Rosita Cipolla Did you know that annoying hiccups can also affect wolves? The video (which went viral) of this cute 2-month-old puppy will win you over!
@NY Wolf Conservation Center
If you share your life with a dog, most likely you have heard them hiccup at one time or another. This involuntary reaction that can be so annoying if it persists is not exclusive to humans but affects many animals, including wolves. As a matter of fact, one video of an 8-week-old wolf pup named Nikai went viral as he experienced hiccups.
The video, posted to YouTube several years ago by the New York Wolf Conservation Center, says: “Wolves can make many different sounds. They growl, whimper, whine, bark, huff, and howl. While the wolf’s howl has inspired films, essays, poems, etc., we think there’s another sound that charms: the hiccup of a wolf pup!”
The footage of the little wolf is irresistibly cute:
What causes hiccups?
Hiccups are a physiological response common to all mammals with a diaphragm, the essential muscle for breathing. When the diaphragm spasms involuntarily, it causes a sudden intake of breath that is abruptly cut off by the closure of the vocal cords, producing the characteristic “hic” sound.
The causes of hiccups can be different:
Their causes may range from states of excitement or stress to irritation of either the vagus or phrenic nerves.
- Poor table manners, such as gobbling down food and swallowing air
- Various animals present hiccup symptoms differently. In horses, you can usually hear a thump in the chest region, while in cats, silent hiccup occurs mainly during or after play:.
- Hiccups in dogs are quite common, more specifically in puppies, since their bodies are still developing and commonly more excitable compared to old dogs. Even though most hiccup bouts will usually resolve themselves, continual hiccups can indicate gastrointestinal and respiratory disorders, for which cases a veterinarian is advised.
