Will Kennel Cough Affect Bitches Pregnancy

[staffloch]

I have two dogs here at the moment showing symtoms of KC i also have a possibly three week pregnant bitch who has no symtoms does anyone know if she catches it will it adversly affect her pregnancy.

[puggy_puggy]

I really don't know if it would affect the pregancy.

Is there any way that she can go and stay somewhere else for a while?

I picked a boy up from the pound and had him here for a few hours before he went to another foster career about a month ago. He showed no signs of KC at my place but came down with it in his new home a few days later then one of the foster careers two dogs came down with it a few days later, he had a cold and some coughing but her other dog really only had a bit of a snotty nose. About a week and a half after the pound boy had been here the foster pups I have got snotty noses and my girl got a cold and snotty nose, my boy got nothing.

Anyway the point to my story is that some dogs will get it, some will only get some of it some dogs wont get it. The dogs that got symptoms were my girl that is due for her vaccination next month, the other foster careers boy who is due for his vacaccination in a few weeks and the pups that had only had their first vaccination.

[WalandLibby]

On Sheila Schmutz's colour genetics site ( http://homepage.usask.ca/~schmutz/dogspots.html ) she says that a cold (in the bitch) could be a reason for pups to have white chest, tail tip, toes etc.

Edited June 15, 2008 by WalandLibby

[Cavandra]

4 weeks pregnant is the worse time to be getting anything as that is a crucial development time for the foetus.

I am in a similar boat as the Staffie next door has been hacking away for about 2 weeks now, I have 2 litters due, I hope my babies dont get it

The trouble is that Canine Herpes Virus presents in a similar way as KC, upper respiratory probs & coughing, if it is that & not KC that is far worse :D

If you can remove her it would be a good idea, and you can feed her Mannuka Honey often, & hope she doesnt get it.

Edited June 15, 2008 by Cavandra

[staffloch]

Thanks for your replies i am keeping her seperate from the others so here's hoping she dosn't catch it.

I cant send her any where else as she would be likely to stress away from home the pregnancy isn't confirmed yet but i'm really hoping she is. I have read that KC is just the same as a cold is for humans and pregnant humans get colds with no probs so in theory all should be ok.

Funnily enough Cavandra my dogs are staffords but we're in Vic so i'm not your neighbour

[puggy_puggy]

I have read that KC is just the same as a cold is for humans and pregnant humans get colds with no probs so in theory all should be ok.

KC is actually made up of a few different things and if the dog gets all of them then it can be quite nasty. I was lucky this time that my girl and the foster pups only got the nose snot so didn't require any meds. But when my pug boy was under a year he got KC and it was full blown coughing, snotting and hacking. Basically it turned into pneumonia and he was so sick he couldn't curl his little tail up, now a pug that can't curl their tail is a sorry sight. He had to have some antibiotics.

Please keep an eye on your fur kids and if the coughing and snotting gets to much they might need some antibiotics.

[staffloch]

Thanks puggy puggy we have had KC before the joys of mixing with other dogs at shows i will certainly keep an eye on them will go to vets this week and get some linctol to relieve the cough.

I have heard the brachy breeds get worse symptoms than non brachy breeds not sure if this is correct or not but a friends bulldog had it last year when my staffords had it and she was very snotty and ended up on antibiotics.

[Bokezu]

On Sheila Schmutz's colour genetics site ( http://homepage.usask.ca/~schmutz/dogspots.html ) she says that a cold (in the bitch) could be a reason for pups to have white chest, tail tip, toes etc.

I haven't read your link yet but will. But wow that sounds weird. Colouring of dogs has got to be genetic

[WalandLibby]

I haven't read your link yet but will. But wow that sounds weird. Colouring of dogs has got to be genetic

You'd think so, but actually some aspects of colour aren't - they are associated with the uterine environment, and that differs from pup to pup even in the same litter (consider the possibility of masculinisation of female pups positioned between 2 males). If you look at this page (

http://homepage.usask.ca/~schmutz/pathway.html ) it describes how the colour migrates throughout the embryos body - the areas that often show random white markings are the last to get pigmentation. She does say that it is possible that there may be some genetic controls on how quickly the colour distributes, which makes sense to me, because I was thinking - well I've never seen a Lab for eg with any white on them. My own suspicion is that uterine environment may have an impact on the distribution of the colour in merle coats, considering the random variations that occur (I find merle such a fascinating gene).

I'm not sure how much the same applies to dogs, but in cats it is well known that uterine environment has a big impact on patterning - a number of yrs ago when the first cat was cloned, it was a tortie whose genetic material was collected, and the resulting kitten was patterned very differently from her.

Edited June 16, 2008 by WalandLibby

[staffloch]

It certainly is interesting reading my girl has a white chest and toes so i wont know if it's from a cold if she gets it or just inherited from her. :cool: