Pet Coughs

We have a chihuahua and recently, in the past week, she has developed a cough. To me it sounds like classic kennel cough.  It should be gone in about a week.  We took her into the doctor today and he said that it may be that or it could be the pollen.  He said that small dogs like ours get bothered by the pollen this time of year.  Now when I go outside the car is covered in yellow pollen.  It is everywhere and I am a firm believe in opening up the doors and windows once spring comes.  I like the fresh air so I am sure pollen is coming in the house as well.

I really was not aware that dogs were that affected by allergens like pollen.  My mother had a small dog and it had skin allergies and had to be on all sorts of medication for them.  That was a pain.  I just hope that this cough clears up soon because the dog only weighs 3.5 pounds and the coughing looks like it is hurting it. I guess that is just me too...feeling bad for the dog.  She is so cute.  I hate for her to be ill in any way.  After doing a little research about dog coughs and pollen and allergens,  I realized I was in the dark as far as knowledge about that.

Dogs, like humans can be affected by the same things. These allergens may come from:


Trees
Grass
Weed pollens
Fabrics such as wool or nylon
Rubber and plastic materials
Foods and food additives such as individual meats, grains, or colorings
Milk products
House dust and dust mites
Flea bites


It is important that when the pollen count is high we do as much as possible to minimize their exposure. There are things we can do like:

Keep dogs out of fields
Keep grass cut short
Rinse dog's feet off after dog has been outside
Keep pets indoors during periods of high pollen counts

I really believe that our dog has kennel cough.  It should be over in about 7 to 14 days.  Poor thing.  We will keep watch and hope she gets better soon.  The vet did not treat her...he said just to watch and if cough does not clear up then we will need to bring her in again.

You can chase a butterfly all over the field and never catch it. But if you sit quietly in the grass it will come and sit on your shoulder. ~~Unknown~~