Kennel Cough

[Rudi]

Rudi has kennel cough again I was wondering what people use to treat it. He's had some Benylin (much to his disgust) and also some warm peppermint tea with honey but I don't want to rush him off to the vet, as it's just more antibiotics that he doesn't necessarily need at the moment.

 

Does anyone use the vaccine and does it work, given that there are supposedly lots of different strains of kennel cough?

 

Thanks

[reds]

Wouldn't bother with the vaccine, especially as it makes the vaccinated dog infectious to others for a period afterwards. Treat with simply time, should only be 2-3 weeks. Unless pneumonia is a specific risk obviously. Honey (manuka) and liquorice root boiled in water for 10mins. helps soothe.

[Wendbert]

When Wiggle had KC he was given anti-biotics and it did clear up quite quickly. Apart from that, I gave him childrens Benilyn using a plastic syringe.

 

I've not had the vaccine for any of mine but as there are so many strains of the virus I'm not sure it's that effective

[Jacobean]

Liquorice root in his water. Boil it up in a pan and put that in his bowl for him when cooled down. It's fine for other dogs to drink it too. As long as you catch it early enough you should get away with not taking Rudi to the vets. It is potentially more concerning if the dog is young or older or has some kind of medical condition which affects it's breathing. I've not bothered having any of ours vaccinated against it as I was told it's like us with our colds. Lots of different types so won't stop them getting some strains anyway. I give them children's benylin as well as honey too.

Edited October 28, 2008 by Jacobean

[eileenalana]

As well as using benelyn I have sprinked a few drops of obas oil on bedding. Hope Rudi is feeling better soon

[chickentikka]

When I fostered puppies I had loads of sneezy, coughing brats through the door and as long as they weren't ill with it, I treated with honey diluted in the drinking water and kids Benylin. My own dogs never seemed to cough and became immune to it though, which the vets said was partly due to their diet, which boosted the immune system. If Rudi is prone to kennel cough, you might want to try cod liver oil, oily fish (pilchards/tuna), garlic, green veg especially brocolli and tumeric in his food, all of which are good for the immune system.

 

Hope he is soon feeling better

[Rudi]

Thanks for suggestions and good wishes, Rudi sends rather phlegmy kisses to you all He is four and usually pretty fit which is why I thought pneumonia probably isn't a risk so the antibiotics wouldn't do much at this point. I'll find some liquorice root tomorrow and give him that, although he does make a bit of a fuss even over having honey! He's on a raw diet, so does get a variety of oils and veggies/garlic, but the tumeric is a great idea, I'm never sure how to use herbs/spices to full benefit

[reds]

green veg especially brocolli and tumeric in his food, all of which are good for the immune system.

 

Would strongly disagree with the brocolli, it's toxic to dogs as far as I'm aware but obviously that's only going to be in large quantities and presumably in prolonged build up as with the other usual suspects. Another thing though is that when I was at the AHT with Twiggy, the vet there was going through the advantage of green veg. etc. but he singled out brocolli as one NOT to feed.

 

Sorry, completely off topic and prob. completely OTT as well!

[ReikiAnge]

That's interesting, I looked in Richard Allport's book about natural pet healthcare and he says broccoli is high in sulfurophanes and should be added to the diet of pets with cancer, but advises not to feed it to pets with underactive thyroids. Sorry

 

On the subject of kennel cough, would agree with the suggestions of honey and liquorice root, although I haven't tried the liquorice as it wasn't something I was aware of when mine had it. Max had it quite badly and did have ABs, but I'm not one to give them without good reason so wouldn't do so routinely.

 

Hope Rudi is feeling better soon

[tootsmazza]

Mason went to a dog daycare centre for over a year and I had him vaccinated even though my vet warned me it didn't cover all strains. They had three outbreaks of kennel cough in that year and he didn't get it once.

However he is a greyhound and an elitist bu**er to boot so didn't tend to play with the other dogs. He was in close proximity though and sharing accommodation and the van they all travelled in so it must have given him some protection!

Marie x

[Katiebob]

The advice above of honey, childrens' benylin, liquorice root in drinking water, etc. is very helpful though and does help to ease the symptoms

 

A couple of years ago, Bobby contracted pneumonia as a result of an initial bout of KC which we'd got here via one foster dog or another Bobby was really quite ill (as you'd expect with pneumonia) so I do vaccinate all of my dogs these days and (fingers crossed) none have had a recurrence.

 

As it's an airborne virus, I've also had occurrences of KC when none of mine (or fosters) could have been in contact with an infected dog and I just wanted to reduce the odds a bit, especially as mine go to shows regularly and potentially can catch all sorts of stuff. Despite the fact that I agree there are loads of strains of KC and it can't possibly protect against them all, I'm actually in favour of the vaccination these days.

[Rudi]

I think I might try the vaccine, especially as Rudi seems to be susceptible. He's also not that easy to give stuff too - it's a battle to even give him honey water etc., and he is highly offended by cough mixture, so anything that lessens the chances of him getting kennel cough again might be worth it. Koda is now coughing too but he's happy to have his medicine and has already emptied three bowls of water with honey so I've had to lift them for a bit!

[ReikiAnge]

What do you feed him? Could you try adding the water to his food?

[Rudi]

What do you feed him? Could you try adding the water to his food?

 

He's fed raw, he's just finished a dinner of cottage cheese, sardines, garlic, fruit and veg. I did wonder about adding the honey but thought it wouldn't have the same effect mixed in with food - would the soothing not come from the honey kind of lining the throat? I'm probably being dim. Does the same go for cough mixture? Again, I thought it would defeat the object if I mixed it with anything.

 

Went to Boots for liquorice root today but they don't have any, they did have tinctures and potions with it in, but it also had loads of other stuff which I wasn't sure was okay for dogs. Think I need to stock up a poorly dog cupboard with relevant remedies.

[Katiebob]

Don't know the answer to the questions about the difference of added to food rather than water but just to say you can buy liquorice root at any herbal shops e.g. Holland & Barrett?