Kennel Cough

[Deleted]

Last week my sister adopted a 6-month-old puppy from the humane society.  The day after she brought him home, he started coughing and sneezing a lot, so she took him to the vet.   He was diagnosed with pneumonia as a complication of kennel cough (which he obviously caught at the shelter) and given a round of antibiotics.

Does anyone have experience with kennel cough? The dog seems to be doing better now, coughing and sneezing much less. She's avoiding bringing him near other dogs so that they don't get exposed.  To my understanding he should be fine in about a week. Is there anything else she should be doing?

[mcmel]

To my understanding it's just like a cold. It will run its course and there's not much else that can be done. Sorry the little guy doesn't feel well

[CrazyLucky]

Kennel cough is usually not a big deal and a lot of dogs adopted from shelters, including mine, have it. Once he's over it, she can get him the vaccination. If she's going to board him anywhere, she'll need it anyway.

[cmeon]

Poor puppy- most dogs do just fine once they're treated. "Kennel cough" can be either a viral or bacterial infection, and obviously, if it was a viral infection, the antibiotics will do squat. Most dogs will recover on their own, though, pneumonia is a risk when the infection goes and goes (which does happen often in shelters/kenneling situations).

How's his appetite? She might need to up the ante on meals for a little while. Sometimes it can take several weeks for a dog to be back to health completely, but, it sounds like he's on the way already.

And really, there's no way of knowing where he got sick- people dump sick pets in shelters all the time (which, of course, gets other pets sick). It's tough. She can give the shelter a call, just to let them know- better ones will look a little more closely at wheezing animals and will get them care.