether this is actually anything to be concerned about.

The coughing after the spay is as others note, very likely due to the tube they have in the dog's throat when under general anaesthesia.

If your dog is regularly exposed to lots of other dogs, I'd talk to your vet about the kennel cough vaccine, if she hasn't already had it.

BTW I wouldn;t keep her away from other dogs -- it is important for her to be socialised around other animals and people, and also, it is important for dogs (especially young dogs) to build up their immune system by being exposed to other dogs and the real world (just as with kids!). Hiding them away only makes for an undersocialised dog that can potentially get more seriously ill when exposed to normal germs etc. Dogs are pretty robust. (y)
 
Oh, I dropped the ball on the eye gunk. All of my girls have that, but the Cavaliers are worse. We used to have a cat that loved to clean their eyes for them, but he's gone now so Bubba does it.
 
we're back from the vet and given Padden's track record she put her on another week of antibiotic. She didn't think it was from the tube since she started coughing 2 days later in conjunction with red eyes and major goo. She also put her on an antibiotic/steriod drop for her eyes for a few days as well.

She thinks that she may not have been 100% better from the last go around and that the surgery lowered her immune system even more. We're giving her 2 weeks away from the dog park & limiting exposure to other dogs in the building as much as we're able.

Padden always has junk in her eyes but its always different when she's coughing. Seems to be yellow/green and everywhere unlike the usual goos that I can easily get out. She's had the kennel cough vaccine so we're covered there although I know it doesn't protect them fully.

Padden is sulking in her crate. For some reason she's scared of us right now... I keep taking her to the scary vets and she's not sure where the pains coming from after she sneaks a jump up on the couch. I'm sure she's terrified of it by now! I can only get her out of her crate with a tennis ball or food. And when I go to pet her she makes a mad dash back into the crate. The vet laughed because she says that cavvies can be so dramatic and big babies & Padden is definitely proving that to be true. Hopefully she snaps out of this soon.

Anyway, thanks for the comments. Good to know that the eye gunk can be expected.

Time to go cook the spoiled brat some chicken & rice! :)
 
Teddy has goo every morning, as did Izzy. Both these have/had larger type eyes. The important thing is that the goo is not greeny or yellowy, which would mean infection.

Every time that one of mine has had an anaesthetic, I've been warned that he or she may cough for a few days, because of irritation from the throat tube. A little bowl of warm tea seems to help a sore throat.

As to hiding from you: dogs can 'read your mind' or, rather can sense your mood or read signs. I only have to think 'bath' and teddy is in the crate with the door closed. Also, if I'm about to do something whcih i think they won't like, they all skulk away. Probably, i become tense and they read my body language.
 
Barbara, I had to giggle just a little bit at part of your response (but not in a mean way!). I love the mental image of a Cavalier sitting there sipping away at her hot tea! It goes so perfectly with the book Wallis is writing.

Hopefully another round of antibiotics can clear Padden up. And I can completely relate to her being afraid of you. We had Tibby on anti-allergan injections for a while and I think you know who had to give the injections! She would see me with a syringe in hand and start trying to find a place to hide. I felt like such a bad person for putting her through that - and only to realize ultimately that they didn't work.
 
My lot don't sip tea, daintily ; they slurp, in true male style---and it has to be in a mug or be seen to pour from a mug to thier bowl. Pot to bowl and they don't want to know.
 
As we've all noticed, Cavaliers have their special quirks, don't they? I'd love to see them drinking from their "mugs"!!
 
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