Cough

Question
My 10 year old dog, Buddy, suddenly (last night) developed a cough that is triggered by activity. As soon as he settles down, the coughing stops. When I adopted him from a shelter 8 years ago, he had kennel cough, and this appears to be very different from what I recall. It reminds me a bit of when my children had asthma attacks. A couple times it led to an appearance of vomiting but nothing came up. Feeding routine: I moisten Buddy's dry food with hot water, let it sit to absorb the liquid and cool, and then stir in a heaping spoonful of low-fat yogurt. However, I was out most of yesterday, and my daughter fed him his evening meal. She did not moisten the food. Buddy is up to date on his vaccinations. Also, my daughter recently adopted a dog from a shelter, and Buddy was in contact with him a week ago. The other dog has no symptoms of kennel cough.

Answer
One simple question: Is Buddy on Heartworm prevention?
IF the answer is yes, when was he last tested?
If the answer is no, then he needs to see your vet right away and be tested for heartworms.

It's very possible that Buddy has a scratchy throat from eating the food dry but unlikely. If his coughing persists he really needs to see the vet. At 10 years of age, this could be anything from his heart, to a lung issue. IF there are smokers in the house, even if they smoke outside, your pets are 65% more likely to develop lung diseases including lung cancer.

Kennel cough doesn't always show up right away and the new dog could very well have been a carrier of it. Buddy might be coming down with it anyway- especially if he hasn't been vaccinated for it over the last year or so.

Your best bet for Buddy is to take him in to be seen and heartworm tested. Even dogs that are on it yearly have been coming down with it due to resistance in some cases.

So call the vet tomorrow and make him an appointment.