100 Top Consultations in Small Animal General Practice by Peter Hill & Sheena Warman & Geoff Shawcross

Author:Peter Hill & Sheena Warman & Geoff Shawcross
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Published: 2011-01-27T16:00:00+00:00

Management changes such as weight loss in obese pets, use of a harness rather than a collar, and avoidance of airway irritants, may also help to reduce the severity of a cough.

What if it doesn’t get better?

Most mild viral/bacterial infections will resolve or improve markedly after one or two weeks of appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Left-sided congestive heart failure usually improves after one or two days’ treatment. If a cough persists beyond this time, despite appropriate treatment, both the diagnosis and therapeutic strategy should be re-evaluated. Further investigation may be required to obtain a more specific diagnosis. For example, clinicians should note that concurrent heart and respiratory disease is common, and, even in dogs with obvious signs of cardiac disease, it cannot always be assumed that the cough is of cardiac origin. If the diagnosis is certain, a change in drug or drug dosage may be indicated. For example, chronic bronchitis does not usually respond to antibiotics but may improve markedly with glucocorticoid treatment to alleviate the airway inflammation. Clients should also be warned that some conditions cannot be cured and a successful outcome requires lifelong therapy. In other situations, such as pulmonary metastatic disease, the prognosis for recovery is hopeless.

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