Kennel Cough

[Astraia]

So my IL's are getting a puppy- a 3 month old lab/basset hound mix. It's also coming from a pet store.

After they paid for the dog they were informed that the dog has Kennel Cough. It's on antibiotics for the remainder of the week. They brought the dog home anyway and plan to return him for a refund if he doesn't get better. I INSISTED that if they're planning to keep this dog that they bring him to their vet for an independent check up to make sure there aren't a lot of other underlying medical issues that they can't see -- and be sure that the diagnosis of Kennel Cough is correct- so they've agreed to do that at least.

My question is that they're going away for Christmas and were planning to board the dog. I know there is no way they'll get him in anywhere for boarding with Kennel Cough so recently (even if it's cleared up by then) when he hasn't been vaccinated. They've been planning this trip for ages, it's non-refundable, and I said we could baby sit the dog.

The problem is that i looked at my dogs vaccination record, and he got his last booster for KC in September 2008, so he's past the 1 year mark for the vaccine's effectiveness.

What are the chances of him getting sick? He's young and healthy (1.5 yrs old) and has never had any kind of illness. His vaccinations are not up to date at this point because... well, I'm not vaccinating my baby so why should I vaccinate my dog? Except now I'm scared.

WWYD?

[LeahBoo]

Kennel cough is not that bad, really. If your dog even gets it, he's not going to be severly ill or die from it. It is a 10 day dog cold. They go off their feed for a few days, and then it clears up.

I wouldn't worry about it at all. He probably won't even get it.

[Astraia]

Perfect!

I googled it and couldn't find anything about what happens when a HEALTHY dog gets it- all I could find were the horror stories about shelter dogs and puppies in pet stores and underlying medical conditions, etc etc and it was not making me feel better.

Thanks, you saved me from continued google efforts!

[luv-my-boys]

I see your in Canada, are pet vaccinations sold over the counter? In our state (U.S) certain pet vaccinations including Bordetella are available OTC and are sold at most pet/farm feed type stores and some online places as well.

Nasal Bordetella I am told (by our vet) does offer some more immediate protection within 3-4 days of adminstering while the injectible takes longer. We do both since the injectable offers longer more complete protection (as complete as the bordetella can since there are many different strains) We purchase them at the farm feed store and adminster them ourselves (im a nurse so I have plenty of practice)

[Oubliette8]

Kennel Cough vaccines are not usually effective for a year- they should be administered every 6 months for effectiveness. This is because kennel cough is a bacterial illness. Viral vaccines last much longer (years). I'd say his chances of having any immunity from the vax are low. Also, there are many strains of the disease, even if he were current, your ILs dog may have a strain that the vax doesn't protect against. If it were my dog, I'd give the nasal vax now before the ILs dog gets there (and I don't routinely vax my dog either). Then I'd keep them separated as much as possible- quarantine the sick dog in a separate part of the house, and wash hands after dealing with it. In the end, your dog still might get sick. Antibiotics should help clear it up though. You might insist that if their pup gives your dog kennel cough, or any other disease, that they pay for treatment.

Be sure that your inlaws have that puppy vet checked thoroughly BEFORE they bring it to your house. Pet shop puppies normally harbor all kinds of illnesses- from internal parasites to parvo to pneumonia, none of which do you want your dog getting. It may also have congenital issues that need to be addressed- luxating patellas, heart murmur, entropian etc. Since the dog is home already its a bit late to get a health guarantee in writing. Pet shops are notoriously difficult to deal with when a puppy turns out to be ill after purchase. I hope it works out well for them.

[Ola_]

Oy, what a situation! A pet store puppy, with two breeds with genetic health issues, and now they're leaving for vacation. Just tell them to start saving up for medical expenses later on. I hope he is sound from a temperament perspective - in pet store puppies fear/shyness, insufficient socialization, and housebreaking problems are most common.

With the timeline I think the pup should be over the kennel cough by the time you get him. And if your dog has a strong immune system he might not catch it, and as you've found it's the doggie equivalent of a cold. Also, I'd make sure they take a fresh stool sample to the vet's to check for worms.

