Kennel Cough

[KitKat]

My introduction to kennel cough was a bit upsetting...for me, the dogs don't seem particularly concerned and neither did the vet when it was all said and done. I understand that the thing is a self limiting virus, highly contagious but basically just like the human common cold or flu. And having the dogs vaccinated against it doesn't necessarily make much difference except for severety, and some dogs will get it and some dogs won't...depending on the strain of KC as well i guess. A friend has put me onto a homeopathic mixture and i am also giving the dogs a dose of human cough mixture (Duro-Tuss & Nyal dry cough) with the odd touch of honey every so often as well, and the dogs are taking the chewable vitamin c tablets nicely, almost like a treat.

I've wandered through a bundle of the threads on DOL, some dating back to 2002 which were interesting and thought i'd ask the question (again, lol) but as much for people who have dealt with it or are dealing with it in their dogs as anything else. Hints and tips for those new to it basically, I wish i'd known more about it as i probably wouldn't have freaked quite as much. The vet had mentioned that there had been quite a few cases lately, so perhaps more people will come across it unfortunately.

So, everyone...what are your experiances, tips and hints?

Thanks all

Kit

[BubbleGirl]

Never had any major problems, most poundies brought home had it so onto antibiotics and cough medicine, my guys are vac against it and don't tend to pick it up these days, think they are immune.

[tianakaesha]

When you have a shower, take them in with you and steam up the room, and then when you get out, pummel the chest to get the fluids moving

That's what we did with Gilbert and Mika

[persephone]

We were taught that it takes 21 days to clear without treatment,and 3 weeks WITH treament

I have always used benadryl-settles them down nicely.Remove collars if possible to avoid irritating the area..keep to warmish air,& VET if any change in breathing etc.

[Scales of Justice]

Well said persephone

My sentiments exactly!

[MolassesLass]

Hmm, my experience with KC -

My Molly is INVINCIBLE

Ok, maybe not, but this time she managed to avoid it although she was at the same place that Bronx picked it up (we think the dog beach) and was there when it manifested itself and she's in whelp and she didn't get it. Yay Molly , poor Bronx (and KitKat).

Oh dear, did I have red food colouring this morning?! Think I'd better go eat some lunch, see if a full stomach slows me down.

[KitKat]

gotta love Super Molly!!!

I was sooooo worried about Molly and am sooo happy she escaped it.

[blacklabrador]

Kit you may notice that once the cough stops it will return any time you put them on a lead. I had that problem with Poppy - every time I put the lead on she would cough again - just with the pressure against her throat. It is of no consequence - is probably a further deterrent to pulling!

[KitKat]

Thanks for that BlackLabrador , i'll keep that in mind for when i can finally take the poor darlins out again ;)

Well the whole Kennel/Canine Cough thing has had me fairly interested and so instead of doing the work i am paid to do :D i have been wandering the net looking for tips and bits and pieces to do with KC, so far i have found a few interesting things such as home remedies and tips...as follows...

a dog with kennel cough should be rested and observed closely for any deterioration of condition. A mixture of honey and glycerin, or one drop of eucalyptus oil to one tablespoon of honey, given to the dog three times a day as basic but helpful remedies

Most dogs will have recovered within 14 days and anti-biotics are usually not necessary.

  Human cough suppressant medications are safe enough to use, but are of very limited value.

  If your dog continues to cough beyond 14 days or becomes unwell, another diagnosis needs to be considered, and you should definately consult your vet

The amount of coughing varies from dog to dog but usually builds for 2-3 days to a peak and then starts to ease away over the next 2-4 days. By a week the coughing part is usually all over and done with, though it may take some weeks to fully recover their energy levels.

It's interesting with this one as some places say it all goes on for several weeks while others say it should be all over in say 2 weeks at the most.

Treatment in most dogs is not necessary as the infection will subside on its own within seven to ten days. However, some dogs continue coughing for up to two to three weeks.

For boosting the immune system and fighting off infection:

Vitamins:

500 mg Vitamin C 3x/day (250 mg for tiny dogs) (If you already supplement with vitamin C, great! But this is in addition to the regular daily dose, and is spaced out during the day.)

Herbal tinctures:

Echinacea (give a few drops, 3x/day, either directly into the mouth or on food)

Goldenseal (same instructions as Echinacea)

Other:

Colloidal Silver (Give just a drop or two, 3x/day. May be mixed with food or put into drinking water.)

For directly combatting the Kennel Cough virus:

Homeopathic Remedies:

Bryonia (give 1-2 pellets/tablets 3x/day, allow no food for ten minutes before and after the dose.  Most health food stores sell homeopathic remedies in the 6X or 6C potency, which is fine to use.  If you have a choice of potencies, ask for 30C, which is a bit stronger.  Homeopathy works when the correct remedy is matched to the correct symptoms, regardless of the potency of the remedy.)

Drosera (same instructions)

For soothing throat irritation:

Honey (about a teaspoon for a small-med dog, a tablespoon for a larger dog, 3x/day)

Eliminate exposure to second hand smoke.

Maintain humidity in the environment

Olive Leaf is also supposed to be very helpful...

Treatment of cases relies on the use of appropriate antibiotics and sulpha drugs, cough mixtures, glycerine and honey. Bisolvon 8mgm tablets are now available at the chemist. Bisolvon is a mucolytic which  helps in breaking up the congestion and is a useful addition to any treatment

It's also interesting that some sites recommend that at the first cough you take the dog to the vet, others say if dog is still coughing after say three days to get them ot the vet and others say wait till up to two weeks and if nothing is resolved then see the vet.

