Kennel Cough?

[Panhorst]

I think possibly Bella has Kennel Cough. About a week and a half ago we went to our inlaws and my brother inlaw was there with a new puppy (not vacinated) we had no idea he had gotten the dog. Now Bella has been coughing and has not been as playful as she usually is. She also has not been eating and drinking as much. I first thought it was because the weather here is so hot but last night she would get in horrible coughing fits.

My vet cannot fit her in until Monday. Do I need to find somewhere else to go? What should I do to help her? Should I keep Zeke away from her?

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

Kennel cough is a virus (like the human cold) so unfortunately unless there is a secondary infection such as pneumonia there is not much the vet can do for you. Best thing is to make sure she continues to eat and drink (at least some), that she's still somewhat playful and give her some time. My puppy had it at 6 months old and he had it for about 4 weeks, but my girl who is 6 1/2 years only had it for about 2 days since she is older. It is a virus so it is contagious to other dogs. You will want to keep him away from other dogs until you know it's gone, but if he's living with a dog, I wouldn't worry about it too much especially if the dog is older. My girl, my foster, and my puppy all had it, foster and puppy both had it about a month, different symptoms but same thing. Snot, red eyes, coughing, lack of appetite because they were stuffed up and couldn't smell, sneezing, eye discharge, they were really pathetic there for a couple of weeks, but got over it and are now totally fine.

Basically what you'd do for a human child when they have a cold works for doggie. You can give some Vitamin C in the form of Ester C (found at the store) so it doesn't irritate the stomach, good premium food, a B-Complex Vitamin, and a dog multi vitamin to help boost the immune system but unfortunately unless there's a secondary infection that's about all you can do.

PS
My dogs never went to the vet for it, we just home treated, kept a close eye on them and all 3 were fine.

 

[Jan]

You can also give a little honey to help ease the cough. There is really no point in going to the vet, unless it gets much worse and you think that there could be a secondary infection involved. It is just like the common cold, you just have to let it run it's course.

 

[MoparGirl]

Our girls had it not too long ago, they must have had a bacterial strain because after about 24 hours on the antibiotics, they were markedly better. The vet said we could give them plain Robitussin (plain not DM or anything) and honey to help with the cough. That did help, although I would recommend buying an eye dropper with the cough syrup, that's the easiest way to get it down. The vet also said that they should be restricted on physical activity as much as possible because as they breathe harder, the more they cough. We were lucky, they were much better after a few days and there was no more cough after about a week and a half.

 

[Jan]

Our girls had it not too long ago, they must have had a bacterial strain because after about 24 hours on the antibiotics, they were markedly better.

There is no such thing as a bacterial strain of kennel cough. It is possible that the dogs were going to get better anyway. The overuse of antibiotics is responsible for antibiotic resistant strains of viruses.

 

[Panhorst]

I tried to give her honey and she refused it. The funny thing is Zeke who isn't sick tried it and loved it. Usually if she sees him like something she will like it to but she won't take it.

She really isn't eating or drinking. My vet said broth from soup was ok. That is the only thing that entices her right now.

 

[butlersmom]

Some vets have a type of electrolyte drink that is chicken flavored. When Scarlett had cancer it was one of the few things we could get her to drink. I'd heat it up, and she suck it down. You might want to check on this; at least Bella wouldn't get dehydrated.

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

I tried to give her honey and she refused it. The funny thing is Zeke who isn't sick tried it and loved it. Usually if she sees him like something she will like it to but she won't take it.

She really isn't eating or drinking. My vet said broth from soup was ok. That is the only thing that entices her right now.

You can try adding a litle bit of 100% meat baby food to her regular food. It smells god awful to be quite honest, but it is what I use when I have a guest dog (I pet sit in my home), a foster, or even when my own dog was sick and I have yet to have a dog turn it down. It comes in the little 2.5oz jars and no bigger and in my area runs around 78 cents at the grocery store, doesn't take much maybe 1/4 of a tsp per cup of food, if you put it in the microwave once you've opened the jar and it had to be in the fridge to stay cold, make sure to only put it in there for like 4-5 seconds or it will explode. On drinking you can add a little bit of low or no sodium chicken or beef broth to the water and see if that helps.

There is also Dog Sure which is basically Ensure for dogs so it hydrates them and gives them nutrients all in one. It's sold at pet stores like PetSmart or also online (MUCH cheaper online) at places like KVVetSupply.

Good luck!

 

[Panhorst]

Thanks! I am going to try that. She usually is Miss Piggy when it comes to eating. She eats twice as much as Zeke who is much bigger than her....but she never sits. She is always up and running around.