Cough Medicine

[BC Crazy]

Yes was wondering how we are going as well ?

No fluids since yesterday ? Must say I find that concerning. Hope all is good....

[Erny]

Thanks Erny I have tried Manuka honey.

Did he not take it?

[westiemum]

A sneaky way I keep the westies well hydrated, particularly in this heat, is to soak their dry food in about half a cup of water - works everytime...

[*kirty*]

Sometimes if they are all blocked up, they can't smell their food properly so they don't want to eat. Try something smelly like tuna mixed in with wet food, etc. Warming the food helps too. Hills A/D is great stuff too - its highly palatable, highly nutritious for unwell animals.

[Skye2]

Thanks all for your replies and concern regarding my puppy. This morning she is a little brighter. Still just laying around but the coughing (probably due to the higher dose of anti-inflammatory) has eased. She is still coughing every time she moves her head but it is a lot less violent. It was definitely like a child with Whooping cough where she would go into those long runs of cough. The anti-nausea injection may have put a halt on the vomiting as well. She did eat a small "Luv Em" liver dog biscuit this morning :D :D . Still not had a drink yet but will hope having had the biscuit she may do this. I will try some watered down mince mid morning and if not some tuna juice (one of her favorite things).

Four out my 7 dogs have the cough now but interestingly the only 4 to have it had a vaccination prior to Christmas. Admittedly, the 3 others are older dogs but as far as I know my dogs have never had kennel cough before. The other 3 dogs including her litter brother all only have a very mild case, slight cough and runny nose.

Fingers crossed we are now on the road to recovery....

[Brookestar]

Is the KC vaccine the spray up the nose? I'm sure I've seen this used on Zeus as a puppy but now he gets a C5 vaccine but no nasal spray

There are two parts of KC in the C5, para influenza and Bordatella. Bordatella can be given as either an injection or via nasal drops. The injection takes between 7-14 days to take effect, the nasal drops take on average 72 hours. Vets often give the nasal drops as the first dosage to ensure that they take effect in the shortest possible time. Shelters usually use nasal drops as then the dogs are covered ASAP. Obviously easier to just give it as one injection, and when doing standard vacc's, then it can safely be done that way.

One of them is bacterial the other is viral. There are types of kennel cough that cannot be vaccinated against. It is a bit like giving a human the flu vaccine, it will do nothing at all to stop colds, only certian types of flu viruses.

There is no real way of knowing whether the dog has a bacterial or virual form. Even the bacterial is very likely to clear on its own. Hence the reason most vets no longer routinely give AB.

As others have said Cough Medicine is going to suppress the cough, which is the last thing you need. They need to cough the stuff up to get it out of the system. If anything Cough Medicine can make it last longer, as it rests in the lungs, cannot get out and causes infections.