What's wrong with my dog?

My dog will cough and it sounds exactly like she's trying to cough up a hairball or something. She does this about once a week maybe. At first I thought she was choking on something but she wasn't. She had a skin problem for about a year and a half. Her skin was very itchy and she would lick her fur ALOT. Now I think it's psycalogical because she no longer has the dry itchy skin problem but she still licks her fur. Not nearly as bad though.


Anyway I'm sure she swollows some of her fur. Can she get hairballs? She never coughs any fur back up though. She can't be sick. She only coughs like this one time and then goes and does whatever. Sounds kind of like she's trying to hack something up or like she's going to get sick but she never does. Any ideas on what this could be.





She's going to the vet soon and I'll ask him. I'd like to learn about what it could possible be so I can research it first. So I don't wind up getting conned by the vet too. Thanx

What's wrong with my dog?
If it's a small dog it could be a collapsable trachea my mothers dog has that problem, only it's extreme when eveer his throught is touched it starts or if he is on a regular leash and it gets pulled. Good Luck!
Reply:Dogs that lick a lot can get hairballs. Do remember to ask the vet when you go though.
Reply:Is her nose running a lot? It might be kennel cough. Check it out with the vet
Reply:oH, I REALLY DON'T THINK THE VET will con you. Make sure she doesn't have a small piece of bone in sideways. If she does, be very, very careful taking it out, it may tear her throat. But be sure you DO go the Vet.
Reply:Sounds like either bordatella (kennel cough) or heartworm.
Reply:If you need to tell the vet what the dog has, then you're going to the wrong vet. If you think your vet will con you, you're going to the wrong vet. Do you distrust doctors as much as you do vets? They don't go to school to learn how to con you; they go to learn to recognize what's wrong with your animal and give it the best treatment possible.





If you're sure she swallows hair when licking herself, then she might have hairballs. She could also have heartworm, kennel cough and one of several other illnesses.





Vet training includes exposure to dogs with lots of varied illnesses so as to make it easier for a vet to diagnose accurately what an animal has. Also, it's much harder to get into vet school than it is to get into medical school, so the overall quality of vets might, in fact, be higher than the quality of physicians. As hard as it is to get into vet school, I doubt there are vets who would con you. Some vets, however, I believe charge way too much for services rendered.