Hello,
My 4 year old husky has been coughing a lot recently. After about 2 weeks, I took her to the vet to get it checked out. After taking 2 weeks worth of antibiotics and cough medicine, the cough hasn’t gone away or gotten any better. It’s a hacking cough with a gag or a burp at the end of it. The only thing that seems to cure/suppress it is Benadryl. Her energy levels and appetite have not decreased. Any thoughts/advice?

Was she checked for heartworm? I remember reading heartworm can lead to coughing.

Not to scare you but there seems to be a connection to certain diets and cardiomyopathy. Heart problems can cause coughing but i would definitely request the vet do a heartworm test.

I’m going to get a heatworm test done this week and get her heart checked as well. It just seems odd that Benadryl fixes the problem. About an hour after she takes it, there is no coughing whatsoever. That leads me to believe it is allergy related. Possibly mold in the air vents or something. But I still plan on getting her tested to rule out the more serious conditions.

Heartworm test and a chest xray if you can afford it. they should do a nasal swab as well to check for eosinophils that will let you know if it's allergy related. Reason for chest xray possibly would be to look for potential lung disease or other heart issues. I have a male husky that developed eosinophilic bronchopneumopathy around the age of 4, which is basically an allergic reaction that the body can't stop having. It started as a cough, then the cough eventually led to hacking up white drool and foam, and eventually his head plugged up where he couldn't breathe. The thing with EBP though is it only reacts to prednisone and benedryl did nothing for it really.

Years ago i brought a dog (turned out to be a wolf/malamute)back from Israel. About 3 months after he came to the us he got a really bad cough he couldnt shake. Thankfully i had a vet in the family that was local and all the tests for everything came back negative so we started looking at the environment.I was running the family farm and had way to many horses so eventually things with roeh got sidelined. Took him to pa camping and the coughing stopped. Went home 10 mins in the barn it was back. As rare as it was turned out roeh was allergic to horses. Because ive been there i can think of about 50 things that arnet dcm or kennel cough or heartworm that it could be. If the money isnt the issue i personally would rule out anything life threatening and then go from there

Thank you for all the feedback. I’ll get X-rays and other tests done to rule out life threatening conditions. I moved from pa to Maryland a few months ago. A month or two after moving is when it started. Since her appetite, temperature and energy level is staying consistent, I’m hoping it is just something minor.

What part of md my family is there

If the Benadryl stops the cough, my money is something allergy mediated, possibly plain ordinary asthma. But, I would agree to to rule out life threatening stuff first.

My Husky started wheezing and antihistamines worked but then we found out it's not uncommon for Shepherds and Huskies to get a paralyzed larynx so her throat wasn't opening and closing well. A very smart doctor recognized it did a scope with a camera and identified and confirmed. We had surgery to tie back the larynx and she lived for another full healthy year