12 year old Tibetan Spaniel Mix with cough

[Socrates]

Another "Max" he has developed this darn cough. The vet gave me some
Hydrocodone (5 mg) and said to give him half a pill every 12 hours.

Didn't help the cough but I think it darn near killed him. He woke me
from sleep at 2:00 A.M. with rapid panting near my bed. He had never
awakened me that way before but I thought maybe he had to go to the
bathroom. It was cold and wet outside but I let him out and he went to
where the grass was long and just collapsed on his belly. He stayed
that way for close to 10 minutes and then came back in seeming OK.

That was about a month ago. I stopped giving him the drugs (which BTW,
I had to sign some sort of release to get because they are popular with
addicts) but the cough persists. Not constant but every few hours
including at night he'll cough for a few minutes. Seems to come from
deep in his abdomen not his throat. Not sure I trust this vet and would
appreciate any insights offered.

TIA, Frank

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/7568/maxfa.jpg

[buglady]

On 5/8/2013 2:00 AM, Socrates wrote:
> Another "Max" he has developed this darn cough. The vet gave me some
> Hydrocodone (5 mg) and said to give him half a pill every 12 hours.

.............good place to check out prescribed drugs:
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_hydrocodone.html

..........Did you notify the vet of the side effects?

>
> That was about a month ago. I stopped giving him the drugs (which BTW,
> I had to sign some sort of release to get because they are popular with
> addicts) but the cough persists. Not constant but every few hours
> including at night he'll cough for a few minutes. Seems to come from
> deep in his abdomen not his throat. Not sure I trust this vet and would
> appreciate any insights offered.

.............. Did the vet give any reasoning for using this drug? Did
he do a thorough physical exam and tell you the results? Any bloodwork run?

........Coughing can be from something like Bordatella, heart disease
(including heartworms), collapsing trachea.
http://www.2ndchance.info/cough.htm
http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/cliented/cough.aspx

buglady
take out the dog before replying

[Socrates]

Thanks for your reply. Haven't been back to the vet yet (its a $$
thing). Yes he did blood work and Max took meds for 30 days (kidneys).
He does have one tooth that seems a little loose, could that somehow
cause a cough? I take him (and our other 2 dogs) for a walk every day.
He does Ok. Doesn't run like he used to be he does run and he eats
well. Feel kinda stuck because the vet said considering his age if he
puts him under he may not be able to wake him up (another reason no
doubt that I hesitated to go back).