# How does a heart worm cough sound like?



## eaticecream (Jul 27, 2012)

My dog coughs once in a while. When he does it sounds like a forceful exhale as if he coughed something up to swallow it. He only coughs once and it kind of sounds like food is stuck in his throat. I never though much of it since he doesn't chew his food, and I thought coughing it up was what he was doing. Just so I know, can anyone describe in detail what a cough associated with heart worm sounds like? The web describes it as a soft, dry cough, but exactly what does that mean? I've tried looking at YouTube videos, but I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking at.


----------



## Kayla_Nicole (Dec 19, 2012)

Coughing once in awhile is pretty normal. Dogs eat things and occasionally need to cough to loosen something in their throats. I wouldn't be concerned unless you have reason to think your dog may have contracted heartworm. Has he been on regular preventative? Your vet should run a check annually as well.


----------



## eaticecream (Jul 27, 2012)

I'm a pretty paranoid person and I always overreact to the slightest things that I notice in my loved ones. He is not on a regular preventative and I never felt the need to be because he is an indoor pet and we live in a city in California that never stays hot enough for mosquitoes to become a problem. How long does it take for a dog to start displaying symptoms of a heart worm infection? I've had my dog for over a year now; if he was infected a year ago is it possible that he is only showing faint symptoms now?


----------



## Kayota (Aug 14, 2009)

I overreact too... However:










This may change your mind about taking that risk. I believe it's seven months for a dog to begin showing signs. You should get your dog on Heartworm prevention after getting a HW test done.


----------



## juliemule (Dec 10, 2011)

I've recently dealt with four of my dogs being heartworm positive. Only one coughed. I live in that deep maroon area near the Mississippi river, where heartworm prevention is failing.


----------



## PatriciafromCO (Oct 7, 2012)

My childhood Rusty collie was killed by heartworms,, was never heard of before. we were both 14 years old.. By the time we realized there was something really wrong he was fully infested in the heart and lungs with thousands of adult heartworms in his body.. Was a long term of many years being infected before it was too much not to notice,, He would multiple hack episodes very rough like a bronchitis sounding couldn't catch his breath, then he would be ok, always remember how much is rib cage was involved trying to get through it and eventually he looked really bloated in the rib cage area. Always felt bad as I kid I kept patting his back thinking I was helping him. The vet made the diagnosis and gave us some pills that were really expensive but don't know what they were. Said it would help him be more comfortable but not get rid of the heartworms. Think it made the heartworms less active because the hacking episodes stopped, he was his happy self as so long as he was on that medicine. Had a good year with him before my Dad felt it was more decent to let Rusty go.. The test is so easy to get done in office.. even if you decided not to prevent year round I would get the test done regulary


----------



## Fade (Feb 24, 2012)

That map is from 2007 too and lately with the weather being weird it seems to have gotten worse in many areas. Our area has been much worse


----------



## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

"How does a heart worm cough sound like?"

Answer- Very very faint, but echoey as they are small, but long and thin...
Most people don't care if their dog's heartworms have a cough, as they usually try to kill them, not treat them for a cold...LOL...


(JK)


----------



## Kayota (Aug 14, 2009)

Fade said:


> That map is from 2007 too and lately with the weather being weird it seems to have gotten worse in many areas. Our area has been much worse


There were three dogs at least at the one shelter alone that I interned at that were HW+. I live in a VERY high incident region. The tip of Illinois that's the darkest red there... That's the place I call home.


----------



## lil_fuzzy (Aug 16, 2010)

If you worry about heartworm, go to the vet and have the heartworm test done. It's very quick and simple, doesn't take more than 5-10 minutes and doesn't cost all that much.


----------

