(also posted in alt.animals.dog)

Hi all,

We've just got a dog by accident (we were looking after him for a friend,
but it looks like he's now here to stay ) and he has a few issues. We plan
a trip to the vets within the next few days, but in the meantime I'd like to
gather as much info as possible about his problems.

He is a 12 year old collie cross (we think with labrador). He's had a
reasonably healthy life to date, tho has not been regularly wormed or
vaccinated against parvo etc. He's very playful and I'm sure he still thinks
he's a puppy! However, after any kind of playing / excitement, he tends to
cough quite a bit and once he vomited from coughing too much. His previous
owners say he's always done it. He also coughs while doing his party trick
of howling to Jingle Bells, and again he has always coughed whilst doing so,
ever since he was a pup.

Also, we've just switched his regular tinned dog food (Butchers Tripe) to a
dry food for sensitive stomachs on the advice of a vet. He had a bout of the
squits and the vet concluded that the tinned food was a bit rich for him. It
was introduced gradually, after a week of chicken and rice to settle his
stomach and ensure the runs had cleared up completely. This morning, while
he was eating the new dry food, he seemed to be arching his back / stomach -
it looked like he was having trouble swallowing and maybe had indigestion or
something? Is this normal? Also, he seems to be drinking and panting a lot
more than usual since starting dry food - is that normal too?

Sorry for all the questions!


Kat

On Sep 11, 2:21 pm, "Squeakywee" wrote:
(also posted in alt.animals.dog)

Hi all,

We've just got a dog by accident (we were looking after him for a friend,
but it looks like he's now here to stay ) and he has a few issues. We plan
a trip to the vets within the next few days, but in the meantime I'd like to
gather as much info as possible about his problems.

He is a 12 year old collie cross (we think with labrador). He's had a
reasonably healthy life to date, tho has not been regularly wormed or
vaccinated against parvo etc. He's very playful and I'm sure he still thinks
he's a puppy! However, after any kind of playing / excitement, he tends to
cough quite a bit and once he vomited from coughing too much. His previous
owners say he's always done it. He also coughs while doing his party trick
of howling to Jingle Bells, and again he has always coughed whilst doing so,
ever since he was a pup.

Also, we've just switched his regular tinned dog food (Butchers Tripe) to a
dry food for sensitive stomachs on the advice of a vet. He had a bout of the
squits and the vet concluded that the tinned food was a bit rich for him. It
was introduced gradually, after a week of chicken and rice to settle his
stomach and ensure the runs had cleared up completely. This morning, while
he was eating the new dry food, he seemed to be arching his back / stomach -
it looked like he was having trouble swallowing and maybe had indigestion or
something? Is this normal? Also, he seems to be drinking and panting a lot
more than usual since starting dry food - is that normal too?

Sorry for all the questions!

Kat

Not sure what to say if he has had the cough since he was younger. It
could be allergies. In older dogs, congestive heart failure comes to
mind. My senior miniature poodle (16 yr)has a collapsing trachea and
he coughs and gags

"Squeakywee" spoke these words of wisdom in
:

(also posted in alt.animals.dog)

Hi all,

We've just got a dog by accident (we were looking after him for a
friend, but it looks like he's now here to stay ) and he has a few
issues. We plan a trip to the vets within the next few days, but in the
meantime I'd like to gather as much info as possible about his problems.

He is a 12 year old collie cross (we think with labrador). He's had a
reasonably healthy life to date, tho has not been regularly wormed or
vaccinated against parvo etc. He's very playful and I'm sure he still
thinks he's a puppy! However, after any kind of playing / excitement, he
tends to cough quite a bit and once he vomited from coughing too much.
His previous owners say he's always done it. He also coughs while doing
his party trick of howling to Jingle Bells, and again he has always
coughed whilst doing so, ever since he was a pup.

Also, we've just switched his regular tinned dog food (Butchers Tripe)
to a dry food for sensitive stomachs on the advice of a vet. He had a
bout of the squits and the vet concluded that the tinned food was a bit
rich for him. It was introduced gradually, after a week of chicken and
rice to settle his stomach and ensure the runs had cleared up
completely. This morning, while he was eating the new dry food, he
seemed to be arching his back / stomach - it looked like he was having
trouble swallowing and maybe had indigestion or something? Is this
normal? Also, he seems to be drinking and panting a lot more than usual
since starting dry food - is that normal too?

Sorry for all the questions!


Kat



He needs a big huge workup at the vets.

diddy wrote:
"Squeakywee" spoke these words of wisdom in
:

(also posted in alt.animals.dog)

Hi all,

We've just got a dog by accident (we were looking after him for a
friend, but it looks like he's now here to stay ) and he has a few
issues. We plan a trip to the vets within the next few days, but in the
meantime I'd like to gather as much info as possible about his problems.

