Kennel cough is a potentially serious illness that is a combination of infections, both viral and bacterial. Kennel Cough’s medical term is infectious canine tracheobronchitis. It sounds serious because it is. It causes an inflammation of your dog’s voice box and windpipe. In healthy dogs kennel cough can potentially go away on its own, however it is extremely contagious. This ailment can be very severe especially when we are talking about young puppies and older dogs, because at early and late stages in life dogs have weakened/poor immune systems. How can you tell if your puppy or dog has kennel cough?
Here are a few symptoms to keep on your radar:
Constant Dry hacking cough
Cough sounds like a HONK
retching
runny nasal discharge
Can you avoid Kennel cough?
No you cannot avoid it altogether. Kennel cough commonly spreads in pet boarding, daycare, groomers, training classes, playtime at the park, even the vets office. Your dog can contract kennel cough from the air, direct dog to dog contact, or from a contaminated object like a ball another dog touched. There are several vaccines, which can HELP prevent your pet from contracting kennel cough. Please understand if your dog already HAS kennel cough, administering the vaccine, at this point, will NOT help your dogs condition.
Recommended vaccine routines for your puppy at the appropriate age can help minimize your chances of catching kennel cough. The most common cause is the parainflueza virus. Followed by the adenovirus-2 and bordetella. Vaccines for all 3 are commonly found in many combo vaccines and should be administered 4x early in the puppies life and then again at booster season. Please see your vet or consult an expert for appropriate ages for each vaccine. Proper administering is very important in proper prevention. Just like the human flu virus, even after receiving the vaccination, a dog can still contract mutated strains or less severe cases of kennel cough.
If you have some of the symptoms above and think your pet may have kennel cough what do you do?
Visit for vet immediately! Your vet will diagnose based largely on the symptoms, in combination with a chemical blood profile and a urine test. You will be advised to separate your dog from all other dogs to avoid further spreading of the cough. Your dog may or may not be given a cough suppressant . Antibiotics will be given to treat any bacterial infection. A vaporizer will help keep your dog comfortable and ease their labored breathing. But for the most part, it just needs to run its course. In healthy dogs kennel cough will generally last about 3 weeks with a gradual decrease in symptoms thru the timeline. In more severe cases it can last 6 weeks or even longer. Please note separation is key to not spreading, and your animal can remain quite contagious even after you think all symptoms are gone. If kennel cough is severe and left untreated it can turn into pneumonia and even lead to death. So please do not self diagnose if its minor or severe, let an expert make that call!
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