Kennel cough

[Jessica & Zoey]

This morning Zoey, my husband, and I were off to the vet for Zoey's spay. About twenty minutes before we left, Zoey started hacking, coughing, and spitting up. I thought she just had some hair of something bothering her but it kept getting worse. Needless to say, no surgery today for my sweet girl (I think she planned this so she could have her own little puppies). :-) She went to doggie day care yesterday and i just cant believe how quickly this developed! Anyways, she is miserable and her cough sounds so,so terrible- it sounds like a deep pig grunt. She is coughing up so much phlegm that I can't keep up with all her phlegm piles around the house. Anyone have any suggestions to help ease her and make her more comfortable? This mama's heart is breaking with every hack that comes her way...

[F, Calla & Luca]

Did the vet give her antibiotics? That's what she needs and that should help her in short order.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Also as I recall my Vet also prescribed a cough suppressant for the first couple of days. 

[BG and Gavin]

Poor Zoey.  I hope it clears up quickly.

[Ginny Nightingale]

Yes, antibiotics--you can let her get over it on her own, but it takes a long time and they sound so miserable....on antibiotics, she will have no symptoms fairly quickly--you should let the day care place know--I bet you are not the only one with a hacking pooch....

[Jessica & Zoey]

Thanks everyone! The vet gave us an antibiotic so hopefully it kicks in quickly!

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

Hopefully, she will be better tomorrow. They just sound so miserable. Monty's last kennel cough lasted almost a week. The first few nights were horrible, even with the cough suppressant. Our vet told us that it usually takes 5 days for the symptoms to start showing. Well, it took Monty only 3 days after the daycare. Hope Zoey feels better soon.

[Richard Crowe]

We have had several bouts of kennel cough with our rescue dogs.  Shelters, even clean shelters, are prime places that dogs can catch the cough.  In a shelter, they are stressed and often they are undernourished when they get to the shelter which adds to their vulnerability. Some shelters are dirty with pens exposed to the elements which doesn't help either.

The positive aspect is that, kennel cough is not usually a serious condition.  Antibiotics are often to prevent secondary infections rather than to treat the cough tself. The cough usually clear up within five days to a week...

There are conflicting opinions on the validity of kennel cough vaccinations.  The vaccine doesn't prevent all strains of kennel cough  and we are told that the immunity from the vaccination is not long term.. 

Our home dogs (1 doodle and 5 Maltese) have obviously developed a resistance to most strains of kennel cough. When our house dogs caught kennel cough, each of them had a very-very mild case and didn't require medication. However, when we have a rescue dog with an active case of kennel cough, we usually try to isolate that dog from the rest of our animals.

We have used a cough suppressant. It was a human type recommended by our vet but, I don't remember the type.  However, I would be sure to check with a vet before giving any human medications to a dog...  Some ingredients such as Tylenol are bad for dogs...