Kennel Cough- How worried should I be?

[elgerdes]

Zoe has kennel cough- or so I think.

She has had this hacking cough for a couple days now, like something is caught in her throat. At first I though we didn't think a lot of it, we just watched. TBH, we thought it was either allergies or she had swallowed some stuffing from a toy (she loves to pull stuffing from toys). Then she started waking up at like, 2am, doing this. Coughing episodes are not long, and she doesn't seem bothered by them. She "hacks," for lack of a better term and resumes her normal activities. She is eating, drinking, playing and normal Zoe. She has been a bit tired, but we attributed it to the higher temps and growing.

I called the vet this morning, and based on what I described she said it was kennel cough. They have seen a LOT more cases coming in lately. She asked if Zoe has been exposed to other dogs. Well, 2 weeks ago she was at the dog park. So maybe..

But then I was thinking... my house has three yards that border it. Two of the borders have chain link fence, both yards have dogs. I think she got it from one of my neighbors.

My questions are:
A. Should I inform my neighbors that Zoe has KC? Just fyi, they are horrible neighbors and we rarely see them. I want to be a good person and rise above it, but how far do I go to let them know?

B. How worried should I be about my baby? The vet didn't seem concerned and said just to keep an eye on her.

C. Macy has already been exposed. She isn't showing symptoms, should I be worried for her?

Thanks!

 

[whiskers]

Generally its no big deal and they get over it. If it persists you might need to treat with antibiotics. Juno got it as a puppy after she received the vaccine for it, and then she passed it on to Lucy. They both got over it just fine on their own... I was a dummy and it took a while to dawn on me what would cause them to cough.

 

[Draymia]

Kennel Cough is an airborne virus. Kind of like the human cold. I wouldn't let your neighbors know. Nothing can be done about it except get them mad at you, if their dogs catch it.

I do not vaccinate for it. My dogs very rarely get it. I see a case maybe once every five years. Your guys will develop immunity and have a healthier immune system in the future.

Don't worry. Kennel Cough sounds terrible, but is rarely dangerous.

 

[elgerdes]

update

It's for sure KC. Zoe had this horrible cough yesterday that sounded like a goose- just as the vet said it would. But I have a feeling we caught it on the tail end of her having it, she hasn't woken up coughing for two nights now. She is coughing less during the day (still happening, but less). We are just going to watch her and give her lots of hugs


*Warning- vent ahead*
But I made the "mistake" of telling my dad that Zoe has KC. I thought I was doing this as a good person, and telling him so he was aware. Well Macy (my parents bulldog) spends 4-5 days a week with Zoe, therefor she was exposed from day 1. Once we confirmed it was KC, there was no point in separating the dogs. Well Macy started showing signs last night (or so I was told, I wasn't there to see myself), and my mom flipped. She was saying things like, "I don't want Zoe around Macy anymore!" and things of the like.

Well great. I didn't have a chance to talk to my mom yet, but I'm hoping she will listen. For all we know, Macy gave it to Zoe! I have to make sure my mom knows that Macy will be just fine (Macy is my mom's favorite "child").

Basically, I'm just really pissed that 1. Zoe is sick and I can't do anything about it. 2. Macy got sick and mom is blaming Zoe/me. The whole situation is just frustrating (not scaring me like before) and I don't feel like going toe-to-toe with my mom over crap like this.

 

[rayandsarah]

Dogs get kc just like people get colds. The shelter I work at gives every dog a bordatella shot and dogs still end up with kc. It's not Zoe fault, just keep an eye on her.

 

[LittleLuki]

I adopted a dog with kennel cough. I gave her a sugar free cough syrup to help supress it a little so she could sleep at night. Don't worry...it will pass.

 

[cindy4928]

Thanks for posting this, I just started a thread of my own with similar concerns. And reading this has answered a few of my own questions. My girl started coughing and sneezing yesterday, approximately one week from staying over night at my vets office. She also gets her boardatella (sp) shots every year and should have just had her booster the day she stayed overnight at the vets.

My concerns were, is it kennel cough and I know you all can't diagnose her over the internet, but sometimes just reading about others situations helps out some. Also I had wondered if it was needing urgent care and if I should rush her into the animal hospital. I will keep a watchful eye one her and call my vet first thing Monday morning.

Thanks again, and I hope she starts to feel better soon. And I guess it's just like real children when one gets sick many people want to finger point, not realizing it's no body's fault.

Take care, Cindy