# Oh No!! Kennel Cough!!



## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

MyGoldenCharlie said:


> My foster dog started dry coughing a couple of days ago, it sounds like he has something stuck in his throat and is mainly when he is excited. The shelter had given him the Bordetella vaccine.
> I had him to the vet yesterday for a follow-up visit for an ear infection and she confirmed a mild case of KC.
> My guys have all been vaccinated so I thought "no big deal" NOT!!!:no: Hunter has started hacking like a person with a chest cold!! It is mostly when he is moving around or excited, I didn't hear him hack at all last night. Now this morning he hacks & throws up. :yuck: I imagine it is mucus, mostly clear in color.
> The vet said yesterday that they usually take a wait & see approach, giving antibiotics for any underlying infection that may come with the KC.
> ...


there are many strains of kennel cough, and unfortunately, the vaccines do not catch all of them. Thanksfully, knock on wood, it has been many years since I have had a dog with it. But, I did use Robitussin and an antibiotic to take care of any secondary infection.
I administer the Robitussin with a syringe (needle off) and squirt it into the back of the mouth.
Because it is viral, it has to run it's course.


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## Maxs Mom (Mar 22, 2008)

I have experienced KC. I feel for you! My vet at the time recommended Robitussin for my dog. She was not in my town and called in antibiotics to my pharmacy for me. 

One thing my vet cautioned me on, and check with your vet. She told me DO NOT put a collar on until the coughing was done. She was concerned about trachea injury. I am sure she meant do not attach a leash to the collar, but my dogs do not wear collars around the house so we just left it off. My poor girl took a while to get over it (she too had been vaccinated). I was so grateful my senior did not come down with it. I thought it was odd one dog did and one dog did not.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

My younger Golden developed a kennel cough type reaction after his bordatella vaccination at his 3 year old check up. The vet said he could have caught it beforehand, or it was a reaction to the shot. She also said the bordatella vaccine only lasts about 6 months and, like others have said, it doesn't protect against all strains of KC. He only had a mild case and quickly recovered. We had another vet (a holistic vet who does acupuncture on our older Golden) recommend that for any older or immune compromised dog we stretch the vaccinations out over a period of a few weeks, except for the rabies and lepto vaccinations/booster. But all the others, just schedule a tech appointment a few weeks later for the others--to let the dogs system handle all of the vaccines a little easier. We just had them revaccinated and took this vets advice--no KC reactions thankfully! 
For our KC episode the vet prescribed a tablet cough suppressant that I dissolved in water and he drank. Sometime he was not thirsty so I added a little chicken broth to it. The vet gave me some syringes to squirt in the back of his mouth but the chicken broth did the trick for us!


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## tintallie (May 31, 2006)

Most of the time you will have to wait it out until your dog recovers from kennel cough and antibiotics are usually only prescribed if there might be a secondary infection. Our dog was coughing quite severely over 10 days (and recovered without antibiotics) so the vet gave him some Hycodan (hydrocodone which is a narcotic analgesic, called Vicodin when combined with acetaminophen for humans). As a result, we had a drugged up doggie for 10 days who slept away his kennel cough symptoms. The first night was constant coughing that sounded like he was gagging or about to puke.


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## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

We got Sadie with KC and she was on antibiotics and Robitussin for the cough, luckily none of the other's got it. She got over hers pretty quick just a mild case. None of mine have the vaccination.


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