Tussigon - is this a common drug given to dogs for a cough>?
Question posted by shelley_p on 31 Oct 2009
Last updated on 30 November 2017
Answers
I don't know if it's commonly prescribed, but my 15 year old chihuahua mix is on it to help with his chronic coughing due to a collapsing trachea. I give it to him every 8 hours but it seems to wear off closer to 6.
today my vet prescribed tussigon to my 13-year-old chihuahua for her frequent coughing spells due to enlarged heart pressing on trachea(also starting to collapse) - I've given her two doses so far and I don't see much improvement - it's time for her third dose, will that be the charm? Does it take a few doses to start working?
Hello Vickishelby, my poodle has Congestive Heart Failure and was coughing with every move he made. His Vet prescribed Tussigon, 5mg tablets to be quartered and given 3x per day. The first time I gave it to him it sedated him more than I liked. The vet then said to cut the quarter in half which I did and I've only had to give him total 3 pills in the past week. This is working amazingly well for him. The effect from the pill seems to last for a long time without him being so sedated (after getting the right dose) and he, Scooter, and his Mommy and Daddy are very happy that he isn't having to endure that horrible cough which is from his enlarged heart pressing on the airways. I call it almost a miracle pill, the Vet calls Scooter the miracle dog as he has just adapted to this condition really well and although he is severely ill Scooter shows us no signs that he's ready to give up and neither are we. To give you an idea of what his meds are like...
: He takes VetMedin 2x per day and also Enalapril 2x per day. Then he takes Potassium 2x per day. He also gets 25 mgs of Lasik AM and PM, plus 25 mgs of Lasik in the early afternoon. The amount of Lasik that he needs is mindboggling but he's been tolerating all of this for the past two years. One of our toughest jobs is to get him to eat. Sometimes he's fine and sometimes he puts us through the mill, lol as it might take us a whole day of coaxing to get him to eat the right amounts to keep his weight up. So far, so good. We know that he has good days and bad, but we always get through them. Anyway, back to the Tussigon I am thrilled with how it is working with the little amount that we give him. My little poodle is only 11 yrs old which is young for a poodle. I lost his sister to Kidney Disease last June and he had his sister for 10 yrs and had to get used to eating alone, etc. This is the most special poodle I've ever had and I know eventually the time will run out, but for now he is comfortable and happy with his life and we enjoy and love every minute we have with him. Good luck with the Tussigon. It may just be that the dose has to be adjusted. These precious pets give us so much joy and happiness that I can't imagine my life without him. The ends are difficult and heartbreaking but the pros of the joy, happiness and loyalty that they give us certainly outweighthe cons. Take care. Carole and Scooter
Dear Carole and Scooter,
My heart goes out to you both. My little Lucy, a cocker/poodle/lhasa apso mix also has CHF, as well as the cough you mentioned. I'm doing everything I can for my sweet girl, yet feel it is not enough. She (they all) deserves longer and healthier lives. I'm trying to get Lucy back to a vet teaching hospital an hour away for a re eval--she spent 3 1/2 days there in Jan for sycope/seizure episodes. This is when we learned of her heart disease (now a grade 4 murmer out of 6). In February our reg vet began treating her for early chf. She is now on same meds as your little Scooter, except for the potassium. Wonder why my vet has not suggested/considered adding this medicine to her regimine???
It doesn't look like my precious Lucy will have even close to 2 years with this disease! Vet told husb she may just have weeks now. Seem they've given up on her and it breaks my heart. Because she does NOT show signs of being ready to say goodbye to us. And I am NOT ready (never will be though) to give up on her. Please pray for us! She's got a companion who I don't know how to help him deal with losing his buddy for 10 years now!! And THAT really breaks my heart. I can't work, can barely leave the house and I pace and cry around my house and yard (not in front of doggies--not right to stress them with my sadness). And I cannot decide how to handle the farewell. Husb says no room in yard for burial. But I can't bear the the thought of burning her little body! I am a mess! I know my health; mental, physical and emotional has been declining for the past 5 months. But I can't think of me now. I am trying to come up with the money to get her the cardiologist exam at the teaching hospital. It's scheduled for mon 6/6. But not sure if will be able to see it through. I want to... I owe her that! They may be able to offer additional treatments that reg vet not experienced with.
Thank you for reading about my sweet, loving, loyal and trusting friend. My dogs are my world!!
Teresa & Lucy
Indiana
to Carole and Scooter - thank you for your wonderful comments and helpful information about Scooter and Tussigon. There were many more things that I learned from you - that Scooter and my Pepita take the same meds, except Pepita takes thyroid and doesn't take potassium. Is that for the Lasix side effect? Also so familiar reading your problems with Scooter's appetite - I go through the same thing and am always holding my breath to see if she likes what I give her. I felt like we were fellow travelers with our feelings of our dear pet family members. The time flies by so fast, our love for them never lessens and they are true treasures. We both know how important their quality of life is, and every day with them is a gift.