The intranasal vaccination seesm to be better then the normal injectible type, now i had heard of this stuff but it's never been offered to me by my vets, is it something that should be asked for specifically?

Edited January 7, 2005 by KitKat

[Rusky]

Kit Kat

we live in a kennel area, when KC is around the kennel dogs get it. My vet when one of my dogs got KC said it really cannot be prevented. There are so many varients of KC the vaccination will be a preventative against the worst, there is no such thing as immunity to KC post KC, he meant developed immunity via the disease.

The medicine we took was as a preventative against pneumonia as she is a big dog, as are yours I think

Antiobiotics will not treat KC it is a virus.

Antibiotics are for conditions developed due to KC.

Not all dogs get these.

I was so scared of pneumonia I walked poor Rusky half the night one night. If she was lying down I got her up.

I made her own cough medicine as she couldn't tolerate the vet prescription.

I sat up for 2 nights.

Interestingly my elderly dog didn't develop KC, I kept them apart.

It sounds so terrible, breaks your heart, but they recover, thank God

I am confident yours will get well soon

[KitKat]

Hehe...yeah, my boys are the bigger type of dog...lol. Harm is a Rotti X and 37kg's and the pup is 5 odd months and about 30kg's. My older dog is a tough old boot so i know he'll be fine. As to the pup, well i'm more just hoping he is clear of it by the end of the month as he is booked in to be desexed. I am thinking of popping into the vet again tomorrow if he's still hacking just to see if they say anything or recommend anything else. Or i might visit a different one...lol

And it's always good to hear of other peoples experiances thanks.

[MolassesLass]

The intranasal vaccination seesm to be better

As you know this is the type mine have always got (different vet, different ideas). I'm thinking it might be more efffective because it's probably a live vaccine and hence goes down the nose so that it goes straight into the lungs to fire off the immune reaction. And so the injectible one would be a killed vaccine.

But that's just my theory, somone like Steve probably knows exactly....

[mersonmalinois]

Two of our dogs have KC right now. Both are on Clavamox & cough tablets. I know the one picked it up when she was having her preliminary OFA films done at the vet's. The other one is 7.5 months and he got it from her. The others are fine and I don't expect them to get it.

Both Kami & Eddie were vaccinated for bordatella, but they picked it up anyway. They are doing ok and the coughing is minimal.

Not fun, but not tragic either. Hope both pups are 100% soon!

Susie

[Rusky]

oh nearly forgot, my son got the beautiful 'Jess' from a pound just before xmas, she wasn't able to be desexed till her cough cleared. She didn't have it bad at all, vet said it was mild. Cough lasted nearly 3 weeks and we were getting frantic cos I was sure she was in pup, she wasn't and was fixed up on Tuesday.

[Rappie]

The intranasal one is live - doesn't quite make it to the lungs, its effect is to create local immunity in the nasal / respiratory mucosa (Which takes days) instead of the killed injection with results in cell mediated immunity (which takes weeks).

I think its only been recently that the intra-nasal one has been reformulated and really pushed well to vets. It has always been availalable but the supply often depends on the what the wholesaler has.

[KitKat]

Well my mob seem to now be all fine, they have stopped coughing but i'll will be very careful with where they go etc for the next little while just in case, i'd hate for them to manage to pass it on to another dog.

[WreckitWhippet]

My experience, times two

The first time it went through my kennel, my dogs were treated by the vet with antibiotic. I was quite P----d off at the time as the ones that suffered were the one's who had been vaccinated.

The second time, the dogs that had been exposed several years ago were ok, the ones who weren't vaccinated against it suffered a mild case and those who were vaccinated but had arrived since the last outbreak suffered the most.

The second time i treated my own dogs, I looked after them just as you would a severe human cold. I kept them all indoors and rugged, gave them doses of cough medicine, the occasional dose of asprin and added extra vit c to their diet.

They all revcovered as quick if not quicker than the first outbreak.

I would just like to add that the first outbreak occurred after travelling away to a show with friends, most of the dogs that went away caught the cough and almost all that were at home in the kennels suffered through it too. There were three different kennels involved in the trip away and the other two breeders also told me that those who were vaccinated against K.C were the worst affected.

I would like to know has anyone else had the same experience?

[blacklabrador]

When I had my last experience with kennel cough I had three dogs. One vaccinated to C4, and the other two to C5. By far the dog who was worst affected was one of the ones vaccinated to C5. I treated only with homeopathic drops - no antibiotics (its a virus so why bother?). The acute stage of the illness even for the worst affected dog was only three days. He was the sickest in that he was coughing up small amounts of sputum regularly - some of it was pink - slightly bloodstained from the irritation in his throat from coughing. I used limited amounts of a cough suppressant at nighttime (otherwise the Mama didn't get any sleep!!).

Kennel Cough is an infection of the trachea (upper airway) and NOT the lungs. It may travel to the lungs in complicated cases but the sound of the cough would change and the dog would become much sicker. Conservative rather than aggressive treatment of kennel cough must be done with caution and observation.

[sas]

Leila had kennel cough and it developed into bronchitis, 4 lots of anti-botics in the space of 1 month.

If you see a sign, get them to the vets.