Kennel Cough--how serious?

[Kmh1]

Hi Everybody

As I explained in a previous thread--the other day I literally inherited a new dog when my husband's brother passed away. He is a sweet rambunctious black lab mix. He was in the shelter for about 3 days before we found out what happend and I went and got him. He is in good condition, nice coat, lots of energy, eating well, but the other night he developed a lot of mucous and is sneezing and coughing--I never had a dog with kennel cough, but I think this is what it might be--I guess he got it at the shelter. My other two dogs were recently vaccinated for bordetella so I hope they are protected.
I have a vet appointment for him for tonight after work. I just was wondering what to expect and if anyone else has experience with this. The dog was acting and eating ok, so I hope it was ok that I didn't rush him to the emergency vets. Any advice would be appreciated--I'll also keep you posted after the vet apponted tonight. I just hope it is nothing too serious...

 

[smkie]

IT is miserable for the dog and for the people too..worsening at night until no one gets any sleep. I think it feels to them just like pneumonia does to us. The dog i had that had it couldn't lay down without having to cough, i ended up steaming up the bathroom with the shower and propping the dog up with pillows. Anitbiotics are needed and work quickly, they can also have some cough syrup (i forget which brand) to help eliviate the symptoms. Glad your other two dogs are protected. My dog was suppose to be to, the vet didn't know why he caught it for he was had the treatement that was suppose to prevent it. papers down in the corners of the room (at least my dog always went to the corners) will help keep the phlem off the floor and make clean up easier. Poor dog, i am sorry your pup has to go through this.

 

[LizzieCollie]

IMO, alot of times vets give out antibiotics too freely. Alot of the times the kennel cough is not serious enough to require antibiotics, and the more antibiotics that go into your dog, the more resistent the diseases can become, requiring a stronger antibiotic the next time.

Lizzie came down with kennel cough and I kept her out of drafts, serious changes of weather, and gave her some Robitussin and in a few days it completely cleared up

 

[akaspaddero]

Zoe had it when we adopted her.
She was given meds and told to keep her kind of quite - try not to let her run around and so. It was suggested to also give her some benadryl to keep her calm. And to keep her away from other dogs.
it cleared up in about I think 2 weeks.
In addition, there is a new thing going around, at least her in the states. It acts like kennel cough but is actually canine influenza.

 

[SeniorPetLover]

Most of the time Kennel Cough will resolve on it's own in 10-14 days...it is usually caused by a virus, so antibiotics do little to expediate the recovery, but sometimes it is caused by a combination of viral & bacterial strains...I usually do not treat with an antibiotic unless there is green/yellow nasal dishcarge or fever...due to the variations in the strains, the vaccine is not 100% either, however, most of the time, it will keep symptoms to a minimum. My vet usually recommends a cough suppressent and skips the antibiotics. I have used Robatussin, but consult your vet before using any over the counter meds...they will give you the correct dosage for your pets weight.

 

[BostonBanker]

A foster dog I had for a few weeks had kennel cough. Like others said, it's more of a pain in the neck than anything else. Sasha didn't have any sneezing, just a racking cough that made me think she had something small stuck in her throat. After a miserable night, I tried the Robatussin (nothing like trying to get that down the throat of a wiggling puppy in the middle of the night!). It helped a bit, but not much. I ended up taking her to the vet, where they gave me another cough medicine. It worked much better, although I did have to get up in the middle of the night to give her a second dose. No antibiotics.

 

[Kmh1]

Thanks everybody--I'm glad to hear that this should be something we can handle as it does not seem to be progressing or too serious yet. I'll let you know what the vet says tonight. I'm just relieved to know it is probably more of a nuisance than life threatening.

 

[smkie]

I read a book where a vet wrote that he felt his customers bothered him at night when their dogs had kennel cough because it was more convenient then coming into the office during the day. It made me question everything else he wrote and wondered if he had ever seen kennel cough except in a kennel! If their in your home you KNOW FOR A FACT that the symptoms worsen at night. sigh.........IT isn't life threatening, more like a case of the flu. I just feel bad for them as you would a small child that doesnt' understand what is going on. My Bronki was very susceptable to lung infections so maybe his case of it was worse then the average, he was truly miserable. The shower steam really did seem to give him relief, we both slept in there for a couple nights. As soon as he would start coughing again i would steam it back up. I had him propped up on about three pillows, that was how he had to sleep.

 

[Mordy]

Since there are different types of organisms causing kennel cough, treatment depends on what they are. Viral kennel cough for example is not affected by antibiotics at all and must run its course. If it is bacterial, antibiotics are in order, since this type tends to go on for a long time if not treated.