There is one more thing that we have done for our (now) 14-year old chihuahua, Pepita - we ordered an oxygen tent for pets from Dr. Foster catalog - that was the easy part, finding a place that would rent us oxygen and the necessary attachment was a struggle. We got a prescription from the vet and went to at least three different places, including our vet, and finally found a company that would do it. It's nice to know we have it, she's gone to emergency vet three times in the last year or so because she couldn't stop coughing, and oxygen was always the first thing they did.
hi also have a dog and find ad wet food easy to hide pills in especially vetmedin they must smell it
It seems from what I'm reading that other dogs are prescribed a regiment of Enalapril, Lessix, Vetmeden and Tussigon. Our little nine year old Chihuahua
seemed to get worse overnight with her coughing due to an enlarged heart pressing on her trachia, and then our Vet prescribed Tussigon today for the first time. I am giving her 1/4 of a pill every 12 hrs. in hopes she improves. The Vet also increased the Lessix to 1 1/2 pills morning and night and 1/2 pill at noon. She takes Enalapril just once at night. Vetmeden is given twice a day (morning and night). I find the Vetmeden the most expensive of all of the pills. Wallgreens has Enalapril and Tussigon, but doesn't have Lessix in the small dosage and doesn't carry Vetmeden at all. I send away to 1-800-PetMeds for some of her meds. I am curious about her cough.
Why did it get worse all of a sudden, and will it get better and will she be able to stand all of these pills for any length of time? I really think I am buying time. I do notice while she is having her coughing fits (which usually end in a reverse sneeze), if I press on her chest up near her throat, she gets some relief. I would like to hear from people going through this with their dogs. Does this mean the end is near for her? What is the outcome? How will it end. I don't want her to suffer, but I don't want to put her down either.
My 14 year old 28 pound pekenese/japanese chin mix was prescribed one-half of a 5mg tab every 8 hours for her collapsing trachea and consequent cough. I only give her one-half tab a daily out of fear of overdose, along with a vet prescribed small dose of prednisone. It helps her, but as mentioned here, the first time I gave it to her she slept for 10 hours. TUSSIGON 5mg is what he sold me, which is EXACTLY the same pill as described for human treatment. I'm thinking about trying to get a prescription from my human doctor and purchase this using health insurance drug coverage because the vet charges much too much for it.
I sure hope everyone is doing well with their beloved pets. My little Chihuahua "Pointer" (13) is going through somewhat the same thing. He has CHF with a cough that keeps worsening. He takes 1/2 an Enalapril twice a day and 1/2 a Lasix (furosemide) twice a day. He is a large size 14 pound Chihuahua, not so overweight, just a big-boned large dog. Anyway I am now researching the cheapest way to buy Vetmedin which I am finding is not a human drug, and I have only just heard of the other cough medicine from reading this. But I did want to tell davebehrens that the other meds, Enalapril, Lasix, and Tussigon can be purchased from most any regular pharmacy as long as it is a human drug that can be either dispensed in the correct dosage or cut using a pill cutter. All you need is a prescription from your vet. The pharmacy will label the bottle with (in my case) Pointer (Dog) Scott (my last name). Enalapril and Lasix are generic.
I pay about $9.00 for 60 Enalapril and just a couple of bucks for 60 Lasix and that is a 2 month supply for my dog. The vet charges lots more, and I simply tell her that I am disabled and on a fixed income and need to purchase meds as cheaply as I can. She has no problem with either writing prescriptions with refills or even calling them in to my pharmacy. When I say okay it's time for your little pills, my sweet little boy sits up on the bed and opens his mouth wide for me to slide the pills right down his throat with my thumb. I then hold his mouth closed till he swallows and then give him a tiny puppy biscuit. What a little trouper! I didn't have Pointer's teeth cleaned for his first 10 years because I was so afraid of the anesthesia. I have friends who lost their Chihuahua to anesthesia death during a teeth cleaning. So 3 years ago when I found out that Pointer had CHF the vet said it was caused from bacteria in his teeth. She ran blood tests and said he was healthy enough for a cleaning. He lost four teeth and she recommended that I get him C.E.T. Enzymatic Oral Hygiene Chews for Small-Medium Dogs (11-25 Pounds) by Virbac. He gets to chew one every evening and throws a fit if I forget it. In almost 3 years since we've been using them, he hasn't needed a teeth cleaning, and his teeth are white, and his breath is fresh. I really feel that is why he's made it this long with the CHF. I certainly hope he continues to hang on with some increased or added medication! I had an Aunt who's Chihuahua lived 21 years, had a tonsillectomy, and took a heart pill every day of her life, and that was in the 70s and 80s!
I had a 6lb Pom have a all of a sudden Trachea Collapst. It was devastating and cost me $10,000 plus for surgery. That was three years ago. He does an enhaler twice a day which costs $260 quarterly. My larger Pom who is over weight which is not good, maybe 19lbs and needs to loose 6 to 7 Lbs has had a hard time for years. I have her on a diet which will help improve her life and was also given Tussigon 5MG. She was really out of it so that's when I started researching the drug. It's like Vicitan to humans. It did improve her excessive coughing but again she looked like a drug adick that just got their fix?
I'm a very concern because my multi poo is 14 years old has a chronic coughing due to collapsing trachea too and the tussigon helping less. Wondering if cannabis will help. I saw a news last week and they said that here in Miami we have 5 veterinarians doctors that work with this medicine buy I loss their phone number. If someone from south Florida and nows about this medicine please let me know.
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Further information
- Tussigon uses and safety info
- Tussigon prescribing info & package insert (for Health Professionals)
- Side effects of Tussigon (detailed)
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