# If it's not kennel cough, what can it be?



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

my suggestion is to get a new vet. That sounds like classic kennel cough in a dog that has been vaccinated for it, or a very mild strain of it in an unvaccinated dog. It can often be very, very mild and you only see it when they're excited or you put direct pressure on their neck, such as tugging on a collar. 
Dogs with allergies rarely cough.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

There's nothing I can add to hotel4dogs' comment except "I agree completely."


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Hee, same as above.

The only thing I would add is that if your dog just has a mild cough in the morning or when excited, you can simply let this run its course. 

My guy had kc last year and was vomitting and was lethargic. So we definitely had him over to the vet for a round of antibiotics (whether they did good or not) and advice for cough meds. 

Meanwhile, you must keep both dogs at home or control interaction with other dogs. It may take 2 or 3 weeks to get through this. My vet said wait ten days after the last cough. <- I still took my guy for walks, but told everyone to keep their dogs away.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

I'm getting beat out for good advice here.  

Megora's totally right to differentiate between mild KC that you can let run its course like a cold and serious KC that will need treatment with antibiotics (they don't affect the KC, which is viral, but they help prevent the dog from developing a secondary pneumonia that's much more serious).

Jax and Comet both got KC at the dog show last year (maybe longer ago, I forget). They're both vaccinated, but there are so many strains that even vaccinated dogs get it. Fortunately, vaccinated dogs tend to get it quite mildly, and all our two boys had was the occasional hack that sounded more like vomiting than coughing. It took about ten days before we heard the last cough (no vet visit), and we kept them away from other dogs for another couple of weeks after that.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Sounds like mild kennel cough to me. My guys are all vaccinated and I find that usually if they get KC, it is mild. Also, the younger ones can be more severely affected... and the cough can also last for 3 weeks(happened one year with my six). Another thing that can cause a moistish cough is tracheal/lung migration of intestinal parasites like roundworms. The year that mine all coughed for 3 weeks each, I threw zithromax at 2 of them(the sickest ones) and it did not alter the course of the disease.


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## Our3dogs (Apr 3, 2008)

I also 2nd, 3rd, and 4th what everyone else has said. It does sound like a mild case of KC. In the past when our's have gotten it (fortunately mild cases) the Vet just let it run it's course with maybe some OTC cough medication. In none of the cases were the lungs ever affected, but it was still KC. Definitely keep your dogs away from other dogs for the next couple of weeks.


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## kwhit (Apr 7, 2008)

KC is really weird. Chance got it last year from a rescue event, (there were a lot of shelter dogs there), but only coughed for a couple of days and the cough was very mild. Lucy never got it. My friend's dog, (we went together), got it and had to be hospitalized for a week, it was so severe. I'm sure it progressed into something else, I'd have to ask her.

Chance and Lucy weren't vaccinated, (I only vaccinate for rabies because it's the law), but her dog was.


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## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

I agree that it's most likely KC too. 
My son's pup, a rescue, had a mild cough for a few months after he first came home. I contacted the rescue, concerned that he could infect Ike, but was assured that Hunter had gotten his vaccination and was probably just reacting to the shot. Years ago, my bridge boy Sam developed a mild case of KC after he'd been vaccinated as well.


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## puppydogs (Dec 6, 2010)

yikes, was hoping it wouldn't be that! thanks for the help.

Do you think the pup that might have spread it would get reinfected with the cough again?


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## Maxs Mom (Mar 22, 2008)

I have had both forms of KC... bad and mild. When my Belle had it bad it was bad. She was coughing so hard she was vomiting. She had been vaccinated, and she was exposed at a public dog event. About 10 other dogs also contracted it. However my Maxine at the same event and lives with Belle.... did not. KC is a strange illness. Like the flu shot it only protects from the variety of flu you are vaccinated for. 

Teddi got it a couple years later. I hardly knew she had it. She coughed a couple times a day, nothing violent, I wondered if she had something in her throat. Then talking to a friend about a get together they told me their dog got KC at "X" event. Well Teddi was there too. Made perfect sense. I did not do a thing to treat Teddi and she healed up just fine. 

Last year Belle had a face to face meeting with a friends dog at the facility where I train. The next day she emails me... he has KC. Fortunately Belle did not get it that time. 

I am a bit appalled your vet said definitely not KC. Sounded like classic KC to me too. Hope your pup is feeling better now.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

> Last year Belle had a face to face meeting with a friends dog at the facility where I train. The next day she emails me... he has KC. Fortunately Belle did not get it that time.


That was my dog. >.<

I'm just glad he didn't cough right in Belle's face like he did with my instructor's dog shortly after we met you and I was back sitting with my instructor. As I recall, I was pulling Jacks away from the other dog and he did that gasp-cough. I looked at Jacks and saw my instructor giving Jacks the alarmed eyeball as she pulled her own dog away faster... eeeh. :doh:


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## Maxs Mom (Mar 22, 2008)

Things happen... I wasn't going to name names  The big part was once you knew, you kept your dog away from other dogs. 

That is the thing with places like dog parks, and dog events you have to be SO careful about. People don't always realize (sometimes care) that their dog is sick. They don't understand (or care) that dogs can have contagious issues like children. Of course there are parents with small children the same way too. Just do the best you can to protect your own dog with proper vaccinations, never drink out of public water, and hope you don't get a sick dog. However it happens. Can't protect them from everything, and if kennel cough is what you get... be glad it isn't worse.


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## saab95conv (Nov 1, 2012)

*5 month old golden-Kennel Cough?*

Monaco came back from vet stay getting spaying surgery and stomoch staple, she has acquired this cough when excited. I have been reading the online advice, vitiman c in food, honey with decongestant, (very little) It has helped. last night she slept through the night no coughing. She had woke up at 2:00 am with a cough and goes back to sleep. Someone also suggest vaporizer. Anything else? If it progresses Ill take her into vet. I have a 9 year old he has not had any signs of this coughing. Golden Mom in Denver and I am not happy about it.


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

My Brady had kennel cough a few years back after being boarded. Because he had the bordetella vaccine, it was only a mild case, lasted about a week, but we had to quarantine him for I think three.

He only coughed in the mornings, or if he got excited, and when I took him to the vets in the evening, he had virtually no symptoms. I think the vet could tell by looking down his throat and we were able to get a slight cough by positioning his head in a specific way.

Don't worry about it, just keep them away from other dogs. It is like a doggy cold, and as long as it doesn't get worse, you guys will be fine.

I would take Brady into the bathroom when it was all steamed up to help him too.


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