Doggy Cough!?

[wiggal]

Hey all,

As some of you may know we have recently had the 2 dogs in kennels. 2 weeks before hand I took them both to the vets and they had a check up and kennel cough vaccinations. The vets said they were both fine although Ashke is slightly underweight which he has always been.

The dogs went to kennels for a week, and when i had phoned up, they said if any of te dogs needed any special food (Cleo is on puppy food) we should take it along. While we were there dropping the dogs off, she then said that both the dogs would be fed on the food which we had taken.

We picked them up on Monday, and he has lost a lot of weight and today has been sniffing and coughing.

Bearing in mind he has had a yearly kennel cough vaccanation, can dogs just get doggy coughs or colds?

I want to get him down to the vets tommorrow (or today as it is!) but my OH is out all day and I cant drive.

[wiggal]

Ok, he seems to be alot worse then I first thought.

He was just lying on the floor in the front room sleeping, and started snorting really loudly and then had to sit up with his nose in the air before he could start breathing properly again.

If I can get him into the vets tommorrow, I will walk him there if I have to, although its a 45 minute walk. Thats not going to help at all is it?

He is usually a mostly outside dog, but tonight he is sleeping in the front room whether he likes it or not, and I will be sleeping on the sofa to be near him.

Also, having just come back from holiday, I only have �150 on my card at the mo, and me being disorganised as I am, having had problems with the old insurance company being refused at my SIL vets (I recommended them to her, and when she tried to say to the vets about her dogs insurance for a payment that was �1800, they said they would not go through the insurance because they do not deal with them as they are so bad!). So I cancelled my insurance stupidly before getting anymore!

I dont care about having to pay any amount of money, but my fella only gets paid next friday, although he can get an advance. But I dont know if they will let me go tommorrow and pay the beginning of next week?

[seekeerz]

Hi wiggal -sorry to hear about your problems - what the vets don't seem to tell anyone is that the vaccination doesn't cover all types of kennel cough and inspite of your care, your dogs aren't covered for all and it sounds like they've picked up one of the other strains.

We had to put our westie in for a long weekend and when collected seemed to have lost weight and quickly developed a hacking, trying-to throw-up type of cough.
Off to the vet, who told us all about the other strains, Jamie was given another shot and some cough mixture and make a quick and complete recovery. however it was obvious just how contagiuous he was as they asked me to take him back to the car before settling the bill and I had to postpone the arrival of my new puppy for three weeks.

I would keep your boy warm as you are doing and off to the vet when you can, though I agree a 45 minute walk wouldn't be ideal and hope for a full recovery - keep us posted on his progress, best wishes S

[jules77]

Sorry to hear this, Seekerz is right, the Kennel cough vaccination doesnt cover all strains, just the most common.

I would be very annoyed had they not fed the food I asked them to though, bet that is one kennels off your list for the future! Is the insurance E & L by any chance?

Mine caught kennel cough at a show, even though they have been vaccinated, but only in a mild form, I gave them a spoonful of Manuka honey which really helped. Hope he gets better real soon.

[wiggal]

Hi guys,

Thank you so much for your replies.

Jules, yes it is E & L, but under the name of Animal friends.

The vets have said I have to phone at 1 to get an appt later today as they have none earlier, and my sister in law has said to let her know once I have an appt and she will arrange for someone to look after her son and will take me down there!

He has had a big breakfast this morning which he had no problem eating, however he is very snotty (eugh!) today and is sneezing alot. He seems fine in himself otherwise, apart from loosing alot of weight

[wiggal]

Hey guys!

So we went to the vets earlier, and Ashke has kennel cough :-(

He has a week long course of antibiotics, and they have put on the notes that if Cleo starts coughing at all then I can just call up and they will get antibiotics ready for her too.

My SIL has her 2 dogs booked into the kennel next weekend, but has said she will be phoning up to cancel and will find another kennels for them to go into!

[seekeerz]

Very glad to hear things are on the mend, wiggal !! It's the last thing you expect when you come back from hols. for your dogs to be ill, we learned the same way and used another kennels next time.

However I wouldn't rely on this being the absolute answer - I understand that certain times of the year are more prone to this problem - Jamie 'acquired' his in April [going into autumn for us in Oz] so you may find that the same seasonal thing may occur in the UK - like right about now !!

Best wishes to Ashke for a very speedy recovery and hope Cleo doesn't go down with it, and Jamie and Charlie from Down Under send tail wags and barks as well [ who said animal lovers were slightly bonkers !! ]

[lankeela]

Most kennels insist on kennel cough vaccine being given at least two weeks before kennelling, because they use a live vaccine and it gives the dogs a mild form of kennel cough, although like the common cold there are lots of different viruses. I never give mine a kennel cough vaccine. I would rather treat the symptoms if they do catch it, as you have proved the vaccine does not stop them getting it. Only very young and very old dogs are at real risk, most dogs will recover quickly with antibiotics.

Benylin cough mixture is good, and honey will soothe the throat.