| Kennel Cough is a highly infectious air borne virus that attacks the respiratory system of the dog. It can be fatal in already ill, very young or very old dogs. Normal healthy dogs will recover very quickly from an attack. Antibiotics are not usually needed unless there is a secondary bacterial infection. Kennel cough itself is a virus and antibiotics will do nothing, Despite its name, Kennel Cough is not a problem just in kennels. It can be caught anywhere where groups of dogs meet, i.e training classes, dog shows or even from a veterinary waiting room if a dog is being treated there at the time. It can also be caught on walks if your dog sniffs the ground where an infected dog has coughed. Symptoms include a harsh hacking cough and bringing up white bile. If infected a dog is infectious for a good few weeks so it is important to keep that dog away from others. The kennel cough vaccine is administered up the nose of your dog by a vet. The vaccine covers many strains of the virus but similar to the human flu vaccine it does not cover them all. Virus's are constantly mutating into different strains and medical science follows as quickly as possible. But by having the vaccine it lessens your dogs chances of contracting the covered strains of the virus. If a new strain is doing the rounds, chances are your dog may catch it but hopefully it will not be quite as debilitated by the virus as it would be if it were not vaccinated at all. The vaccine is 'live' so a week is required by kennels between having the vaccine and coming into kennels to avoid the slim but possible chance of another dog catching the virus from the vaccinated dog |