For about the past week, my dog has had sporadic coughing fits. This would happen occasionally in the past but this week it seems to have become a little more severe. About three times a day he will have a dry, hacking cough for a minute or two. He doesn't seem to be bothered by this much but I am a little worried. I looked up web resources on kennel cough and although it seems like that's what he has, I'm not sure. Has anyone's dog had this? Did you treat your dog with Robitussin like most of the websites advise? Should I treat him with anything since it's so sporadic? To give the best description, it sounds like he has a hairball.

If he is still coughing at the end of the week, I'll be taking him to the vet just to make sure it's not anything serious. I would have taken him to a vet already but we have just moved to Seattle and I know nothing about any vets in this area. He developed this cough on the drive up here (a 6 day drive) and it seemed to get worse in motel rooms. He didn't cough in the moving van at all. Any Seattlites who love their vet and want to recommend him?

-- Anonymous, January 31, 2001

Answers

My dog got kennel cough from staying in a vet's kennel once, and he'd gotten the vaccine the day I took him for the stay! When I took him to his regular vet after my trip, she prescribed about $70 in little red pills. They made him very sleepy, but they helped. The cough was gone in a few days. Just be prepared to shell out the bucks if you take him in.

In the meantime, you can help him out by taking his collar off when he's indoors so it won't irritate his throat. Good luck.

-- Anonymous, February 01, 2001

First, to the person who had her dog vaccinated the day it went into boarding - it takes a week or two for the vaccination to take effect! It's not realistic expect protection on the same day.

Now, to Erin and her dog - so far as I know kennel cough lasts 3 weeks. Mostly it's brought on by stress, since the germs (or whatever) are normally always present. When I worked at the humane society, we isolated the sick dogs and treated with an antibiotic, but you could pretty much count on it lasting 3 weeks. I don't know if the antibiotic was for secondary infections or if it was for the kennel cough itself. I would be doubtful that Robitussion would do much more than make the dog comfortable - I don't think it would "cure" it. Personally, I would check with a vet, and ask lots of questions.

-- Anonymous, February 01, 2001

Erin: The Robitussin is just to make the dog feel more comfortable, it doesn't actually cure it. Just use the Robitussin as necessary and allow the disease to run its course (about 3 weeks), unless the cough gets really bad, in which case the dog should see a vet. There's some good, professional info right here:
http://www.vetinfo.com/dkco ugh.html

-- Anonymous, February 01, 2001

good info rosalie!

kennel cough (infectious laryngotracheitis) is commonly caused by both a virus and a bacteria: parainfluenza *virus* and bordatella bronchiseptica *bacteria*... therefore we have both a kennel cough vaccine and we commonly treat the disease with antibiotics (in conjunction with whatever else your vet feels is best)

i vaccinate my dogs every six months as they go to dog shows quite frequently, but ymmv.... ask your vet what she/he recommends, can be different depending upon location, dog's age, health status, activites, etc

best of luck

-- Anonymous, February 01, 2001

My puppy picked it up at a kennel, even though he'd been vaccinated three months prior and had a booster when he went into the kennel. It's like 'flu - they can only vaccinate for the known strains.

I treated him with Benadryl (probably the australian version of robitussin) - 2 1/2 ml a few times a day, administered with a syringe (no needle, of course). The vet told me to bring him in if he got fevery or it the cough didn't clear up in 10-12 days. BUT remember it is very, very contagious, even through sniffing other dogs - don't let him have ANY contact at all with other dogs.

good luck, Erin!

-- Anonymous, February 01, 2001