# A cough and the surprising cause



## nancyf (Nov 6, 2007)

I wanted to pass along something I learned yesterday. Maybe it'll help someone.

Dani has had a cough for a few months. We'd notice it at night but it wasn't a constant cough, just enough to wake me up once or twice a night. We thought it was allergies. She was sleeping more so we finally decided to have it checked out.

The vet thought it was allergies so she put her on an antihistimine/prednisone medication. She also mentioned that Dani's teeth showed she was chewing only on one side which meant pain was evident.

She went in yesterday to get her teeth cleaned and the vet found that one tonsil was inflamed. The inflamed tonsil caused the cough. Bacteria in her teeth could have caused the tonisl problem.

The vet also took a scraping from the tonsil and she found no cancer cells. I guess an inflamed tonsil could be cancer, also. 

So on top of everything else, I am adding brushing the teeth in both our dogs. I want to keep them from pain and infection and it's got to help our check book from "feeling pain"! Hope this helps someone.


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## Laurief (Nov 7, 2006)

Yikes - I am so glad that you found out what it was. And NOT Cancer! Did they give Dani antibiotics?


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## Kathie (Jul 31, 2008)

Good to know! Bad teeth and gum problems can cause all kinds of serious problems. It is so much easier to brush teeth (as icky as it might be) than to have big problems down the line. Our vet told us years ago that it seemed that small breeds are more susceptible to tooth and gum disease.

So glad you found Dani's problem and I hope she's feeling better soon!


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## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

Thank goodness you found the cause and that it's curable. It never would have occured to me.


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

How do you train a none willing 9mo old and 6mo old to let you brush there teeth?:brushteeth:


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

You don't actually need to use a brush. A piece of gauze wrapped around your finger works even better for removing tartar, and is easier to maneuver. Lots of dogs love the taste of the doggy toothpaste, and it's not bad for them to swallow, like human toothpaste is. So start by just letting them lick some off your finger and making a big deal of it being a great treat. (actually, it has enzymes in it that make it beneficial to get into their mouths even if you can't actually brush with it)

My vet said that the most important part to get brushed is the outside of the molars. he said the front teeth get a lot of scraping during chewing on bones, sticks and all the other things dogs chew on, and the inside of the teeth constantly get cleaned off by tongue movement. So even if the ONLY part you can get at is the outside of the teeth, by slipping your finger between the dog's lips and teeth and rubbing gently a few times a week, it makes a HUGE difference. Over time, most dogs will allow you to do a more thorough job, but if not, this still helps a LOT.

He said that many people try to do too much, get frustrated and give up. He said it's much better to get the toothpaste in their mouth and do what you can without upsetting them than to not do it at all.


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## nancyf (Nov 6, 2007)

Laurief said:


> Yikes - I am so glad that you found out what it was. And NOT Cancer! Did they give Dani antibiotics?


She's on two weeks worth of antibiotics. We have to go back in three weeks to see if the tonsil isn't inflamed. If it is, the vet wants to do a big biopsy (not just a scraping) to see if it's cancer. We don't know how we feel about cancer treatment in dogs. We've seen enough in humans and it's hard to comfort someone who doesn't understand why they are going through this--and there's no way to explain it to a dog. But we are expecting good results from these antibiotics and will go from there.

Dani hates her teeth brushed or even touched, but she lets me do it. I was using the gel and spray once in a while. I plan to use the guaze and dog tooth paste and then will use Oxyfresh in their water.

Dani is very prone to tartar build up. She had her teeth cleaned a year and a half ago and needed one pulled that was really bad. We got her when she was 8 (she's 10 now) so she came with this bad tooth. She acted like a puppy when it was removed!


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## nancyf (Nov 6, 2007)

pjewel said:


> Thank goodness you found the cause and that it's curable. It never would have occured to me.


When Dani would cough, it was like she had sinus drainage--that kind of sound. Now I know it was from pain and swelling in her sinus.


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