Aging dog question

Question
We have a wonderfully sweet 14.5 y.o. chocolate lab and we are amazed she is still with us. She does have a number of issues, and we know she will be unlikely to make it to 15.  We would like to keep her as comfortable as possible, however.  To that end, she occasionally experiences a gagging phase ... as if she is going to throw up, but rarely does.  She has Cushings, and is on Rimadyl (1 tablet, twice daily).  Do you have any advice as to how to address the gagging, or what we might do to keep her comfortable?

Answer
Hi Catherine,

About the only negative thing you can say about dogs, is that they have such sort lives.

There are a lot of possible causes of the gagging/retching behavior, it would help me if you could get back to me with some more info. The questions I would want to know the answers to are:

1) How frequently does the gagging occur?  
2) Under what circumstances does it occur, such as
only in the morning, only after exercise, after eating, after drinking water, randomly, etc.
3) Is the the gagging more like a cough, or like your dog is trying to vomit?
4) Has your dog been diagnosed with anything else, other than Cushings, such as heart disease?

Persistent coughing and then gagging is often a symptom of an upper respiratory infection. Anything that produces a lot of mucus, from viral infections to allergies, will often cause dogs to gag. If this is the case, aside from antibiotic therapy, it might help your dog to place a vaporizer or humidifier placed near where she spends a lot of time. Steam inhalation is often used to break up mucus and reduce congestion, and helps make breathing easier. You could add essential oils to the humidifier at night that may help thin mucus and ease cough/gagging. Oils to try would be eucalyptus, tea tree, or marjoram.

If the cause of your dog's gagging is being caused by mucus, Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), might help, it's an herbal expectorant that helps break up lung congestion. American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) and Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus) decrease inflammation and open up the bronchial airways.

Like I said, if you could get back to me, I might be able more in the way of suggestions.
Thanks,

Patti