Dog Food Chat banner

Kennel Cough

3K views 21 replies 9 participants last post by  LoveNewfies 
#1 ·
Does anyone know much about this. I have a friend who was telling me her dog came down with Kennel Cough after staying with some other dogs.
 
#2 ·
Basically, it's equivalent to a human cold virus. More often than not, the virus will run its course without major problems. Yes, there will be symptoms, but unless they are persistent and are accompanied by green discharge from the nose, eyes, etc. there isn't anything to worry about aside from the fact that it is contagious.
 
#3 ·
Ditto to the above. You can usually put them in a steamy bathroom or in a room with a humidifier to help with the cough and give some honey. But yes it is extremely contagious so the dog(s) should not be around other dogs at least until 3-4 days after he/she is symptom free. My dog's had it twice, once it took about a month to go away but he was fine, the other time it turned into a sinus infection and he needed antibiotics the virus itself lasted about 3 weeks and then he was good to go.
 
#4 ·
Even if your dog does develop the green snot, it may not necessarily be the end of the world. I got Hoss from a shelter and he developed the green snot and sick sick...my vet scared me and told me he had the worst case scenario of canine distemper, but I refused to put him down and he ended up giving me some antibiotics. With care, over two weeks his symptoms were gone with no more complications of any kind of distemper.

So, dont panic if he does get the green snot. But do be concerned.
 
#5 ·
Green snot with KC typically just means an infection. A 10-14 day course of antibiotics typically resolve the issue. I wouldn't even be concerned to be honest, it just means it's time for a vet visit and antibiotics to get rid of the infection.
 
#7 ·
I have a question for all of you? If your going to give your dogs antibiotics to get rid of the infection, why not just prevent it from happening with bordatella, I regularly (every 6 months) give my 2 BT the intrnasal bordatella becase they love to go on outings where there are many other dogs.
 
G
#8 ·
While most all day care and boarding facilities require the dog be immunized for Bordatella, it isn't foolproof. Even dogs that have been vaccinated can get kennel cough. There are different strains of the virus and the vaccine doesn't cover all strains all the time. Same thing with a human flu shot. It doesn't necessarily guarantee that you won't get the flu, but if you do it will be a lot less to worry about than if you didn't get the flu shot.

I always have both of my dogs immunized against Bordatella because day care requires it but I know they are not totally immune.

Am I making any sense here at all?
 
#9 ·
Yep and ditto that. Not to mention it isn't life threatening so why pump them full of vaccines for something that isn't life threatening? The vaccines can have side effects themselves also and can cause problems. I'd prefer to take my chances. My female has never had the bordatella vaccine while I have had her (3 years) and she's been exposed many times and never came down with the virus. My male who passed away also never had the vaccine and never got sick from it either so why give non needed and very potentially useless vaccines?
 
#12 ·
Well, I'd like to know how much all you people really take your dogs out! Now, remember my vet was very into me feeding raw, he's into not having my older cat getting her shots every year, just wellness checked, she's 13. And he says that as many places as my dogs go, they should be immunized although not foolproof, because there are so many people out there who don't immunize their pets at all. People are very irresponsible, it's a throwaway society out there, people don't really care that much about their animals. It's only a very small % who really care.
 
#13 ·
My dogs go out daily but mostly around my neighborhood however I foster for a rescue and I pet sit in my home so I have dogs in and out of my home CONSTANTLY some in better health than others. So where my dogs don't go to public places frequently they are exposed to a vast number of dogs from all walks of life on a regular basis which I would assume would be the point of the question.
 
#18 ·
Ya know I guess it really just depends on where you live. Diseases like anything, continue to grow and become rampant if you don't have a good hard cold winter, well we finally just got one that we haven't had since 1996. Yes, I believe in vaccinating
and worming puppies, especially for parvo, I will continue to do so until I feel that my very young 16 month old dogs truly have built up their immune systems. My daycare that I occasionally take my female, requires vaccines and bordatella, I think all ^ daycare facilities in my area require them.
 
#19 ·
You should ask them if they'll accept titers instead. No reason not to, a titer can show whether or not your dog has the antibodies present in its system to fight off the diseased they're worried about. If the dog does, then they are vaccinated against it, they are immune to it, and that's just like saying that they are current on their vaccinations.
 
#21 ·
Well it can turn into pneumonia if not kept an eye on but even then you give them some antibiotics and typically it's gone in a few days. Actually both times my boy had it it never turned into pneumonia, first time he fought it off on his own, second time it was a sinus infection it was in his nasal cavity not his lungs so neither time did it turn into pneumonia. And my female who has never been vaccinated since I've had her, she was licking my boy's face with green snot pouring out of his nose and eating food that fell out of his mouth and around him the entire time (he had it about 8 days before starting antibiotics) and she never came down with it either time so it isn't a "necessary" vaccine IMO. They have a good chance of fighting it off on their own and if they don't there are antibiotics to treat the secondary bacterial infection.
 
#22 ·
My dogs do not get vaccinated, aside from the mandated rabies every three years. They did have their shots when I first rescued them, but that's it. I do choose to have titers run every few years or so, primarily because I do take in rescues. One of which, just a couple of weeks ago, had kennel cough and he was over it in three days. And he's the only one under my roof that had the kennel cough vaccination. Neither of my two permanent dogs got so much as a sniffle.

My dogs have a lot of exposure to other dogs and to wildlife. I own a pet supply store, take in rescues and have my dogs out in the woods on a regular basis. I agree whole heartedly that we do not need to vaccinate every year or every three years - we bring on more problems by over vaccination. Problems including allergies, which we see so much of these days.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top