Kennel cough help

[Jingleballs]

The vet has diagnosed my dog with potential kennel cough..

I noticed the odd cough late last week and stupdly put it down to her having a bit of grass stuck in her throat (she loves to eat wet grass), it was worse on Thursday, barely there on Saturday and worse on Sunday when she also came up in hives/sores on her head, nose and muzzle. Her eyes are also irritated.

Visited the vet this morning who things that the sores are some sort of allergic reaction and she's prescribed piriton and steroids.

She said that the cough may well be linked to the allergy but may also be completely seperate so to err on the side of caution has advised to treat it as kennel cough.

I had to probe her for more info on what that meant -basically she's not giving her any treatment for it at the moment as dog is otherwise happy with no temperature, normal appetite etc. All she advised (under questioning for me) was to keep her away from other dogs until the coughing stopped - then she could go back to normal.

Having read up a bit more about it, there seem to be mixed views on how long a dog is contagious for and how it can be contracted.

As far as I'm concerned based on the vets advice I can still walk my dog but have to keep her away from other dogs but some online articles state that this isn't enough as it can be spread by sniffing on them same area as an infected dog?

I want to ensure I don't spread it and I've also notified anyone who might need to know i.e my dog walker and agility club plus the woman who runs the dog boarding that my dog is due to go to this weekend.

I'm going to speak to the vet again but she was so blase about it all I'm not sure I'll learn much more!

 

[{97702}]

Kennel cough is a curious thing - my 4 got it a few years ago even though they hadn't come into contact with other dogs who had it, they had simply been walked in the same area as other dogs! So it can be very contagious, but rather like human flu there are so many varients that it is always hard to tell.

I personally would stop walking your dog whilst she is still coughing badly, so you avoid direct or indirect contact with other dogs, and I doubt the kennels will take her this weekend if she still might be infectious. I was lucky that my lot weren't too bad when they were infected, I gave them honey & rest and they were fine

 

[Jingleballs]

That's the thing Levrier - she's coughing 2 or 3 times a day max. So it's not constant - seems like a very mild strain. She still needs to do her business though so she does still need out - we have a garden but it's astro grass and she refuses to do the toilet on it and out front garden is tiny and not secure which also means that even if we did let her out in the front garden other dogs can and do sometimes run onto our garden and could catch it!

 

[{97702}]

Oh if she is only coughing that often I would take her out then - the little white greyhound got it worst of my lot & she was coughing all the time poor thing, 2-3 times a day is nothing really

 

[Jingleballs]

She only coughs first thing in the morning or after her long afternoon nap - that's it. She doesn't cough when she get excited or runs about which is apparently what should trigger the coughing!

 

[I.M.N.]

Kennel cough is a bit of a PITA. After never having it in 30 years of dog owning we had it twice last year. Out of 4 dogs 3 different ones got it each time all to varying degrees. First time our little jack russell got put on meds as she's small and had it quite badly. Second time our cav had meds due to how bad his heart is. Both times we didn't take any of them walking when they were coughing which was between 1-2 weeks depending on the dog, but that was easy for us as we have land. Our vets said that to be honest there isn't much you can do as it's so contagious and there's about 20 different strains, some of which can be contagious for 2 months regardless of symptoms.

If I were you I'd still walk your dog but make sure to keep it away from other dogs, and not let it play with sticks or something other dogs could pick up later.

 

[Jingleballs]

Thanks - no coughing today and the allergy has settled down. I'm walking her at quiet times in quiet places to avoid other dogs.