Has anyone else experienced this?

**Elena** · 10-02-2018, 09:09 AM

Hi, I have a 13 year old Rat Terrier named Que. He has been gagging for about 6 weeks. We don't board him but we do take him to a dog park along with his sister. He gags maybe 2/3 times a day for about 1 minute. At first I thought it was kennel cough but his sister does not have it. He went to his Vet about a week and a half ago and the Vet said his heart sounded good and strong other than a small heart murmur. He said he thought it might be bronchitis. He put him on Doxycycline 100ml for 14 days. He has about two days to go and it seems to be the same. Has anyone else experienced anything similar? It's Not Kennel cough and not heart worms. Advise would be appreciated. I've just started giving him honey, lemon juice and warm water 2-3 times a day starting today. I'm not sure what else to do to find out what this is and what's causing it.

**LPC** · 10-02-2018, 12:14 PM

You have done the right thing, having him checked regularly by the vet. On this forum we are not vets and cannot give medical opinions. However, you mention that the vet said that your dog does have a slight heart murmur. My beloved Puce, who passed in 2011, had a heart murmur which got gradually worse, despite tablets from the vet. Her main symptom was coughing. At first it was only very occasionally (say once every few days) but a few years it later became a real problem.

Heart murmurs are caused by blood flowing the wrong way down one or more valves. You can read about it here:
https://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions...g_heart_murmur
The article is written by a vet.

I suggest that you keep your dog's condition monitored carefully by the vet. Later on, if the condition worsens, your vet can give you tablets to help control the problem (although, sadly, it cannot be cured except by a very major operation).

**Elena** · 10-03-2018, 08:48 AM

Thank you for your response! I'm so sorry about your beloved Puce... His vet acted like his was no big deal? Maybe because he had such a strong heartbeat. I had no idea about the seriousness of heart murmurs. Thank you for sharing your heart breaking experience. I will bring this up to his vet when I call him inquiring about what to do next and see what he says about it. Were there any other symptoms? Que also has a mouth full of bad teeth. We've had his teeth cleaned 3 times in the 13 years that we've had him. Can't manage to go more than that with two and because each time I'm scared to death to have them put under. Now it's more because of his age that I don't want to but at the same time scare of the things that his bad teeth might cause.

**LPC** · 10-03-2018, 11:50 AM

I understand. The problem is that the tablets (which are usually only prescribed when the condition has got troublesome) can have side effects. The vet wanted me to give Puce tablets quite soon, but as she didn't seem to be troubled by the occasional brief coughing session, I put it off because of potential side-effects. However, once she started on the tablets they did help quite a lot.

Regarding teeth cleaning, with my current dog, Forgy, I give him a special chewing stick designed to clean a dog's teeth. I give him a Dentastix after each meal and his teeth are pretty good for his age. I won't give a commercial link, but you can search for Dentastix on the net. They are made in different sizes for different sized dogs. Or for other brands, you can search for "dental sticks". Of course, if decay has already set in, then really you have no choice than to go to the vet for cleaning. But if you start with dental sticks from a young age, you can probably avoid dental problems later.