Does Your Dog Cough After Drinking Water? Here Is Why?

If your dog coughs after drinking water, it can be due to three health issues- kennel cough, Hypoplastic trachea, collapsed trachea

Few things are as fascinating as watching a dog’s tongue quench his thirst with water. 

But what if drinking water leads to coughing in your dog?

Naturally, like any of us, sometimes our dogs drink too fast or get distracted for a while, and a few drops go the wrong way. You’ve started to notice a disturbing trend, though. It seems that every time your dog stops for a moment of liquid refreshment, the action is quickly followed by the sounds of coughing and closing the mouth. If a dog coughs after drinking water incessantly, there may be more to it than a quick or careless swallowing can explain.

At least three medical issues can be the cause of a dog coughing after drinking water, all involving the trachea:

1. Kennel cough
2. Hypoplastic trachea
3. Collapsed trachea

Each of these conditions can affect any dog, but there are significant differences and distinctions we can take between to determine what course of action a veterinarian can take to reduce a dog’s suffering. Age, fertility, size and associated characteristics are all important factors.

If your dog coughs after drinking water, trachea problems may play.

 First, where is the trachea?

The trachea, or windpipe, is a tube made of cartilage, muscle, and tissue, between the throat and lungs. With it, air passes from the nose or mouth to the inside and outside of the lungs. Share its entry into the body and throat. A small tip called the epiglottis is closed when food or water enters, leading to the digestive tract, and opening the airway. When the integrity of the structure of the trachea is weakened, so does its function.

Whether the problem is irritability and inflammation among respiratory diseases, a defect that exists from an early age due to genetic abnormalities, or one that begins in adulthood, a weak trachea limits the oxygen supply they need in dogs. As dogs sweat profusely, panting not only provides cool air but also provides heat relief, making the larynx especially useful during warmer seasons or during strenuous exercise.

Now, let’s examine those three reasons in detail

Kennel coughs in dogs

Also known as infectious canine tracheobronchitis, kennel coughing in dogs is the worst reason why a dog coughs after drinking water. Kenneline cough is actually the common cold of canines. Like any other infectious disease, it spreads to other areas where many dogs live. From dog kennels to clean-ups, and to ride stations to veterinarians’ offices, kennel coughs can affect any type of dog at any time.

A major symptom of this mild respiratory illness is a cough that sounds like a goose bump. The more the dog coughs, the trachea becomes aggressive and swollen. In a family with many animals, the dog that coughs up the kennel should be separated from the other dogs and their containers cleaned and disinfected. Kenneline cough usually passes within a few weeks, with any coughing as well.

Hypoplastic trachea

If the dog coughs after drinking water, especially if the dog is a small puppy, it could indicate a serious health problem. Hypoplastic trachea is an abnormal genetic behavior. The term “Hypoplastic” means “underdeveloped,” and it usually refers to the cartilage rings that make up the trachea. The result of this inherited condition is that the windpipe does not grow to its full size or width. The disease mainly affects puppies from the short-lived species, called “brachycephalic.”

High-risk hypoplastic reproduction includes Boston Terrier, English Bulldog and Pug. Symptoms depend on how much the goat’s airway is reduced by the condition. These dogs are already known, as they grow, bark, smell or breathe heavily; with hypoplastic trachea, symptoms such as these may begin to appear at five or six months of age. Additional signs to look out for in downy dogs include less energy, as well as immediate weight gain due to limited ability to exercise.

In itself, a small case, where the size of the trachea is not significantly affected, can pass completely unnoticed and undetected. In some dogs, narrow trachea may be a symptom of brachycephalic airway syndrome, in which the shortened length of a dog’s head causes other abnormalities, such as small noses, that continue to block the dog’s airway.

Trachea Collapse

When evidence of underdeveloped trachea often appears at a very young age, symptoms of a falling trachea begin later and often affect a different group of dogs. This is a degenerative condition in which the trachea loses its integrity over time. Imagine being able to lightly flush a toilet paper roll and have a good picture of what happened to the dog’s air pipe. As the airway decreases, it becomes increasingly difficult for the dog to get enough air.

Symptoms of falling trachea usually appear in middle age or adulthood, which in these long-lived small dogs can be present from 4-6 years or later. Similar to kennel coughs and hypoplastic tracheas, the symptom of this disease is a coughing cough, which is accompanied by a faint sound. Small dogs that have been active and lifelong, energy loss or fatigue after a little effort can be alarming symptoms of weak tracks.

Anything with the word collapse in it sounds critical, but in most cases, this is a slowly growing health problem. It is most commonly seen in Yorkshire Terriers, but is more common in the range of small dogs and toy dogs.

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