Picture this: you’re playing with your furry friend and then you hear hiccups. You know they’re not from you of course. You look around but you’re alone, and you realise they must be coming from your dog. It is surprising at first that, you know, dogs do hiccup just like us! I am going to be explaining why they hiccup, and how to stop these, (no it isn’t by drinking a glass of water without breathing!).
Why Hiccups?
Dogs, just like people, commonly get their hiccups from eating too fast, too much excitement, high levels of stress, or swallowing too much air. Puppies are said to get these a lot more frequently than adult dogs, as, in excitement, they tend to eat their food a lot more quickly and swallow a lot of air whilst eating. To discover the root of the cause if these seem to persist after similar situations, you should try to find a pattern of when these seem to come. If your dog is hiccupping just after a meal, then eating too fast is most likely to be the cause. However, if they are occurring recently after eating, then this would not be the cause. Furthermore, if your dog was excited or scared and then got hiccups, for example due to fireworks or due to you coming home, then this could be the cause of their hiccups. Keep taking a note of when the hiccups occur so that you can rule out certain reasons why these would have come and get to the overall root of the cause.
Methods to Prevent Hiccups:
Put a small amount of honey or sugar into their water
Increase their exercise (if they are not very fit)
Limit food intake
Smaller food portions rather than 2 big meals
Slow dog feeders
Behavioural specialist if these persist to help with some tips and avdvice
Relax your dog- rubbing their tummy, calming them down
So, I’m here to say don’t worry if your dog hiccups, it is normal! If, however these hiccups persist for a long time, or are very infrequent, then you should consider contacting your vet just to be on the safe side. Overall, enjoy laughing at your doggo as they hiccup and you’re not!
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