Kennel cough in dogs
It’s 12 A.M. and the coughing is so loud and annoying that you fear you will be very tired when waking up in the morning and won’t be able to do your best at your new job. It’s not actually your wife or your kids who are responsible for the coughing, but it’s man’s best friend: your dog.
If you have a dog and he is coughing loudly and he makes a harsh hacking sound, then I think that your dog might be dealing with what is called the “Kennel Cough”.
In this article we will try to take a deeper look at it and find out what it is, how to treat it and how to prevent it.
Symptoms
Just like we humans experience a cold the Kennel Cough is the dogs’ variant of it. Asides from the fact that they will cough dogs will not show any other symptoms when being let in on this disease. The sound the dog makes when coughing will be very similar with the croup in babies and your pet will have to deal with it throughout the night and day. If there is something that will make the coughing worse that is exercising so that is why you will have to keep your pet away from it as much as you can.
On a temporal level the disease will affect your dog for a minimum of ten days and up to a period of twenty one days and it’s very contagious. The pets who are more susceptible to it number old dogs and puppies so if you have any, be sure that you keep them away from the sick dog. You need to also bring them to your vet for a diagnosis, yet in the majority of cases they will not need any type of medical treatment.
How to prevent it
In order to be sure that your dog will not be let in on canine cough you need to bring him to the vet and have him vaccinated with the Bordetella vaccine. There is also the newerintranasal version of it which many veterinarians praise to be the better alternative.
Canine cough is a virus and it’s easily spread through airborne bacteria so if your dog is in closer quarters with an infected dog, then he will have high chances of getting the disease. It could be that you didn’t vaccine your dog with the Bordetella shot and if that’s the case then you will have to make sure you keep him away from kennels, animal clinics, grooming facilities, dog parks and other dogs.
Of course when you will want to take your dog to a clinic you will need to have proof that your dog has been given the Bordetella shot before the clinic will accept him in. If you think that your dog has it then it’s important to keep him away from frequently dog populated areas and other dogs.
Remedies
If you don’t want to get any treatment for your dog in order to make this cough go away, it will eventually go away on its own in around twenty one days. If it doesn’t go away then you will have to take your dog to the veterinarian as soon as possible. Of course, there are also home remedies for Kennel cough and they are vaporizers or humidifiers, herbs, vitamins, moist dog food, chicken soup, honey and many more. There are even some friends of mine who gave OTC cough syrup to their dogs.
Yet it’s recommended that before you act for making your dog’s life easier to consult a vet. He will give you a more insightful piece of advice regarding the measures you need to take. It’s not uncommon that people will give their pets an overdose of something and thus end up with their dogs’ health being severely affected.
Lastly it’s recommended to always watch your dog’s behavior especially in the cold seasons. It’s always better to be safe than sorry!
