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Home Health Kennel Cough

Kennel Cough

The Many Causes of Kennel Cough

Dogs with the uncomplicated form of kennel cough tend to be otherwise healthy and continue to eat, drink, and play. Their lungs will usually sound normal, but some may experience lethargy and have a slight fever like my young pup. Others may experience nasal discharge and sneezing; still others exhibit only a persistent cough – sometimes dry and hacking, or soft and wet. Excitement, exercise, and changes in temperature or humidity can induce coughing, as can gentle pressure on the trachea, such as from a collar.

Kennel Cough Resources

These products and informational resources on the bordetella virus are meant to help you alleviate your dog's symptoms of kennel cough. For more information on kennel cough from Whole Dog Journal, see Kennel Cough: Treatment, Symptoms, Prevention.

Preventing and Treating Kennel Cough

You're not likely to forget it if you've heard it even once: the half-cough, half-choke – sort of like a Canada goose in need of a Ricola lozenge – that signals your dog has come down with kennel cough.

Kennel Cough Treatment and Prevention

Anyone who's heard it will recognize the dry, hacking, something's-stuck-in-my-throat cough that won't quit. It's the signature symptom of canine infectious tracheobronchitis, also known as Bordetellosis, Bordetella, and most commonly as kennel cough. Whatever you call it, tracheobronchitis is one of the world's most widespread canine diseases. Like the common cold in humans, tracheobronchitis is highly contagious, rarely fatal, and runs its course in a few days. Fortunately, there are several ways to help make canine patients more comfortable, speed recovery, and prevent future infections. Tracheobronchitis is called kennel cough because of its association with boarding kennels, animal shelters, veterinary waiting rooms, grooming salons, and other areas where dogs congregate in close quarters. It can strike dogs of any age but is most common in puppies, whose immune systems are still developing, and adult dogs with conditions that impair immune function.

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