My surefire no-fail cure for the common cold is the Sammich of Death: 1 heaping tablespoon each of chopped garlic, chopped ginger, and Chinese mustard (the kind made fresh at a Chinese restaurant is best). The garlic and ginger are from jars sold in the produce section at grocery stores. Put all three ingredients on a slice of bread and eat it. Your head will explode. But the explosion will clear out your sinuses, allowing you to breathe again and exposing any nasty anaerobics to oxygen. Do it again about four hours later if need be. My theory is that these ingredients make your body so unpleasant that any viruses promptly either die or leave. The only problem is that you probably don't want to be too close to anyone for awhile. For coughs (the dry, itchy kind) I find either licorice (the real stuff), horehound drops, or Pine Brothers cough drops work best for me.

One thing that everyone can begin looking at is this: Biofilms. Biofilms are these gnarly, sticky mats of congealed mucus where candida, bacteria, and other pathogens hide out. If you have reoccurring infections or infections that simply will not go away, then you likely have a biofilm in the infected area. Candida behaves much like a biofilm in this it is systemic and can spread all throughout your body. In order to get rid of biofilms in your nasal pasageways you need to be ready to go to war. The latest remedy, which people are swearing by that works, involves baby shampoo of all things. It's a 'surfactant' I believe is the word. And you use it in nasal irrigation: 1/2 table spoon of it in water, mix it with a neilmed rinse kit, use the saline packet that comes with it, and follow the normal directions. You can follow it with an allicin rinse as well. Allicin is the extract from garlic and has been shown to help breakdown and eliminate biofilms. You basically break open and pour one capsule (do not use the empty capsule) into the mix, add the saline packet, and use as directed. I believe that's it. In the meantime you'll want to think about fortifying your body from biofilms and candida (candida infections can be denoted by fungus growth in toenails, thrush on your tongue and throat, sinus infections, chronic fatigue, depression, dark circles under eyes, and many more). Grapefruit seed extract is really good for this. Buy somme Nutribiotics Grapeseed extract and pour a few drops in water in the AM and PM and drink it down. Also, any kind of citrus fruit extracts you can add to it. Agrisept L could be one of the greatest products of all time for breaking down biofilms in the body. This is just about an all in one anti fungul, bacteria, candida (yeast), and more. It's late and I'm getting choppy on the keyboard so be sure to google all of this stuff on your own to make sure I'm not missing steps, etc. Best!

If there is a heart murmur, then the cough may be due to heart failure. If there is wheezing, crackling, or other harsh lung noises, the cough may be due to pneumonia or other lung serious disease. If the cough is easily produced by palpating the trachea, then the cough may be due to tracheal collapse. If there is a fever, he may have a systemic infection. If there are areas of the chest which seem overly quiet then there may be a lung mass or abscess. If there are other signs of allergies- eye discharge, nasal discharge, conjunctivitis, red ears, etc.- then the cough may be due to allergies. A dry hacking cough is often associated with kennel cough (a group of contagious bronchial diseases). A physical exam will direct any additional testing if necessary. Usually those are radiographs, as bloodwork doesn't show much in the way of lung disease. You don't always have to get a specific diagnosis to treat an otherwise asymptomatic cough, but it is necessary for the vet to do a PE to make sure the cough is indeed asymptomatic. Please let us know how he does today.

My 3 year old Eskimo receives the Bordatella vaccination every January. At 8:30 p.m. Thurs., July 14 he started the dreaded cough - this went on all night, every half hour. I was on phone to vet at 8:30 a.m. ready to go. We were prescribed a WONDERFUL cough suppressant - well probably wonderful to me because it worked. My doesn't get a lot of exposure to other dogs - but does get groomed and goes weekly to a socialization class. But of course the vaccine only works against some strains. However, a vaccinated dog apparently has a shorter recover period - and this was the case with my dog and a couple of others I know about in Toronto. All dogs came down with KC at about the same time - but all live in different areas. Guess the time of year. I got to the vet so fast because in 1976 we adopted an 8 year old Beagle from the Humane Society. Day 3 he started violently coughing and had the greend discharge coming from his eyes and nose - horrible. We hadn't even heard of KC and in those days dogs were not prescribed cough suppressants nor anti-biotics when at the discharge stage. He almost died of KC so I wasn't taking any chances. I did tell our dog's Groomer and did not take him to socialization the next week. I am allergic to cough meds so my guy had his suppressant, my husband took a Tylenol Cold - and I had a Life Saver (not fair). My dog's med is called Butorphenol. There were 15 in the bottle - he only used 3 1/2 - weighs 20 lbs. If the cough hadn't cleared within 5 days or so I was to take him back and they would recheck to see if he had a temperature. The other thing that can cause similar symptoms is a piece of grass (or fur) that gets caught up the nose and firmly lodged - although breathing can start to be affected at that point. Or my worst fear - congestive heart failure. My dogs tend to be quite healthy, except for the one thing they get that eventually does them in. (Had mini Dachshunds for many years - loves of my life - and worst case back/neck disc disease with the horrible surgeries.) Hope your pup gets better fast - but I might want to get a pet cough suppressant.