Thread: Why Does he cough after dringking water

Can anyone tell me why Cooper coughs after he drinks water. Sometimes it is just heartbreaking. He is also a very picky eater. A little history on Cooper. We rescued him last June from a shelter. He only weighed 3lb 4oz. now is weighs 8lb 6oz. He was to weak to walk from the garage to the front door... now he loves to run and play. he would not eat at the shelter, but he would eat from my hand, after going for 3 days to feed him,we took him home with us. After 1.5 months he was healthy enough to get fixed. The vet also treated him for kennel cough. The only time he coughs is when he drinks water. He is a Pappion Pommerian mix.

Thanks for any help, Coopers mom

My dogs will sometimes drink too much and cough but it's a rare event. If your pup does this constantly, you should have him checked out by a vet. It could be something serious such as a collapsed trachea or other obstruction in the airway.

Bless you for rescuing this little guy and probably saving his life by hand feeding him.

my dog does this every time he drinks water.
He is a rescue as well. I took him to the vet when i noticed this because the first couple of days were really startling. After he drinks water he'll sound like this " Hack Honk Honk Honk Acck" hock out water and spit and then run around like nothing happened.

Now i just pat him on the back if it seems like he's having a lot of trouble.

The vet recommended that I elevate his water bowl. I also place a little water drop dispense bottle in his crate, this has mitigated his reverse sneezing when he drinks water but hasn't eliminated it.

At 1st he was given a little pill (I can't recall the name) for a couple of days to ease his water drinking cough but it never went away.

I spoke to a couple people who have little dogs, a friend of mine who has a chihuahua does the same EXACT thing after drinking water. shes has her pup for 3 years and I've had mine almost a year. It seems to be common in small dogs.

Just make sure the cough is only after drinking water, this will eliminate more serious issues. other than that it's a normal thing with the littler dogs.

hope that helps

Thank you for your reply. I will try raising his water dish, it is good to know this may be common for little guys. I called my old vet and made Cooper an appointment just to be sure.