Months-Long Dry Cough in a 15-Year-Old Small Dog

You know your dog best, and it's completely reasonable to focus on comfort at his age. In an older small-breed dog, a dry cough that wakes him from sleep and has gone on for months is most often caused by one of a few things: a weakening windpipe (tracheal collapse), long-term inflammation of the airways (chronic bronchitis), heart disease, or, less often, a lung tumor. Fatty lumps under the skin (lipomas) are benign and don't mean there are tumors inside, but other skin growths can be different, so it's worth having your vet look at any that change.

X-rays are the main way to see the heart size and look for a lung mass, so without them your vet will be working with fewer clues. They can still help by listening carefully to the heart and lungs, checking his weight, and trying a targeted treatment to see how he responds.

Things you can do at home:

• Use a harness instead of a collar.
• Keep him lean, and keep smoke, sprays and strong scents away from him.
• Count his breaths while he sleeps. If the number rises over days or weeks, tell your vet, because that can be an early sign of heart trouble.
• Don't use human cough medicine; ask your vet for a dog-safe option.

Get help right away if he struggles to breathe, his gums look pale or blue, or he coughs up blood.

See cough medicine for dogs, why dogs cough and fatty lumps in dogs.

This is general information, not a diagnosis. Please follow your own vet's advice.