Retching Dog.

[Chaff 3,622]

Dog had a big run resulting in him being completely exhausted just lying in puddles not moving.

2 days on with good grub water and rest he seems OK

Except for a he retches like he going to be sick but nothing's coming out occasionally a bit of frothy water, he is eating well drinking well so don't think anything is stuck in his throat no signs of blood in his crap.

He cough's and retches maybe a dozen times a day

Any help much appreciated

[socks 32,253]

Dog has overworked his lungs mate and it will take up to 10 days of rest to recover ... you can help ease the retching by giving him a spoonful of good honey 5 - 7 times a day .......

[Chaff 3,622]

Thanks mate that makes perfect sense no work for him tomorrow.

I would buy you a pint if I knew you

Cheers

[sandymere 8,263]

Did this a few years ago, goes into a little depth on the subject, short version in bold

 

 

Its not uncommon to come across questions and references to canine athletes presenting with laryngeal /bronchial symptoms post exercise, often presenting as coughing/retching soon after or the day following high intensity exercise. My first experiences of this go back some 20 years to when I trained greyhounds under permit to Henlow Stadium, I noted that dogs had a tendency to cough for a day or two following racing/trailing after having a lay off. Ive also come across similar in coursing dogs and working lurchers when they have had a particularly hard run and as it seemed to settle once the animal was at full fitness Id put it down to lack of condition, the diagnosis seemed to fit as the episodes reduced as the animal gained racing condition without the need for further intervention.

Later in life I became involved in health with an interest in respiratory conditions. One lunch break whilst reading posts on a greyhound forum I saw a question referring to a dog coughing the morning after a race. The advice offered was all about kennel cough, with a variety of suggested treatments varying from antibiotics to garlic. Taking into account the time span of evening racing and a symptomatic cough the next morning it would be unusual for a viral or bacterial infection to show so quickly. It brought back memories of my racing days and what I d called an unfit cough, now as a nurse I had the facilities and knowledge to allow me to look for a proper cause and diagnosis as an alternative to kennel cough and so this is what I set out to do.

I searched veterinary journals and web sites but found little in the way of answer so I began to look at medical and nursing journals for similar symtomology. Exercise Induced Bronchial-spasm, (EIB), this is often termed exercise induced asthma, had obvious correlation and seemed the nearest reasonable diagnosis. EIB is often a diagnosis by exclusion rather than anything else; sufferers often dont have compromised peak flow in normal circumstance and no underlying diagnosis of asthma. It can be a problem even in Olympic athletes presenting as chest tightness, dizziness and commonly a post exercise cough. The exact causes are not really known but a suggested area is hyperinflation and drying of the lungs causing inflammation and airway constriction with a resultant increased mucosal production. The increased mucus is then coughed up for a period until the lungs recover. The symptoms seem to reduce on increasing fitness so the correlation seemed to make sense. Once the human or dog is fit it will be able to work at a lower level of lung capacity and so have a lower level of the drying stimuli and symptoms will subside.

There are treatments used for human athletes that include inhalers and anti mucosal medications but if increased fitness is a viable treatment in dogs I would question the need of pharmaceutical intervention. Im sure in some human athletes there is an underlying aspect of asthma and then the drugs will have a major effect but feel that this is less likely to be the case in canine athletes. So back to the original question rather than jumping straight into kennel cough treatments for a cough the morning we after a hard run we should consider EIB as an alternative. Perhaps what is required is a look at our pre event preparation and take on the advice given to humans with this type of condition, warm up well, cool down well, maintain condition to a reasonable degree and build up appropriate fitness after a lay off.

Ps I note that this seems to be exacerbated in cold weather likely due to airway constriction being further increased.

 

Edit to add.

I would expand this piece to include, even with good fitness with the right incentive dogs will run themselves to hard so even the fittest can get symptoms.

Edited November 28, 2016 by sandymere

[socks 32,253]

Thanks mate that makes perfect sense no work for him tomorrow.