He is a 12 year old collie cross (we think with labrador). He's had a
reasonably healthy life to date, tho has not been regularly wormed or
vaccinated against parvo etc. He's very playful and I'm sure he still
thinks he's a puppy! However, after any kind of playing / excitement, he
tends to cough quite a bit and once he vomited from coughing too much.
His previous owners say he's always done it. He also coughs while doing
his party trick of howling to Jingle Bells, and again he has always
coughed whilst doing so, ever since he was a pup.

Also, we've just switched his regular tinned dog food (Butchers Tripe)
to a dry food for sensitive stomachs on the advice of a vet. He had a
bout of the squits and the vet concluded that the tinned food was a bit
rich for him. It was introduced gradually, after a week of chicken and
rice to settle his stomach and ensure the runs had cleared up
completely. This morning, while he was eating the new dry food, he
seemed to be arching his back / stomach - it looked like he was having
trouble swallowing and maybe had indigestion or something? Is this
normal? Also, he seems to be drinking and panting a lot more than usual
since starting dry food - is that normal too?

Sorry for all the questions!


Kat



He needs a big huge workup at the vets.

Agreed - there are a lot of different things that could cause his
symptoms.

Since he was accustomed to moist food, you could try soaking the
dry food for a few minutes before giving it to him. Does he eat
rapidly? (that would be characteristic of part-Lab.) If so, try
doling his food out in small parcels, so that he doesn't eat it
in big gulps.

I hope you can get answers for him; he sounds like a great dog!

FurPaw

--
The plural of anecdote is not proof.

To reply, unleash the dog.

FurPaw wrote:
diddy wrote:

He needs a big huge workup at the vets.

Agreed - there are a lot of different things that could cause his
symptoms.

Me three. Coughing and panting especially make me think of heart
trouble - don't panic, I'm not suggesting he's going to drop dead
or anything, but there ARE medications which can ease his symptoms
and possibly prolong his life.

He definitely needs a comprehensive senior exam if he hasn't had
one already.

Best of luck to you, and bless you for taking this dog in -

Dianne

wrote in message
...


Not sure what to say if he has had the cough since he was younger. It
could be allergies. In older dogs, congestive heart failure comes to
mind. My senior miniature poodle (16 yr)has a collapsing trachea and
he coughs and gags

When he does it while he's howling, it kind of reminds me on how a human
coughs sometimes after shouting too loud (anyone who's got kids probably
knows what I mean lol).


Kat

"FurPaw" wrote in message
. ..
diddy wrote:

He needs a big huge workup at the vets.

Agreed - there are a lot of different things that could cause his
symptoms.

Since he was accustomed to moist food, you could try soaking the dry food
for a few minutes before giving it to him. Does he eat rapidly? (that
would be characteristic of part-Lab.) If so, try doling his food out in
small parcels, so that he doesn't eat it in big gulps.

I hope you can get answers for him; he sounds like a great dog!

FurPaw

Indeed, that's what I've started doing. He does eat rapidly - I don't think
he even chews! He currently has two meals per day (one in the morning, one
in the evening) - perhaps I'll try splitting those up into four meals per
day?



Kat

"(null)" wrote in message
...
FurPaw wrote:
diddy wrote:

He needs a big huge workup at the vets.

Agreed - there are a lot of different things that could cause his
symptoms.

Me three. Coughing and panting especially make me think of heart
trouble - don't panic, I'm not suggesting he's going to drop dead
or anything, but there ARE medications which can ease his symptoms
and possibly prolong his life.

He definitely needs a comprehensive senior exam if he hasn't had
one already.

Best of luck to you, and bless you for taking this dog in -

That's pretty much what I figured I will be calling them as soon as the
surgery opens on Monday.

He's such a super dog - we've had him 3 weeks and already I'm so much in
love lol. He's very stubborn and set in his ways, knows what he wants and
does his best to let us know too lol. He's so old and get tired so easily
but does his best to play with his toys and chase his balls across the
garden. And you can always tell when he's tired because he lets out a
massive huffy sigh and looks at you as if to say 'you chase the bloody thing
for a change!'. So gorgeous and funny. He has so many quirks - one of which
is nicking bottles out of the bin! I spent a fortune on toys and things for
him, and then discovered I needn't have bothered! Give him a plastic bottle
and he's happy as a pig in poo We've also had to stop putting crisp
packets in the lounge waste paper basket and he'll have those out too. So
naughty but so funny lol.


Kat