Laryngitis

[imagine1701]

Sometimes my beagle will bark until he's hoarse. I didn't realize that any dog could bark until they were hoarse. Do you think that this is something I should be concerned about? He was to the vets a month ago and got a clean bill of health. Course he wasn't hoarse then. Any ideas of what I can do to help my little guy? Thanks for your support and advise. I find this site extremely helpful.

[Red Briar Kennels]

Imagine1701, Laryngitis is basically the inflamation and swelling of the vocal cords and the surrounding laryngeal mucosa. The signs are hoarseness and the inability to bark. The most common cause of laryngitis is voice strain caused by excessive barking or coughing. If neither of these senarios are happening you might suspect tonsillitis, throat infections, kennel cough, and tumors in the throat since these often times accompany laryngitis. In my opinion if you think it is due to excessive barking, you might want to remove whatever is aggitating the dog, or at least "rest" the dog for a week or so from running if he is regularly opening or barking on rabbits in normal fashion. If you think it might be from coughing, I would seek vetinary care to see if you could eliminate the sorce or cause of.

I once had an older hound that when ran all day or at least for an extended period of time would become somewhat hoarse if the rabbit hunting was good, but would even clear up over night,....starting strong again the next day, but I have never had one completely lose their voice. Good luck, and hope this helps.