Question:
I have a 6-year-old Portuguese water dog, Gingee. She loves the beach: In winters, we are in Florida, where the only beach available is a dog beach crowded with other dogs and not very clean. This year, after a trip to the dog beach, she developed a cough that the vet diagnosed as kennel cough and gave her a prescription for antibiotics to clear it up. When the cough did not lessen, we took her back, and the vet took an X-ray of her chest that indicated bronchitis and pneumonia. Thereafter, she was on ciprofloxacin twice a day and amoxicillin once a day for almost two months. The cough slowly disappeared, but now she has an extraordinary amount of mucus that she emits by sneezing. We took her to the vet again, and the X-ray indicated the bronchitis was still in her lungs, but the pneumonia was gone. He said to stop the medication and see what happens.
Since then, the phlegm or mucus seems to get caught in her throat, and she has a hard time coughing it up. Sneezing seems to be the only way she can get rid of it. She does not act sick insofar as her appetite is good, and she does not seem overly lethargic. My husband is sure it is allergies, a common pet problem here in Florida. What should we do?
J.P.G., Bonita Springs, FL Jul 11, 2010
Answer:
Your dog could well be suffering from a combination of allergies and bacterial infection. There are various herbs and supplements that have anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and expectorant- and mucus-eliminating (mucolytic) effects and that help alleviate coughing spasms. Some of these can be inhaled via aerosol dispenser. See www.aromadog.com for some potentially beneficial products. Supplements and herbs to try orally include local honey (an excellent expectorant), n-acetylcysteine, ginger, licorice, marshmallow, mullein, thyme, oregano, vitamin C with bioflavonoids and coenzyme Q10.
Some herbal preparations are available in tincture form. More veterinarians are including these kinds of medicinal products in their treatment protocols, owing to books such as "Integrating Complementary Medicine into Veterinary Practice" (Wiley-Blackwell, 2008).
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