# coughing after surgery



## RubyLove (May 4, 2009)

Ruby got spayed last Tuesday, and on Friday started occasionally having a short bout of coughing ending with a gag. She will cough 3-4 times, gag, then is fine. She is eating, drinking, barking, playing, everything fine. No lethargy, and the only time anything came up when she gagged was once just after she ate. I have been keeping her very quiet, but the last two days she has got short quiet play sessions (both in and outside) and will cough after them, but very rarely except that. She sleeps through the night without coughing and has her usual naps during the day without coughing.

I called the vet yesterday and was told that the tube used during surgery can irritate the trachea and cause coughing, which makes sense that she would cough more if she was panting (after exercise).

I was just wondering if anyone else has had any experience with this, or if you think it could be anything else. She will be going to the vet if she doesn't improve tomorrow.

Also, would honey be of any use to help soothe her throat (if it is irritation)? Because surely the more she coughs the more irritated it will get... leading to more coughing.


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## MrsJohnnyG (Jan 31, 2009)

I'm bumping this because one of my boys is doing the same after his surgery on Wednesday. (He didn't really seem to be doing it the first few days after surgery though, so I don't know if that's the cause in our case.

How is Ruby doing now? Still coughing or did it go away? Did your vet have any suggestions?


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## Dog_Shrink (Sep 29, 2009)

The trach tube can absolutely cause the caughing. My dane had to be trached 4 times once when he bloated to relieve the gas frmhis gut. They irritated his trhoat so bad he was n a soft food diet for a week to help the trach heal. Something else to consider is where you got your dogs fixed. Was it a low cost clinic, a vets office etc... I wouldn't totally rule out kennel cough if they were caged ina section that holds ill dogs, and the last thing I can think of off hand is lung worm which can be determined thru a stool sample. heart disease can also cause coughing (as I'm sure other diseases can too but I'm nto a vet so don't know all of them).


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## luv2byte (Oct 21, 2009)

Yup, Skyler was neutered Tues, he had a slight cough for 2 days.


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## Cracker (May 25, 2009)

It is very common for dogs post surgery to have irritated throats from the trach tube. As long as he is still eating and drinking okay I wouldn't worry about it too much. If it doesn't go away in three or four days I would speak to the vet about cough suppressant.


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## RubyLove (May 4, 2009)

Sorry I didn't see that this had been bumped sooner.

I went to a different vet after it didn't clear up. He said it was kennel cough, but had probably been exacerbated by the coughing caused by the tracheal tube. It cleared up after another week, without meds. I just kept her quiet and away from other dogs and she is doing fine now.


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## Bigcheese (Feb 19, 2020)

RubyLove said:


> Ruby got spayed last Tuesday, and on Friday started occasionally having a short bout of coughing ending with a gag. She will cough 3-4 times, gag, then is fine. She is eating, drinking, barking, playing, everything fine. No lethargy, and the only time anything came up when she gagged was once just after she ate. I have been keeping her very quiet, but the last two days she has got short quiet play sessions (both in and outside) and will cough after them, but very rarely except that. She sleeps through the night without coughing and has her usual naps during the day without coughing.
> 
> I called the vet yesterday and was told that the tube used during surgery can irritate the trachea and cause coughing, which makes sense that she would cough more if she was panting (after exercise).
> 
> ...


My 11 lb. Terrier had a procedure 1 1/2yrs ago and never stopped coughing with a gag.i tried honey,not good,,the vet put her on steroids it helped but long term would results with terrible side effects.we are concerned for her quality of life,sometimes she cant sleep,that we may have to euthanize her.


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