My poor 8 month old puppy has caught kennel cough. I suspect either his training facility or daycare, but I can't really be sure. He's been to the vet and has been prescribed antibiotics. The vet gave me a prescription to get filled at a human pharmacy for a narcotic cough suppressant, but I'm hesitant to give him narcotics if it's not absolutely necessary. Is there anything more natural I can give him to help sooth the coughing while the antibiotics get to work?
Honey! Definitely honey. I dipped a big metal spoon in a jar of runny honey, then let it run back into the jar until the spoon just had a nice thin layer of honey all over. Then I let poor coughing Pongo lick it off, very very very slowly, a tiny lick at a time. I did this twice a day, or whenever he had a nasty fit of coughing. He really loved it, and it really soothed his sore tickly throat. And it is a very natural product, especially if you can get some local stuff (although of course high in calories, he didn't have too much of it). It didn't cure the cough, but made it much, much better. It was heartbreaking to hear him coughcoughcough and lovely to see him enjoying the honey so much. I have a sneaky suspicion that by the end he was pretending to cough just to get more honey. But I'm probably giving him too much credit...I wonder...
Thank you all! I’ll get him some honey. I’m sure he will love it and think being sick is the best thing ever. I feel so bad for the poor little guy. He so badly wants to play, but every time he tries he just hacks away. He was so thrilled about being at the vet though and seems to have no idea he’s sick.
Just for the record, codeine and other opiates are good cough suppressants, and work really well to calm coughs. So if the honey really isn't working, you might consider trying the prescription stuff. It's awful hearing that hacking cough, they look so mournful too.
He does sound pitiful and looks so sad when he's coughing. I picked up the prescription for the narcotic cough suppressant his vet prescribed just to have it on hand in case honey doesn't help him enough. I'd rather have it before the pharmacy closes tonight than be sitting awake all night with a miserably coughing puppy. On top of being extremely pathetic looking when coughing, I think he's also looking sad because he heard me say day-care and didn't drop him off.
Thank you! I haven’t heard a cough since he’s been on his antibiotics (which he thinks is the best thing ever since he gets cheese with it), so I think he’s on the mend! He’s back to his boisterous, playful lab puppy self!
So sorry to hear your boy is unwell I hope the honey works and he starts to feel better very soon. xx