[Astraia]

Originally Posted by luv-my-boys

I see your in Canada, are pet vaccinations sold over the counter?

Nasal Bordetella I am told (by our vet) does offer some more immediate protection within 3-4 days of adminstering while the injectible takes longer.

I have no idea if I can buy them OTC, I've never had a need to check! I have a number of a local vet that people seem quite please with, so I'll call and ask them about it.

Originally Posted by Oubliette8

Kennel Cough vaccines are not usually effective for a year- they should be administered every 6 months for effectiveness. This is because kennel cough is a bacterial illness. Viral vaccines last much longer (years). I'd say his chances of having any immunity from the vax are low.

Oh. I called our previous vet (we moved since his last vax's) and they said it's good for a year. I'll call around for a different opinion and ask about the nasal vaccination.

Originally Posted by Oubliette8

Be sure that your inlaws have that puppy vet checked thoroughly BEFORE they bring it to your house. Pet shop puppies normally harbor all kinds of illnesses- from internal parasites to parvo to pneumonia, none of which do you want your dog getting. It may also have congenital issues that need to be addressed- luxating patellas, heart murmur, entropian etc. Since the dog is home already its a bit late to get a health guarantee in writing. Pet shops are notoriously difficult to deal with when a puppy turns out to be ill after purchase. I hope it works out well for them.

I am INSISTING that they get it vet checked- and they're going Monday, so at least they're listening to me! Not just because of the chance of it getting our dog sick, but they're both older (in their 60's) and don't have tons of disposable income so the last thing they need is a sickly dog. The pet store has a 7 day return policy if they get a vet's note saying the dog is sickly... I really hope this dog checks out, because if it doesn't they're going to have real problems returning it. They're already in love.

Originally Posted by Ola_

Oy, what a situation! A pet store puppy, with two breeds with genetic health issues, and now they're leaving for vacation. Just tell them to start saving up for medical expenses later on. I hope he is sound from a temperament perspective - in pet store puppies fear/shyness, insufficient socialization, and housebreaking problems are most common.

I told them, too. They keep calling me with questions and I keep telling them what a rotten idea it is- two breeds with health issues, put together with no consideration for temperament or health ... Oy. It's so hard to tell the temperament of a sickly dog, too. They say so far he seems really lazy and sleeps a lot, but who knows what he'll turn out to be. I've loaned them a crapload of books and gave them a bunch of online resources to help them out with socialization and basic behavioural stuff. They've never owned a puppy before (and sure, 60 is a GREAT age to start with a puppy ) so I'm warning them about stages to come and how important socialization and basic training are- NOW- before he gets big. I'm really hoping that giving them our old puppy-sized crate and some books and websites on crate training will convince them that it's a good idea, because i know if he makes a mess of the house he's gone

Originally Posted by Ola_

With the timeline I think the pup should be over the kennel cough by the time you get him. And if your dog has a strong immune system he might not catch it, and as you've found it's the doggie equivalent of a cold. Also, I'd make sure they take a fresh stool sample to the vet's to check for worms.

This is what I'm hoping! If he's not better soon, even with the abx he's on, I'd be really concerned - just that it might be something other than kennel cough that wasn't picked up by the pet store vet.

And MIL was THRILLED- the petstore has dewormed him already, 3 times! I told them to bring in a stool sample anyway.




Thank you everyone for advice and information, I'll make some phone calls tomorrow and see where we stand (and will hopefully know a lot more come Monday after the vet looks him over).

[carrotstick]

I have done a lot of dog rescue and EVERY dog I've fostered has kennel cough... AND my dog gets it every time. She has severe allergies to vaccines, so we basically just do rabies. Anyway, she always has a cold for about a week and then she's fine. It's really not a big deal, but it is a little gross.

[Ola_]

Originally Posted by Astraia

And MIL was THRILLED- the petstore has dewormed him already, 3 times! I told them to bring in a stool sample anyway.

Oy! Yes, definitely do the stool test - not all dewormers work for all worms. We ran into that with one of the dogs we adopted, he was dewormed but had tapeworms. Turns out the dewormer they used was for other types of worms, but not those.