I would buy you a pint if I knew you

Cheers

No worries mate ... you can send me the money for a drink in the post if you want ... it's about £30 a pint in my local lol ... give the dog enough time off for the cough to go mate ......

[Chaff 3,622]

 

Thanks mate that makes perfect sense no work for him tomorrow.

I would buy you a pint if I knew you

Cheers

No worries mate ... you can send me the money for a drink in the post if you want ... it's about £30 a pint in my local lol ... give the dog enough time off for the cough to go mate ......

Lol how about 2 rabbits and a pheasant

Dog will be rested,he won't like it when I box the ferret's in the morning,but he will get some good grub for his dinner if I'm lucky

Atb

[low plains drifter 10,617]

Did this a few years ago, goes into a little depth on the subject, short version in bold

 

 

Its not uncommon to come across questions and references to canine athletes presenting with laryngeal /bronchial symptoms post exercise, often presenting as coughing/retching soon after or the day following high intensity exercise. My first experiences of this go back some 20 years to when I trained greyhounds under permit to Henlow Stadium, I noted that dogs had a tendency to cough for a day or two following racing/trailing after having a lay off. Ive also come across similar in coursing dogs and working lurchers when they have had a particularly hard run and as it seemed to settle once the animal was at full fitness Id put it down to lack of condition, the diagnosis seemed to fit as the episodes reduced as the animal gained racing condition without the need for further intervention.

 

Later in life I became involved in health with an interest in respiratory conditions. One lunch break whilst reading posts on a greyhound forum I saw a question referring to a dog coughing the morning after a race. The advice offered was all about kennel cough, with a variety of suggested treatments varying from antibiotics to garlic. Taking into account the time span of evening racing and a symptomatic cough the next morning it would be unusual for a viral or bacterial infection to show so quickly. It brought back memories of my racing days and what I d called an unfit cough, now as a nurse I had the facilities and knowledge to allow me to look for a proper cause and diagnosis as an alternative to kennel cough and so this is what I set out to do.

 

I searched veterinary journals and web sites but found little in the way of answer so I began to look at medical and nursing journals for similar symtomology. Exercise Induced Bronchial-spasm, (EIB), this is often termed exercise induced asthma, had obvious correlation and seemed the nearest reasonable diagnosis. EIB is often a diagnosis by exclusion rather than anything else; sufferers often dont have compromised peak flow in normal circumstance and no underlying diagnosis of asthma. It can be a problem even in Olympic athletes presenting as chest tightness, dizziness and commonly a post exercise cough. The exact causes are not really known but a suggested area is hyperinflation and drying of the lungs causing inflammation and a resultant increased mucosal production. The increased mucus is then coughed up for a period until the lungs recover. The symptoms seem to reduce on increasing fitness so the correlation seemed to make sense. Once the human or dog is fit it will be able to work at a lower level of lung capacity and so have a lower level of the drying stimuli and symptoms will subside.

 

There are treatments used for human athletes that include inhalers and anti mucosal medications but if increased fitness is a viable treatment in dogs I would question the need of pharmaceutical intervention. Im sure in some human athletes there is an underlying aspect of asthma and then the drugs will have a major effect but feel that this is less likely to be the case in canine athletes. So back to the original question rather than jumping straight into kennel cough treatments for a cough the morning we after a hard run we should consider EIB as an alternative. Perhaps what is required is a look at our pre event preparation and take on the advice given to humans with this type of condition, warm up well, cool down well, maintain condition to a reasonable degree and build up appropriate fitness after a lay off.

 

Ps I note that this seems to be exacerbated in cold weather with both me and the lurcher

 

Edit to add.

I would expand this piece to include, even with good fitness with the right incentive dogs will run themselves to hard so even the fittest can get symptoms.

Good to read that mate, I've had and seen coursing/lamping dogs showing these sorts of symptoms, Bedlington terrier in my street retches and snorts like he's got a mucus problem of some sort, once heard it described as a lack of oxygen getting to the brain caused by over exertion that causes these symptoms