Kennel Cough?

[Em and Phil]

Max, our lab x poodle has a really rotten hacking cough and he kept me up ALL night making little pools of phleghm all over my floor... (i know, i'm sorry if you were eating while you were reading this..)

He's 2 years old and up to date with his C5 vaccs, so i can't understand it - he doesn't appear to have any other symptoms.

Our Staffy x Kelpie also developed a bit of a cough, but not as bad although she did cough up some food at one point, she seems to be fine now - it only lasted a few days.

The culprit, i believe is Mack, the kelpie foster pup. One week after his first vaccination we rushed him to the 24hr vet because he'd ben throwing up all day, and the last couple of samples had some decent sized globs of blood in them. The vet decided he'd eaten too much (there was a mis-communication....it's a husband/wife thing ) and was throwing up as a result. He stopped after the injections, but has had a mild cough ever since, mostly when he gets excited, very much like he's trying to dislodge something... (little pools of phleghm most likely ) Now it looks like he's getting conjunctivitis.

I'm getting some children's cough syrup for Max tonight to give him a rest from his coughing - hopefully that should settle things down. Any other ideas?

[Guest Tess32]

Yes they can get it when vaccinated, there are lots of different strains.

[belnel]

Hi,

Yes, unfortunately they can still get KC as there are a whole heap of strains out there (kind of like the human flu) and the vaccine only guards against 1 or 2? of the worst strains.

In case it is KC, make sure you do full barrier treatments and no sociallising them for several weeks.

The cough syrup should help.

The conjuctivitus would be a result of his immune system being run down. Wash eyes with salty water or tea also helps. At least 4 x daily. Also a good idea to give him vit C to help him out.

Hope your guy feels better soon.

Belnel

[WreckitWhippet]

Yes and my experience has shown me , that those who are vaccinated and pick it up, have a far tougher time than my c3 vaccinated dogs.

[puggy_puggy]

As Tess said their are lots of different strains of KC.

I think if your dog is not vaccinated they would have a far more severe case of the cough then if it is.

Kids cough medicine is the go but if the coughing down't seem to be getting better you may need to get your dog an antibiotic injection and a course of tablets from the vets.

For the eyes cammomile tea to bath them with.

Hope your fur kids are better soon. I can remember when Winston picked up KC he was so sick his tail wouldn't curl. It was such a sad sight. I had to end up taking him to the vets for an injection.

[~Anne~]

I have found the opposite, those who are vaccinated pick up only light symptoms. Those who are not get incredibly sick from it. In my view, it is best to vaccinate against it.

[puggy_puggy]

I have found the opposite, those who are vaccinated pick up only light symptoms. Those who are not get incredibly sick from it. In my view, it is best to vaccinate against it.

Yep totally agree. My vet said Winston probably would have died if he hasn't of been vaccinated.

[Em and Phil]

I have found the opposite, those who are vaccinated pick up only light symptoms. Those who are not get incredibly sick from it. In my view, it is best to vaccinate against it.

Yep totally agree. My vet said Winston probably would have died if he hasn't of been vaccinated.

Well only Max seems to really be suffering, the other two (they're all c5 vacc'd) have very mild symptoms. I really struggle to keep them apart - i'm supposed to fly to Syd next Thurs - guess i won't be going

Thanks all of you so much for your advice. Fingers crossed!

[~Anne~]

Well only Max seems to really be suffering, the other two (they're all c5 vacc'd) have very mild symptoms. I really struggle to keep them apart - i'm supposed to fly to Syd next Thurs - guess i won't be going

Thanks all of you so much for your advice. Fingers crossed!

When did they satrt to cough?

Usually they will only cough for around 5, 10 at the most if it is a bad case, and they are then over the worst of it. It is only Sat today so you may be ok. They'll be picking up by Thursday.

[Dogsfevr]

We too find those vaccinated against C65 get it worse.KC can last from 5 days to a month.It simply depends on each dog & the way it fights it.

A dog can catch any of the things its vacc for including parvo.

[Em and Phil]

Well, after work today it seems Max isn't nearly as bad as i thought, although now my BC x Heeler has it too

As does the neighbours Staffy x i was cordially informed this afternoon. Lovely.

So they're all inside, and that's where they'll stay till i go away (if i do).

The first one started just over a week ago but like i said we thought it was something else to begin with. It's entirely likely that this was when he contracted it (i.e from the vet, while his immunity was down). Hope not for their sake. He still has the cough, but it seems to be getting better slowly. Stella has hardly suffered at all - coughing for a day or two, now just a little raspy. They've all stopped making puddles except for the most recent case, poor boy.

Thanks for the encouraging words Puggles. I've been very lucky in the past, so this is all a bit new to me (except the panicking - i had that down already ) , and of course it had to happen while i have six dogs to look after!