Sam was walking with a friends dog yesterday, Shadow seemed fine but his owner has rung me this morning to say that he became unwell last night and then began to cough, she has taken him to the Vet this morning and he has kennel cough . Sam had the nasal vaccination last October but i`ve read that it doesnt cover all strains of the illness and there also seems to be conflicting info as to the incubation period . My Vet isnt around until this evening, but just wondering if I should be concerned or even keeping Sam away from all other dogs, just in case ?
Re: Kennel Cough question My vast experience in this area is limited to Lady having it once before. It didn't trouble her much but we gave her antibiotics although I gather it's a bit like a bad cold and a fit dog would get better by itself. My vet reckons the KC vaccine gives about 50% protection. We get Lady done once a year because she is in kennels a lot. One time last year when we picked her up after she'd been in for 12 days, the kennel people said they'd had a dog that developed KC next to Lady and they'd pay for the treatment if Lady picked it up but she didn't.
Re: Kennel Cough question I'm not sure how long the incubation period would be I'm sure someone else will. When Riley had a cough my vet said the vaccinations didn't cover everything. We went on restricted exercise so as not to exacerbate the cough and kept away from other dogs which meant a bit of long lead action. Lots of people would say their dogs were fine but I just said my dog was poorly and we were keeping our germs to ourselves then they steered well clear
Re: Kennel Cough question Now discovered that the incubation period is anything from 36 hours to several days , so even though Sam is vaccinated , because the vaccine doesnt cover all strains, I`d best keep him away from others for a while just in case . Luckily we have a local field that nobody else uses because of a very dodgy stile so I shall have to brave it and be fearless :
Re: Kennel Cough question I'd be inclined not to worry of he's not actually showing any symptoms. I think you can induce any tendancy to cough by stroking his throat.
Re: Kennel Cough question Its five days gone now since Sam was with the dog who has KC and not a sign of a cough , am loathe to say the risk is 100% gone but its looking good