calliecritturs
Posted : 12/4/2006 12:07:32 AM
When Outdoorschik first adopted Oliver (this was way way previous to hip dysplasia and all that) he was one mega sick little pup and had bacteria pneumonia. It took a LONG while to heal -- she did steam tents with him in the bathroom and a bunch of stuff.
Slippery elm can be super helpful -- that's a good anti-inflammatory for the lungs. You can make a good cough syrup from honey + lemon + teas or two of slippery elm (w/just enough water to make the slippery elm into gelatin). You can literally give them all you want/need to.
Specifically tell your friend to find out if the vet wants the cough suppressed or NOT. That's a big huge deal and it will be dependant on what the individual situation is.
That above recipe will NOT suppress a cough -- it will simply help reduce the inflammation and make the dog more comfortable so it avoids excessive coughing, but it's not going to prevent them coughing something up that needs to come up.
If there is fever, you can give chammomile tea -- that will help both reduce fever systemically AND it will help the tummy (cos all the meds will upset the stomach). However, skip the chammomile if they have the dog on prednisone to reduce the lung inflammation. The cough syrup won't react badly with pred.
Another good cough soothant is licorice (the black kind) -- just don't overdo it because it can up the blood pressure in great quantities. But it is very soothing and usually they really like it.