Kennel cough prevention and treatment
Kennel Cough Symptoms.
If you have lately noticed your dog coughing and wheezing and it getting periodically worse than better than the first thing for you to suspect is kennel cough.
The kennel cough symptoms are particular to this disease and if you watch out for them carefully you will certainly be able to pick them out.
- The very first and foremost of kennel cough symptoms is the cough that is whooping and harsh and almost to come from the lungs.
- This could lead to a lot of breathing difficulties,asthma and bronchitis like signs in the dog.
- Another of the kennel cough symptoms is vomiting and your dog not willing to eat anything.
If you find all of these kennel cough symptoms along with lethargy and listlessness and a food bowl that has not been touched then you are sure to have seen kennel cough symptoms.
How to Prevent Kennel Cough
When it comes to diseases, prevention is always better than cure. If your dog is prone to developing kennel cough, it is best that you take pains in making sure that there are no trigger points that may give rise to the disease. While kennel cough is not really a dangerous or a life-threatening health concern, you should still do everything you can to prevent it from happening to your pet.
Regular checkups with the vet
Kennel cough can be prevented with regular checkups with the vet. The vet will surely know if there’s anything wrong with the health of your dog. Keep in mind that kennel cough may be asymptomatic. This means that the bacteria and viruses might be lurking inside your dog’s body, waiting to strike anytime. However, there may be no indications from the outside.
Any disease is best treated in its first stages. So if your dog is diagnosed with kennel cough early on, the course of treatment is expected to be fast and simple. As such, you won’t have to pay for repeated consultations with the vet just because your pet now requires complex treatment procedures.
Vaccines
There are also many vaccines for pets. If you really want to make sure that your dog will be free from all types common diseases, you have to make sure that it gets its immunity shots during the early stages of its life. Puppies are the common recipients of vaccines. Ask your vet if it is still okay for your older dog to get the vaccines that you might have missed.
To make sure that your pet won’t get kennel cough from other dogs in the neighborhood, you have to monitor which dogs it normally associates with. If you have to take it to the park to socialize, better do it with another friend’s dog. This way, you won’t have to worry about disease transmissions. Kennel cough is a highly contagious disease. The triggers of this disease, such as the viruses and the bacteria, are airborne. As much as possible, keep your dog away from stray animals and cats.
If it happens that one of your dogs acquired kennel cough, keep your other pets in their respective cages for the time being. You don’t want the disease spreading to all of the animals you keep. Kennel Cough can be transferred from dogs to cats to birds and other small animals. Keep the disease from moving from one pet to another by placing infected animals in a makeshift quarantine area in the backyard or inside your home.
Kennel cough can be easily prevented if you know the first thing about this type of disease. If ever you feel that there’s something wrong with your dog, pay close attention to it. Diseases can spread and exacerbate easily. While kennel cough is not fatal to big dogs, it can be to small puppies if their nasal air passages are blocked with mucus.
Medications
Give your dog the right medications if it is suffering from kennel cough. Whenever you can, store natural remedies inside your dog’s medicine cabinet and administer it every time your pet feels sick. This way, the condition will be prevented from getting worse.
Common Treatments for Kennel Cough
Kennel cough can be treated in several ways. Since this condition is not considered as a major health concern in dogs, it can be treated right at home using natural remedies and over-the-counter medications. However, consulting with the veterinarian is always the first step to help you be better informed about your dog’s condition. An appointment with the vet is necessary so that the right course of treatment will be followed.
Here are the common treatments for kennel cough in dogs:
1. Antibiotics.
Since kennel cough is mostly caused by bacterial and viral infections, antibiotic drugs are always the first line of treatment. However, the right dosage is dependent upon the age and the weight of your dog. You can’t just purchase an antibiotic drug from a pharmacy and give it to your dog according to your own indications. Let your vet give you the right type of antibiotic. Follow the correct dosage and the proper schedule when administering the medicine. Go back to the veterinarian to assess the progress of your pet’s recovery.
2. Vitamin C.
If you can give your dog Vitamin C supplements, it will recover faster. Like humans, Vitamin C can help greatly in relieving nasal and lung problems like coughs and colds. Vitamin C still is the best anti-infection drug. It can fight most types of infection inside the body, more particularly the ones causing kennel cough.
As much as 500mg of Vitamin C supplement per 10 pounds of your dog’s body weight is required. However, Vitamin C is known to cause irritable bowel syndrome, so be careful of giving too much Vitamin C to your dog. You can keep on giving Vitamin C until the infection disappears.
3. Intranasal vaccine.
When you bring your dog with kennel cough to a veterinarian, they will most likely give it an intranasal vaccine in order to prevent the problem from recurring. This is a good way to prevent future kennel cough attacks and to boost your dog’s immunity to related diseases. Only a licensed veterinarian can perform this procedure so it’s impossible for to you give it to your pet by yourself.
4. Inoculations.
Inoculation is another way of treating kennel cough. In this procedure, a serum is usually administered inside the dog’s body.
Aim
The serum aims to boost the dog’s immune system so that it becomes easier for the disease-busting cells to clear all the infections away. It primarily works like the intranasal vaccine. Unlike it, however, this one is usually administered intravenously.
These are the different courses of treatment you and the vet can provide to your dog the moment it get affected with kennel cough. See to it that your dog is recovering well from the procedures undertaken.
See the vet for any questions you may have about the treatment process. It is very important that you monitor your dog’s health so that a mild disease like kennel cough won’t develop into a condition that can be very hard to reverse.
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