Kennel cough question for vaccinated dog

[Josette]

Can a dog who was previously vaccinated for kennel cough in the spring get kennel cough now - a few months later? Our 4yr old chi/terrier mix suddenly started coughing this past weekend. I did feed him some turkey on Friday but I carefully stripped and checked for any bones. It is a dry cough and sometimes there was white foamy saliva. I got extremely upset because we just lost our older dog to lung cancer in Oct. I took this guy to the vet who started him on antibiotics and now waiting to see improvement. He has been on medication now for 3 days total of 5 doses so far.

He has previously been walked in a collar and would only pull if another alpha dog approached him. He would pull and bark back. I tried several harness styles but he was a tricky fit and would not walk in some. So besides being distracted caring for our other ill dog I didn't rush to switch to a harness. I finally got one that fits now. I am very concerned he may have injured his trachea and do not want to go through a collapsing injury. Might this type of injury heal - resolve itself? This is a very physically active dog who is fit doing 2 mile daily walks. Is there something else that may cause this sudden cough. He is not on heart warm medication because he tested negative in the spring when he got his Bordatella vaccine. I read heart worm is transmitted by mosquitoes so maybe more common in the south??? Any ideas?

[exvet]

To answer your question, YES. There are multiple components to 'kennel cough' which include viral and bacterial organisms. Neither the vaccine(s) nor natural disease confers long-term immunity. Not all vaccines for this disease syndrome are considered equal either. Treatment doesn't always have immediate effect and the cough can linger for a week or more. HOWEVER,

The cough could definitely be due to other reasons. If you notice a worsening of symptoms, the development of new symptoms or failure to resolve in 2 weeks then I would have a re-check or go for a second opinion.

[Josette]

Thank you exvet! I'm closely monitoring him and so far he is stable not getting worse. Eats well and poops fine. The vet did try to elicit a cough during the exam but was unable - he had to rely on my descriptions. It seems like it happened so sudden....

[WheresMyWhite]

Why would you not have your dog on heartworm because they tested negative in the spring? Do you not have mosquitos where you live? My dogs are tested annually and are on heartworm meds year round to stop heartworm before they start.

FWIW, spring was 6 months ago (and I've been told, exvet can confirm, that the bordatella (sp?) was really only good for 6 months. I don't usually do this vaccine as my dogs are rarely face-to-face or around other dogs.

[Josette]

Thanks - yes - it makes sense as you explained it. I should have asked to have his heart worm retested while I was there. I wasn't thinking very well at the time. I will inquire about the monthly heart worm medication. We do daily walks in a local park on a paved trail where there are numerous dog walkers. Plus dog walkers on our street where we do our AM / PM potty breaks. So my guy is exposed to other dogs indirectly. Lots of wildlife here too with wild turkeys and critters who may poop and dog sniffs around.

(note: when we had to board our dogs in the past an up to date Bordatella vaccine is required.)

[fergusnc]

Heartworm...every month, all year long, it's not worth the risk. And still do yearly tests because preventative is not 100% guaranteed...unlikely, but still possible to contract even when on preventatives.

Kennel cough even when vaccinated...happened to my dog once. So, yes, possible. And some boarding facilities require every six months I believe.

One of my dogs is a little bit of a cougher, but also a grass eater. And sometimes a puker. He is followed carefully by a vet. So yes, there are many reasons for coughs, IMHO all should be investigated by a vet. (Which I realize you did).

Did your vet do a chest X-ray? Having just lost a dog in part to pneumonia, within about twelve hours of her showing symptoms, I have learned it can get bad FAST, and is often missed in simply listening to the sounds of the chest. The Specialist told me that she feels it is worth the money to have a chest X-ray any time your dog is coughing. She has seen many dogs with pneumonia that "sound" fine but X-ray shows differently. My dog was examined by the ER vet who heard no indications of pneumonia. He took X-rays which showed bad bad bad goings on. She went to bed with no fever, no significant signs...maybe a bit mellow, and every so often she sounded a little different in her breathing, no cough. Eight hours later she couldn't stand, was wheezing and had a fever of 105.9! Not to scare you, just to share what I learned. My dog had more going on, and was an extreme case, but that is what I took away...cough means X-ray to me from now on. Even if antibiotics would cure it, I'd want to know if there were issues to be seen in films...if it was pneumonia, why did they have it...can be from a structural thing like a megaesophagus. Again, RARE, but my dog had that.

Hope your pup feels better!

[Josette]

I called vet office and got an appt for 3:30pm today asking for a chest x-ray. I'll inquire about the heart worm test too. This is just causing me too much stress. He appears himself and alert good appetite but he just had a coughing spell lasting about 3 minutes. Then he will be fine for hours until maybe late evening.... (yes - he eats grass too.)


UPDATE - we just got back and chest x-ray is all clear. Nothing seen. Also, got the monthly medication for heart worm too. Now we will finish up the antibiotic script.

[fergusnc]

Good! Now you can relax and let the antibiotic do what it will do. When my guy had kennel cough, I can't remember if he even got antibiotics or not...I can't remember I feel KC is viral. All that to say, it ran its course and he was fine once it passed. Sort of pathetic during, but fine after. We assumed he got it from my volunteering at the Rescue, doing okay dates with dogs from the Rescue for their socialization, etc, even though no one had active KC at the time.

Happy for your peace of mind. And I hope pup gets to feeling better fast!

[exvet]

I hope your dog has a quick recovery. There are multiple causes of kennel cough (now lumped in to the category called Canine infectious Respiratory Disease Complex) and not all of them are viral. There are at least three bacterial organisms that have been implicated. You simply do not know 'which' is/are the contributing factors without culturing. Many dogs do improve without treatment; however, the very young and the very old are more prone to developing secondary bronchopneumonia as is any other dog that is stressed or immunocompromised.

[Josette]

He had another coughing spell this morning yakked up that white foam. He did have a quiet night so now I'm trying to give him the medication - Minocycline HCL twice daily. He has figured out I wrapped it in turkey slices so he stopped eating that - peanut butter worked fine last night but not this morning. This is very frustrating as I want to resolve this illness. We are both miserable and really miss our long daily walks - he is like a therapy dog for me and I've become dependent on him.

[exvet]

Well you can always administer the pills the good ole fashion way or next time try a 'small' section of hot dog - put the pill(s) in the middle. Minocycline or doxycycline would be my first choice for treatment too (both in the same drug classification). While you may feel like you're being unkind by forcing him to take the medication, it is best if he gets it - correct dose and correct frequency AND correct duration. In the shelter environment we probably see 85% of our cases clear with the initial round of treatment and 15% require an extension of the treatment or a change in treatment. Of course keep in mind that I do culture and know exactly what I'm treating in the vast majority of my cases. My challenge here in Arizona is that in addition to all of the possible causes of coughing already discussed here, I also have to deal with valley fever in many dogs (fungal infection which often goes to the lungs) so I am always required (based on ethics and sound medicine) to rule that out in cases that don't respond to treatment for 'routine' kennel cough.

[Josette]

Unfortunately he threw his morning dose so I'm off to get some ham and hot dogs. I realize it's critical that this medication not be given on an empty stomach. I had given him some peanut butter but he still had an upset stomach. Fingers crossed I can resume meds this evening because we still have 5 days to go.