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Coughing In A Dog

by CorinneC - August 10, 2024 View Case Report

Otto is a 13yo MN Schnauzer X that I have been seeing for 6 years. He started out with some liver and pancreatitis issues but we got that resolved with a good diet and herbs. In the past 2 years he has started coughing. Initially I thought it was just collapsing trachea so we did the harness instead of collar switch and it was only periodic. In the last 6 mth it has become progressively worse and debilitating. He will play happily with his younger friend, but now gets very short of breath and stops playing, looking very sad. His tongue has always been pretty lavender, although yesterday it was light pink, moist, & of normal size. His pulses were sl narrow, but toned, maybe a little wiry. He has also had a low grade itch for awhile, tends to come up in summer, gets better with Cytopoint but I don't want to have to use that. I have now tried: XCHT thinking the typical ShaoYang Collapsing trachea but no change, then BZYQT because he is also urinary incontinent, then XFZYT, and finally CHJLGMLT to no avail. Yest I did some acupuncture but I really want to help this guy! He did not cough at all for exam or AQ but when he left the room I could hear him coughing, a goosehonk cough, deep and throaty, but not productive or phlegmy, more dry.

Oh wise one! Please help YET AGAIN!!
Great pulses talk BTW! I wasn't kidding about the cloning, I need a mentor - you or Karen or BOTH!!! lol. Hands on would be so nice!
Corinne

by naturevet

August 11, 2024

Hmm. Well, the only thing you haven't tried treating that would get worse during the summer months is a Dampness and Phlegm accumulation. You could try something basic like Wei Ling Tang for that and see if the problem nudges. If it does, then a change to a real food diet might help. Let us know how that goes!

Steve

by CorinneC

August 27, 2024

Hi there,

Sorry I forgot to mention that Otto has been on a good quality home-cooked diet since I met him 6 years ago. He does not strike me as Damp at all, he has always struck me as a more of a dry Blood deficient boy. I wonder if there is an allergy component that is wreaking havoc on his skin in summer as well? But the cough is definitely all year long. Have you seen any success with Cessorex for some of these dogs? I still think the XCHT is needed but maybe he needs the Blood tonic as well???

Corinne

by naturevet

September 10, 2024

If XFZYT didn't help, I'm not sure Cessorex will, since it shares many of the same herbs.

If you're sure there is no Dampness, then the other thing that springs to mind given the incontinence is Kidney Qi deficiency. If the Kidneys can't reach up to grasp the descending Lung Qi, there can arise a chronic cough. Meanwhile, the same Kidney Qi deficiency can produce incontinence. Given he is an aging dog and his pulse says 'tonify' me and his tongue is reportedly purple, I would give Kidney tonification a try. Even Rehmannia Eight might be enough to create enough improvements to tell you that you're moving in the right direction.

S

by CorinneC

November 3, 2024

I have now tried pretty much every herb available on this dog that fits, starting with XCHT, then BZYQT, XFZYT, then CHJLGMLT, WLT, and finally Rehmannia 8. No herb seems to help poor Otto. I even succumbed to hydrocodone but I'm not sure that is helping much either. Very frustrating condition!!

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