Effects Of Long Term Exposure To ------

[Guest muttrus]

almost every dog has had it or will at some time get it.My vet has said its as common as a human cold and no real cure and best to let it ride itself out

but I was wondering about the long term effects of repeated exposure to it? -----and yes my dogs are vaccinated

I have 3 dogs two big 50kg plus and a 10 kg .ages 1, 2 and unknown they are vaccinated although I don't know any of the history of one as he was a pound dog bought at an unknown age.

Their first ever kennel cough was hard on them they were in bed and had a cough

however as Im also a foster carer I have any number of dogs come through here. all vaccinated

just recently it had been advised to me that a number of dogs had left my house (some over 6 weeks ago and some as late as a week ago) and then kennel cough had hit them

while with me there were no signs and they were running around happy and full of life ----no runny nose or a cough -----vet suggested stress of leaving brought on the symptoms.

If this was the case then would it stand to reason that my dogs had it too? and if so if a dog can build up an immunity can it also go the opposite and cause a weaken immunity?

[animalia]

I worked in the kennel industry for many years and have had to deal with canine cough many times through this time. The severity can depend on the type of strain of cough the dog has ( there are viral and bacterial forms) also it depends on if the dog gets a Secondary infection ( that's when the vet needs to be called). Some dogs are carriers, some don't get that sick when they have it and others get really sick, it's probably due to either environmental issues that cause physiological changes e.g. Stress, if the dog has had a c5 vaccination and the strength of the dogs immunity. My heeler without fail will always get cough because she is a stress head whereas my Irish wolfhound x never got it even when she was directly exposed to it.

I would agree with your vet that the dogs that have gone to a new home and shown signs of canine cough that stress would be why it has shown up whereas before they were just carrying it, however dogs usually only carry it for I think 1 week to 2 weeks before presenting with signs. The type of cough was most likely very mild and the dogs that had some sort of immune deficiency were the ones that presented with signs ( stressed dogs), unlike your own personal dogs that were under no stress and relaxed at home, they also most likely have some sort of immunity to cough and could carry the disease in their upper respiratory system. It has no effect to the dogs immune system long term as far as I know.

Some of the dogs that boarded at the kennels would show no signs of cough whilst in our care but two days after leaving the kennels would present with signs because it was the whole excitement of being at home and winding down after a tiring stay at the kennels.

Remember canine cough is very contagious and when a dog presents with signs in your home the germs will go everywhere like on your walls, on you, furniture etc so you need to thoroughly disinfect your home.

Anyone please correct me if I'm wrong about anything.

Edited December 28, 2010 by animalia

[Anissa Goemann]

Hi,

kennel cough is just a term for various similar conditions that a dog can have comparable to a human "cold". It usually starts with an infection of the Lanynx. Mostly it is indeed over with in 1 or two days. It's a pretty comon desease in young dogs and trains their immune system. Generally, it's not a big deal.

BUT: It is well known that vaccinated dogs can get more severe symptoms when they get sick (Feline and Canina Infectious Diseases by Rosalind M. Gaskell / Malcolm Bennett "Sometimes dogs suffering from kennel cough get bronchiopneumonia. But only for vaccinated dogs severe symptoms are observed."). This means for me that their immune system is weakend by the vaccination and can't respond as well as an unvaccinated dog would. I would therefore do everything to keep my dogs' immune system healthy (good food, no stress and as less medical intervention as possible).

I agree with your vet's assumtion that the dogs leaving your house get sick due to the stress. Viruses are everywhere and you can't clean up enough to get rid of all of them. Therefore, your dogs' immune system needs to be fit to do the job.

Regards, Anissa

Edited December 29, 2010 by Anissa Goemann

[animalia]

I was under the impression that unvaccinated dogs get canine cough 80% worse than dogs that have been vaccinated with a c5, that's why dogs should get a c5 to get the dogs immune system used to it, isn't that the whole point of vaccinations?

[Guest muttrus]

in a way this makes sense.

many many many many years ago we bought our first dog from the pound in 16 years he only went to the vet a couple of times and from memory only had 2 vaccination shots.

he ate a duck egg a day ----raided the nest (the duck was his best friend) and all in all a very healthy mutt it wasn't until he had some dental work that he went down hill and after vets advice and his back legs gone that we said our goodbye's

anyway the point 16 years and two vaccination shots ---never sick not even kennel cough -----6 month old bought from pound no history known passed away at 16

that could say either he was a good strong dog or less intervention by medical shots ?

please don't take this the wrong way we loved our dog and he was very well looked after just as a young family all those years ago its wasn't like it is now people didn't do the things we do now or now as much as we do now ---------he wasn't neglected at all

Edited December 29, 2010 by muttrus

[Anissa Goemann]

It makes a lot of sense to me. =)

I have a dog that I got from a pound as well. He is 7 now and so far only got 2 vaccinations in his life (and is not going to get any more than that). He is just so healthy!!!

Vet's in Germany don't recommend kennel cough vaccinations at all because they seem to make things worse more often than not. And my personal experience is the same with the dogs I have treated so far (not that many though so it's certainly not a representative number).