Either way it is highly contagious, so please make an effort to keep your dog away from other dogs, pet stores, dog parks etc. until it's resolved. I hope he will feel better soon!

 

[bubbatd]

Please let wherever you got him know !!!

 

[Kmh1]

Thanks again for all the replies. The vet says he has a very slight temperature (103 degrees) and mild congestion. He gave me antibiotics and a cough medicine/ sleep aid prescription. He said it was mild so he did not hesitate to still give him his vaccinations. Hopefully my other dogs vaccinations will prevent them from getting anything. And yes Grammy, I guess I will notify the shelter--he must have gotten it from there since as best I can tell he was a lone dog and never left the farm. Amazingly he seems to have no negative repercussions from being trapped in that house for at least 5 days!

 

[~Dixie's_Mom~]

I haven't read the other posts, so sorry if I've repeted any questions, but how long ago were the other dogs vaxed? When I got my Yorkie she had Bordetella, and it was pretty bad, although not hard to treat. We just gave her liquid, and pill meds 2x a day. It lasted a really long time, and proved quite expencive for us, but It really depends on the case I think, because Dixie gave it to our other Dog Lucy, but we knew the signs right away, and got her some meds, and she cleared right up. With Dixie, she was wheezing, and coughing, and her throat was very sore. The liquid med we gave her was Robitussin D. I strongly reccomend it. Call the vet for amounts. She was almost 3lbs when we got her at 12wks, and she lost a whole lot of weight. I want to say she weighed like 2.3lbs before we finally figured out what was wrong after x-rays, and multiple vet visits. Her throat was soooo swollen, and sore. The robitussin really helped the swelling, and pain, and she started eating again. We were soooo happy about that. She coughed for over a month after that though, even with meds, but finally she got all better, and here she is 7mo and almost 4lbs!! I hope your little lab gets better soon! Good luck! Oh, and the reason I asked about when your other dogs were vaxed was because we were told by the breeder that Dixie was protected against Bordetella, but the Vet told us it takes 2 weeks to take effect, and that she probably got it within that time frame. Hopefully your other pups will be fine!

 

[GlassOnion]

As long as the other dogs have been vaccinated within the year they should be fine.

 

[Kmh1]

yes, Zippy was vaccinated in May and Blue in March--so hoping everyone will be ok...

 

[Asha's momma]

kennel cough help

Hello, I'm happily new here. We have a 3month old Akita that started coughing like crazy about two weeks ago, just a week after getting her home, she was coughing only in the middle of the night. So, we took her to the vet 10days ago, where she was prescribed antibiotics for ten days and was to have 5ml. of robitussin every 8hrs, for a dry cough. And 10omg of juniors mucinex every 8hrs if the cough sonuded wet.

Well, she's completed the meds. and is still coughing like mad... poor thing. But we don't want to go back to the vet just yet.
It was suggested by a friend the other day for us to buy a humidifier. She said when her puppies had kennel cough it was the only thing that alleviated the symptoms, use only at night for up to 8hrs at a time, in a small room. Asha is crated in our bedroom at night so we all got a good dose of a sauna treatment.
Last night was her first night in the steam and she didn't cough much at all til the humidifier ran out of water at 5am! My husband and I were thrilled to finally get sleep and were super happy that she did to!

 

[jupiter11600]

Wiggles got a mild case from the place he got neutered (Hey i can't complain too much as it was a low cost)

Talking to my vet who is holistic/less antibiotic pushy it is basically like a human cold and most of the times viral. Puppy may feel miserable but *MOST* of the time it will go away on its own. So we waited it out and it went away in a little over a week.

 

[mamasobuco]

Antibiotics are given for kennel cough to reduce the risk of the dog developing pneumonia.

 

[Barb04]

How is Asha doing today?

 

[smkie]

If your dog gets as miserable as my Bronki did, steaming up the bathroom with the shower on hot will give ease to his lungs. I had to put papers down in the corners of the room for that is where Bronki ended up coughing up phlem. I know they can have some cough syrup but i don't remember which kind. IT is always worse at night.

 

[Asha's momma]

In a previous note about our pup Asha I mentioned her having kennel cough and just finishing her antibiotics, now using a humidifier at night.
Well, her cough really hasn't gone away as we had hoped and now I'm wondering?
While we were away on vacation my dad was doing alot of bathroom remodeling. The door leading to our bedroom, leading to the bathroom was left open and I'm wondering if since he didn't remove her fromo her crate due to dust, could she have gotten some sort of lung infection form inhalation? She was on antibiotics but she's still coughing like mad, wouldn't that have taken care of that sort of thing? Her Dr. wants to put her on antoher round of antibiotics today which I'm not happy about. Does anyone know of anyhting else I can do for her cough besides, robitussin, humidifier etc...