Doggy hiccups and retching

What causes Doggy Hiccups?

My dog was having episodes of hard gulping and feels like a lump in her throat as she is swallowing but it's not there when she's fine.

When went outside and made a retching sound but was only a bit of frothy water came out, no bile or food, even though she's just had dinner.

I tried to encourage her to drink water thinking maybe she got something stuck in her throat but she doesn't want to drink anything even though tried to tempt her with a bit of cheese, she'd take one quick gulp of water but didn't seem to want a drink really.

I didn't know if was something like reverse sneeze? It has happened a few times before and it was really cold then, it hasn't happened all summer since about last March.

A vet told me sometimes a dog can have soft palette problems where it temporarily falls over wrong part and they feel like they're gasping for air. Due to her age he didn't want to do a scope unless it was happening really frequently.

She also seems to sound like she has a sore throat all the time when she barks or makes a noise and noisy when sleeping but I can't tell if its snoring or more like a wheeze and of course she's wide awake when vet visits.

I'm not sure if Fireworks going off as triggered it tonight but the 'hiccups' seem intermittant she's fine for a while then wil gulp a bit then it appears to go off again.

Also always seems to happen at night after she's been laid down a while.

Any tips to how I can ease the gulping when she starts? She doing it alot at minute and constantly licking lips and fireworks are going off so wondering if its stress triggering it this time?

Thanks

The retching and bringing up froth sounds very like kennel cough to be honest, but given that she has had lots of previous bouts of this then perhaps it is something different.

Fireworks are an absolute pain and trigger all manner of stress related responses, but if she is still doing it in a day or two or if anything else develops, then I would pay the vet a visit if it was me.

she didn't cough up phlegm and retching like this before we thought it was the loose palette issue.

It does seem more like kennel cough this time after looking at symptoms.

I looked up if can give Benylin as it's all I got in house and alot say it works to ease throat, so I tried dipping bits of rich tea biscuits in Benylin and got her to eat a few pieces!

Not sure how much I should give her, but it was non-drowsy formula.

I will phone vet on Monday morning, but I thought Kennel cough was included in the Vaccine which she gets every year in her booster?

No it's an entirely separate thing...usually a squirt up the nose.

Good luck, it seems to be rife at the moment but here's hoping that your girl doesn't have it too badly if that is indeed what she has.

well it seems to have stopped after feeding her a few pieces of rich tea biscuit dipped in Benylin! ..she wasn't keen but ate them for me but I since read you can also try mixing it with warm milk so I might try that tomorrow.

Not sure how much meant to give them? might try a drink in morning and one at bedtime to see if I can prevent an attack on Sunday night.

If she seems much better Monday I'll still email my vet and see what they think. I read about someone having their dog on Benylin for a week and it was much better and went completely.

She doesn't have anything else like runny nose or temperature...so fingers crossed!

Thanks

Hello Kati

The hard swallowing /gulping you describe can be caused by an excess of saliva (in humans it is called water brash) and this often precedes vomiting .
as long as fresh water is available a dog will drink if it needs to .
reverse sneezing is usually due to a soft pallet problem or some substance inhaled up the nose which the dog is trying to expel. It is a drawing in of air then rapidly snorting it out again . If you look on You tube I think there is a video demonstrating it.

I know what you mean, some dogs do make a hoarse sound when barking .
Lip licking can be a sign of stress/uncertainty and fear can make a dog feel that it want to vomit.
Hiccups in an older dog can be due to swallowing too much air or a tummy problem.
There could be a number of things going on here or it may be nothing much at all so I am sorry but I can't really suggest anything to help you.
Test by a vet are really the only way to work out if there is a problem.

ETA, sorry Kati, I can't see the age of your dog anywhere..

ok Thanks.

It seems to be on and off just as I thought it had gone she started again.

Not sure how much Benylin I can give her and whether I should give it everytime she starts the retching or gulping. Problem is she won't go out in garden at minute cos the fireworks are really bad at the minute.

It's odd it only seems to happen at night though and she's fine all day and for months in a row!

Her tummy does seem to gurgle alot even though she has eaten loads and I changed her food back from senior to adult as thought maybe the senior version wasn't as filling for her. Despite this she hasn't put weight on and remains lean..which I put down to her been crossed with whippet!

I did notice though looking through symptoms of Kennel Cough that weight loss can be a symptom. Each time the vet has checked though they never found anything wrong with her and said she was very fit and lean for her age (12 next March)

Hi Kati When did the problem start, has she always had it. Personally I am not a fan of giving Benylin to dogs. It comes in various forms both expectorants and cough suppressants neither of which may be suitable for your dog's problem.
For a hoarse throat a tiny bit of honey in warm water may help but if the problem is recent I would guess it may be physically related .

12, oh bless her she is quite a mature lady then...

last winter she had a few episodes but they were more like the reverse sneeze and also happened at night.

She hasn't had one since about last March so tonight is first time in 6 months. Tonight's does seem more like kennel cough.

She'll settle for a bit then suddenly sit up gulping again and constantly licking her lips. I'm not sure if it's just cos of the Fireworks but they seem to have eased off now a bit.

The soft palette problem was mentioned before, she has lost weight around her neck and seems to have extra skin there. I did wonder if that would make the soft palette issue worse. She does get through alot but jogs alongside my mobility scooter twice a day so gets plenty of exercise to burn them off. so figured calories in must be more or less same as calories out she doesn't seem to be gaining weight, but always has a gurgly tummy sometimes straight after dinner!

It does seem odd if it was soft palette thing that it's not happened since last winter and started again when it's gone really cold once again! ..and always at night??? ..never in day even if she had been doing it most of the night before..she wouldn't restart until evening! ..only connection I could find was the cold and a drop in temperature? ..though I've had heating on tonight so I'm baffled!!

Hi Kati I am afraid I can only speculate , the 'night thing' may be connected to muscle relaxation?

I am sorry I can't be of more help, if you think you girl is suffering discomfort I would go back to the vets and ask for further investigation.