Health Issues

[Sylvia153]

Hi, can somebody help me, I have a 14 year old standard schnauzer he started coughing and to some extent honking last March 2024 he was referred by our local vet to Davies vet in Hitchin they carried out a great number of tests and a CT scan, they couldn’t diagnose the problem he has been on a number of medications over the last 11 months and despite steroid inhalers, anti reflux meds Omperozole and many more nothing is helping him.
Has anyone else encountered a similar problem? If so please could you let me know what the diagnosis was and what is the cure.

For his age he is remarkably well he does have arthritis and has a Librela injection for that every 28 days which does seem to help with his movement.

He has a number of benign lipomas all over his torso but apart from that he’s fire ring on all rockets.

Hope someone can help us.

Sylvia & Brodie

[zeta1454]

Hi Sylvia, sorry to read about Brodie’s coughing. What have the veterinary tests ruled out? Generally, coughing in dogs especially senior dogs can be related to a heart condition or tracheal collapse among other issues - have these been tested for? Tracheal collapse is more often found in small breed dogs but can occur in any breed and it was the description of the cough that made me think of this:

“One of the most common signs of tracheal collapse is a dry, hacking cough that sounds like a goose honking…..

Chondromalacia is the primary cause of tracheal collapse, a condition that weakens the cartilage in the trachea. This degenerative process predominantly affects senior dogs and can be influenced by factors such as genetics, excessive weight, and persistent coughing: however, it can occasionally be seen as a congenital condition. “

https://www.medvet.com/tracheal-collapse-in-dogs/

I don’t have any experience however with standard schnauzers and none of our minis over the years have had the symptoms you describe. We do have a 14 year old small breed dog (affenpinscher) who has short bouts of coughing at certain times each day. As she has a heart condition we have assumed this was the likely cause although tracheal collapse could be involved given her breed. However, taking into account her age and the fact that the coughing is short lived and she is otherwise in good spirits and still runs in the field with the other dogs, we are just supporting her with heart supplements and not fretting too much over the coughing. She is not on any medication from the vets and, at her age, I would not want to subject her to veterinary tests unless absolutely necessary.

It can be difficult, with older dogs especially, to identify the cause of a particular symptom which can be due to the ageing process affecting any one or more of the organs in the body as well as a natural degeneration of muscles etc. and greater likelihood of increased sensitivity to allergens or toxins in the environment or even changes in temperature / weather conditions.. Hopefully someone else on the Forum may be able to offer more helpful advice to you for this and you can get Brodie some relief from the coughing. The only other alternative I would suggest is to maybe see if you could find a homeopathic vet who may be able to offer an alternative way of addressing the coughing.

[Sylvia153]

Hi, thank you so much for your information, I did try to write back last night but something must have gone wrong. Brodie had a series of tests last August 24 (£5000) but the vet couldn't diagnose the cause of his chocking/coughing/honking since then we've tried several medications Metacalm then Omeprazole 29 mg with Maropitant 30mg for 2 weeks, doxycycline 20mg for 2 weeks, changed to cisapride 5mg 3 per day then Flixotide 250mg inhaler nothing has helped. Our vet and Davies in Hitchin would like us to take him for a re-exam at another £3100. He usually has an attack when he either scratches his ears or shakes his head or when we have one of our heavy cuddles and massages (thats me giving him a massage all over to get his legs moving). He takes the coughing in his stride and one of the remedies if possible is to get him to water and try to make him drink this method does work but at 5 o'clock in the morning its quite distressing, he takes his medicine like a man and never complains, I just wish we could find out whats going on.
Thank you again for your help.