Kennel Cough? Allergies?

[NHAnimator]

Looking for people's thoughts on this:

Jake the Dog goes into the vet 12 days ago for his annual shots - among them is one for kennel cough. While waiting in the lobby, a dog with kennel cough comes in a gets face to face with Jake twice before staff asks the owner to remove the dog to an outside location. (Their staff is adamant about removing infected dogs, but did not notice this one come in.)

4-5 days later, Jake decides to sleep on the floor instead of in our bed, which is odd. The next day, he is rather lethargic and has a little bit of a coughing (which I would describe as more of a clearing of the throat). This 4-5 day period lands on a Monday and Tuesday where he plays with two goldendoodles at my workplace, one of which coincidentally had the KC shot on the same previous Friday.

Zoom forward to today. Jake spends more time sleeping during the day than normal. Instead of sleeping under my desk two or three hours a day, it is more like 5-6. But when he is active, he is just as active as always. He has no apparent breathing issues other than a coughing for about 10 seconds one or twice a day. He does seem to take a little longer to recover after a strenuous play session (which have been done only occasionally as to test him out), but it has also been warmer lately.

The other dogs show no signs of anything. And Jake's cough is not like the KC's I have heard other dogs afflicted with via YouTube videos. Jake does not have breathing problems, and does not have any eye-junk buildup. His appetite and attitude seem to be fine. The coughing/throat-clearing just seems stable - not getting worse or better.

Our plan was to monitor it for up to a few weeks and if it doesn't get better, maybe go to the vet. He does not seem to be in distress or unhappy. I have read that KC will run its course in 20-30 days. But our vet says that it will not go away on its own.

We also don't know for sure the source of the cough. While the dog in the lobby seems likely (as Jake's vaccine was about 1 year old), we also learned that some dogs exhibit mild symptoms of the disease just from getting the vaccine. And while we considered allergies, the timing really seemed to point to the vet visit (3-5 day gestation period).

Your thoughts?

Thanks in advance,
NHAnimator

 

[ClantyreSheltie]

I have had one dog with kennel cough (I don't vaccinate for it). She coughed pretty bad for 5 days, then just a couple of hacks after that, then she recovered. She was about a year old at the time. Have you ever heard a kid with the croup? That's what it sounded like. I did not take her to the vet (I knew she had been exposed), I did not put her on antibiotics. Her appetite was good, her activity level was normal, she just coughed.

Kennel cough is a virus, like the human cold. There is nothing your vet can do to fix it. The danger lies in older dogs (just like older people) where it can turn into a secondary infection, like pneumonia. So sometimes they put them on antibiotics, but that's not to get rid of the cough.

My other two dogs who had been exposed did not get it (both were vaccinated as puppies, but not since). All four of my landlords vaccinated dogs got it, one did end up dying several months later. She was 13, had been put on preventive antibiotics, but just never really recovered. We "thank" the PHA Poodle handler who brought the string of sick dogs to the show.

 

[Caro]

My neighbours dogs have had kennel cough a few times (from being kenneled) They are vaccinated - but they got the other kennel cough that can't be vaccinated for. It is a hacking cough that they generally got a day or two after getting home but otherwise they were happy and healthy, perhaps a little tired if they didnt sleep as well because of the coughing. The younger one got over it very quickly, the older dog the last time she got kennel cough it took a month or more for it to completely clear up.

 

[Justicemom]

Actually, Bordatella is a bacteria not a virus. People lump all upper respiratory infections in dogs as kennel cough there cause be many causes including viruses but the true kennel cough that is vaccinated for is Bordatella. Antibiotics can and does cure it. However, it is not true that it can not resolve on its own. Mild cases often do but the more servere cases need help. I suscept it could be KC since there was a dog in the lobby with possible signs. It could be from the vaccine too since the signs are mild. As long as the signs are mild you can continue to watch him. It find they are usually resolved in 7-10 days on avg. If the signs are getting worse or you see any additional signs, a vet check would be in order.

As an aside, Upper respiratory signs(kitty colds) in cats are mostly viral. They can get bordatella as well but it is less common. Most bacterial infections are secondary in cats.

 

[NHAnimator]

Thanks for the feedback. As of the last day or so, it seems as though the issue with clearing his throat is almost completely gone. But he is definitely sleeping a LOT more than normal. Out of an 8-hour workday, he is still sleeping most of it away. Of course, as soon as I stand up, he follows me and wants to play. This sleeping is really the only thing that concerns me. Everything else seems okay.