11-Year-Old Chihuahua With Heart Failure Who Keeps Coughing
by Ashley
(California USA )
Reader Question
Last week I was outside by my pool as I noticed my 11 year old chiwawa not breathing I suddenly pick him up and begin CPR and he wasn't alert so I rushed him to the vet and they said he was dehydrated. He had to stay there for 2days.. Then we brought him home but before everything happen my dog had a heart mermer for the last year or two and now it's been a week since he has been out of the vet from the last accident and he started this rapidly cough . So I took him back to the vet thinking it might be kennel cough.. But NO! My dog is now diagnosed with CHD and he has a lot of medicine he is taking for his heart, liver, and more.. I'm starting to realize its been a day and he still is coughing like crazy and isn't acting himself he seems slower and doesn't seem to breath as fast as h use too.. He sleeps for two hours at a time nd wakes up hacking.. I'm really scared because he is my baby and it would kill to loose him so fast! Also we are changing his food to HD and he is also looking like he lost weight he can barly walk without hacking away.
Answer from Our Team
Heart medication can take a few days to fully clear fluid, but a dog who is still coughing hard, waking up hacking and struggling to walk needs to be rechecked today. A persistent cough may mean the fluid isn't controlled yet, or it may come from an enlarged heart pressing on the airway or a collapsing trachea, which is common in Chihuahuas.
Count his breathing while he's asleep. If it's over 30 a minute, or he breathes with effort, has blue or pale gums or collapses, go to an emergency vet. Don't give cough medicine without your vet's advice, and keep giving his heart medicines exactly as prescribed.
See congestive heart failure in dogs for more.
This is general information, not a diagnosis. Please follow your own vet's advice.
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