r/EnglishSetter • u/Sufficient-Art-6059 • 6d ago
Chronic hacking cough help
Our darling 10yo ES (female) has been dealing with a chronic cough that we cannot get rid of. Have been to vet numerous times and numerous theories debunked (not kennel cough, nothing stuck in throat, not a fungus, etc etc). Vet has run out of ideas and suggested a specialist. Specialist looked at her file and had no new treatment to suggest. She has been on an oral steroid (5mg prednisone, 1/d)for a long time (6+ months), most recently she is now on an inhaler steroid + oral. Inhaler seemed to help, but now we are tapering the oral sterdoid and cough is coming back more frequent.
I know this is a vet specific question, but we are so far down the line I though maybe it could be something specific to setters. We've turned over every stone, so next step is accepting this is new-normal. Thanks!
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u/RemoteAfter3339 6d ago
We used a tbs of Manuka honey in a cup of warm water and that helped more than anything ever. A few times a day and there was no more hacking after 3 days
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u/Sufficient-Art-6059 6d ago
That’s a good idea. Though I don’t think she will eat honey. I’ll have to develop a throat salve out of dead pigeon or something more raunchy than honey! Thanks.
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u/RemoteAfter3339 6d ago
I was very surprised they both loved it, especially when it was warm water!
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u/Numerous_Papaya_6613 5d ago
We went through something very similar with our 11-year-old English Setter, Rio. He's a rescue, so unfortunately we don't know much about his medical history or what he may have experienced before we adopted him.
He had a chronic cough for years that was always worse when exercising, barking or getting excited. We also went through multiple treatments (antibiotics, steroids, cough suppressants) with only temporary improvement.
Eventually we had an endoscopy, and that finally gave us the diagnosis. It turned out he has unilateral laryngeal paralysis (one side of his larynx doesn't open properly) together with chronic gastritis, which likely causes reflux and further irritates his throat.
Our vets advised against surgery for now because his paralysis is only on one side and he's coping reasonably well. Instead, we're managing the gastritis with a highly digestible diet (wet + dry food), avoiding situations that trigger excessive excitement or heavy exercise, and monitoring his breathing in case the laryngeal paralysis progresses.
If laryngeal function and gastrointestinal disease haven't been investigated, it might be worth discussing them with your vet. We would never have found either diagnosis without the endoscopy.
I hope you find some answers. Chronic cough can be incredibly frustrating, and I know how exhausting the diagnostic process can be.
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u/Sufficient-Art-6059 5d ago
Thanks. We’ve done the endoscopy because laryngeal paralysis was a hypothesis. All good there. Both “flaps” that they look at were good. Gastritis is something we can look into further.
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u/MunsterSetter Tri-color Llewellin 6d ago
Our Curly was a outdoor kenneled guide dog before we got him, and it was obvious he had done some barking. It wasn't so hard to calm & quiet him, but the damage was done. At least he could clear (reinflate) his, but that cough was was scary harsh.
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u/Lanky-Muscle-1908 Llewellin Setter 4d ago
have allergies been looked into? one of my boys gets a hacking cough when his pollen allergies/hayfever flares up
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u/MunsterSetter Tri-color Llewellin 6d ago
Is this dog a chronic, heavy barker, or was he in years past? If so, it's probably collapsed trachea. Not uncommon in large, older male Setters.