Do dogs get colds?

[moppett]

So two of my hounds seem poorly. They are making snuffling/snorting congested sounds (not regularly just the odd noise when they're asleep) and then not so much a cough as a rasp? One of them seems particularly under the weather and on their short evening walk round the block was just sick clear white salivary stuff and had explosive liquid diahorrea.

Do these sounds like symptoms of a dog-cold? Advice appreciated. Poorly boy hasn't eaten since last night other than a raw egg this morning and doesn't seem to fussed with food

 

[CorvusCorax]

Query kennel cough, seeing as they both have it.

 

[moppett]

Thanks cc - similar symptoms for both?

 

[CorvusCorax]

Apologies didn't see the bit about the back end explosions on the first read but the rest of it sounds like KC/hacking/snorting/honking/rasping/white yick.
I took mine to the vet as he is in contact with a lot of other dogs so he got a pretty strong anti-biotic and it cleared up in a couple of days, although they can remain contagious for a while after symptoms disappear. There are some vaccine-resistant strains, apparently.
For guidance, I didn't take mine into surgery, the vet came out to the car to see him to be on the safe side.

 

[Toffee44]

Agree sounds KC. Spesh if both have it.

Thought Teal had it last month rasping cough, some phlegm, gagging. Vet met me in car I case it wS luckily it was just a chest infection but needed to be seen either way as needed abx. Dylan my other never had a symptom.

Very relieved as live on farm with 6 other dogs who see each other regularly plus we are on a footpath would not have been popular.

Thinking about Dylan had a runny bottom about the same time but just thought he had eaten something in the woods didn't link two dogs ill at same time as teal was better by then... Hope it's just a bug OP.

 

[moppett]

Thanks I hope it's just a bug. The funny sounding cough/sneeze is pretty infrequent so you can bet that if I got the vet to take a look they'd look super healthy. My third dog seems fine but then again she's the only one vaccinated against kennel cough! If they're still symptomatic by my day off at the end of the week will take them to the vets. In the meantime I've cancelled dog training and group dog walks.

 

[Alec Swan]

Do dogs get colds? Never really thought about it, but would expect that they don't. With the first of my recent litter of puppies, I enquired of my vet if I should have them vaccinated for Kennel Cough, and her reply was that "At best, it's better than nothing", and she then said that there were additional risks attached to the vaccination itself. It then turned out that the vaccine for KC is a live vaccine, and as my OH is immune deficient, the risk of cross infection was too great.

In the case of your dogs Moppett, I think that you're right, and monitoring them, would be the way that I would go, with any deterioration being the point of further action.

Alec.