My little Rat Terrier keeps gagging. Vet says to give her cough syrup but that is not helping.
Does anyone else have this problem?

A vet suggested you gibe him cough syrup? Wow...

Coughs that persist or produce blood or mucous should be examined by a veterinarian, who will need a full history of the dog's behavior prior to the cough. The veterinarian may require a set of tests and perhaps a chest X-ray to get a feel of what may be wrong with the dog's respiratory tract.

There are numerous things that can cause your dog to gag and cough, heart murmurs, parasites, kennel cough, an extra long patella are just to name a few. Is your dog doing a reverse sneeze or an actual gag?

Dogs with kennel cough, for example, will often gag. You will hear 'cough, cough, cough -- ack.

Anything from allergies to a sinus infection or cold will produce an abundance of mucous and will cause your dog to cough and gag. So can a more serious problem, like a weak esophagus or cancer of the throat.

Some things to be mindful of are:

# Your pet gags only when he is on a leash
# Your dog is coughing as well as gagging
# Your dog or cat has a runny nose and scratches frequently
# Your pet can't open his mouth or is having trouble opening it
# He can't close his mouth
# He won't eat or has difficulty chewing or swallowing
# His tongue, lips, or muzzle are swollen
# There is a foreign object stuck in his mouth
# His gums are red and swollen, or there is bleeding
# Your pet is drooling or panting excessively
# His tongue or gums are blue or pale
# Your pet has ulcers on his tongue
# He is gagging frequently
# There is a lump anywhere on his face
# He is pawing frequently at his mouth or face
# There is a discharge from his mouth or nose that lasts two days or longer
# His breath is consistently bad
# Your pet's nose is dry, crusty, or bleeding
# His mouth is foaming, or he's grinding his teeth
# There is dried saliva around the mouth

any of these symptoms are reason to see a vet.

Copy and pasted from :

Read More Pets Symptom Solver Tool -- Mouth, Nose, and Teeth

To answer your question, I have never had a vet recommend cough syrup for a gagging issue for any of my animals or anyone that I know who has pets. I would be very surprised to hear about someone else here having the same problem you are encountering without more detailed information from you.

Did your vet say why he/she was recommending cough syrup? Was there a diagnosis? If not, I suggest you find another vet and get a second opinion. If there was a diagnosis & you know why he/she suggested cough syrup, please post back with that information or call your vet asap and inform him that the cough syrup isn't working.

Are you sure it is a gag and not a cough? She could have gotten kennel cough, also my old dog was gagging and coughing, and seemed like it was hard for him to breath. Some of the things the vet said it could be:
-Something is stuck in his esophagus
-He has a rare muscle disorder (cant remember the name, but it effect the esophagus)
-Something is wrong with his stomach (Maybe an ulcer)
-He has kennel cough
-pneumonia

As you can see there are many things that could be wrong, TAKE HER TO A VET!

And Shaz, when I was googling my dogs symptoms looking for a possible explanation almost every web page said to give cough syrup, I could easily see where they were misguided, but I don't see why they lied about going to a vet, and if they didn't lie they need to seek a better vet!

Thanks to everyone that responded. I do take my dogs to vet for all their checkups and when they are sick. This seemed like a leash problem then it continued. I called Vet (have been going to her since 1985)and she suggested dextromethorphan cough sy

My vet gave my dog Robitussin gelcaps for cough, but never suggested liquid cough syrup.

My dog was really old and his cough ended up being from congestive heart failure, but even the Robitussin, Endocard and Lasix didn't stop the cough.

You need to take your dog to the vet for a complete health workup to be sure he does't have a serious health issue.