[Bloodusmc]

Hello,

So I just adopted a puppy German shepherd pitbull mix and she keeps caughing. The shelter trainer told me that it's a condition knowing as Kennel cough. Its common in puppies from shelter but its goes away after 10 days.

He gave me some pills to give it to her every 24 hours which I have been doing. I just put the pill in her food and feed it to her form my hand and make sure she swallowed it. (I hope this is the right way to give a puppy medication.

If anyone have information please let me know like what should I do? or if I need to give her something for her to get better. Been 3 days so far and no improvement.

 

[Elaine]

You should call your vet as that's who is in charge of your puppy's health care. Your pup most likely has kennel cough. It can vary widely in severity and length. What did the shelter person give you to give your pup?

 

[Bloodusmc]

Doxy 100 mg

 

[Elaine]

That's an antibiotic which can help prevent a secondary infection. You should have taken your pup to the vet by now if you just got him. What did your vet say?

 

[Bloodusmc]

I don't have a vet yet and havent taking her out at all because she still need to get 2 more boosters.

 

[Rerun]

Doxy is commonly given by shelters to use for kennel cough. IMHO and IME it's not strong enough, and every shelter foster I've had that has been given doxy has ended up needing stronger meds as the doxy did not clear it up. Maybe it will for yours. I prefer clavamox and have had excellent results with it for numerous fosters with very severe KC.

I would talk to your vet.

You can also give OTC human vitamin C *in addition to a prescription med* (it may or may not help, but won't hurt), but I don't know what dose you would give a puppy.

KC should run its course, but it doesn't always go away on its own and can develop into pnumonia if left untreated.

 

[DCluver33]

When Dodger had Kennel Cough the vet gave us some cough suppressants to give him every 6 hours or as needed and told us to keep him away from other dogs (except our other two since we couldn't do much about that) and not to give him vigorous exercise. It cleared up by itself after a week or so. It's kinda like a doggy cold.

 

[Elaine]

You have a new puppy and he's sick, that means a trip to the vet. You should always take a new dog, of any age, to a vet within three days of getting it.

Antibiotics will not clear up kennel cough as it's a viral infection; it just prevents a secondary infection from setting in and making things worse.

 

[Bloodusmc]

yeah well she have runny nose and coughs when playing too much so I will stop that for now.

 

[Bloodusmc]

I really don't see a point of taking her to the vet right now maybe after the 10 days like the shelter said. I have her medical history and last time she was at the vet was on 9/27. I honestly can't afford a vet visit. I hardly go to the doctor myself. I will see after the 10 days if she still have it I will take her to the vet. but thanks everyone for the information.

 

[Chicagocanine]

It is always a good idea to take a newly adopted pet to the vet ASAP.

 

[DCluver33]

I second chicagocanine. You should always take your new pup or dog to the vet just for a check up.

 

[Bloodusmc]

ok I found a local animal hospital I will take her this week.

Thanks guys hopefully its nothing serious.

 

[DCluver33]

ok I found a local animal hospital I will take her this week.

Thanks guys hopefully its nothing serious.

your pup should be fine if it's not too serious it should go away on it's own, but you always want to take it to a vet to be sure Good luck!!

 

[KZoppa]

I really don't see a point of taking her to the vet right now maybe after the 10 days like the shelter said. I have her medical history and last time she was at the vet was on 9/27. I honestly can't afford a vet visit. I hardly go to the doctor myself. I will see after the 10 days if she still have it I will take her to the vet. but thanks everyone for the information.

okay i want to say congrats on your new addition but your post here bugs me. Why if you can hardly go to the doctor yourself did you get a puppy that will need boosters and health visits as obviously the pup does have kennel cough? I'm just curious.

 

[Bloodusmc]

What the shelter explained to me is Kennel coughs are common for adopted dogs. He said almost all dogs from shelters have them. He made it seem that it isn't serious.

The medical history of the dog says no Concern on the papers. Now boosters are offered at my local pet store at a discounted price so that wouldn't be a problem.

 

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

The other thing you might want to think about are worms and parasites. I think it's roundworm that can go into the lungs - sounds like kennel cough to us (not to a vet) but it's not. Always a good idea to have a fecal check.

 

[Rerun]

What the shelter explained to me is Kennel coughs are common for adopted dogs. He said almost all dogs from shelters have them. He made it seem that it isn't serious.

The medical history of the dog says no Concern on the papers. Now boosters are offered at my local pet store at a discounted price so that wouldn't be a problem.

Did you read my post? It can be serious, especially in a puppy and one that may have other unknown problems. If the shelter is such that they are adopting out dogs with kennel cough, they can not be trusted to know if the dog may have other problems. Not to mention the things that could happen (accidents, illness, etc). Have you ever had a dog before? A puppy? Just because it's kennel card said "no concerns" does NOT mean the pup doesn't have any other problems that were missed (which is VERY common at shelters) or develop problems.

 

[Bloodusmc]

The other thing you might want to think about are worms and parasites. I think it's roundworm that can go into the lungs - sounds like kennel cough to us (not to a vet) but it's not. Always a good idea to have a fecal check.

She received
DA2PP 1st booster on 9/23/2010
Bordetella same day
Rabies Vacc 9/24/2010
Deworming Dog treatment on 9/24/2010

Anyway I'm taking her to the vet tomorrow morning.

 

[Bloodusmc]

Did you read my post? It can be serious, especially in a puppy and one that may have other unknown problems. If the shelter is such that they are adopting out dogs with kennel cough, they can not be trusted to know if the dog may have other problems. Not to mention the things that could happen (accidents, illness, etc). Have you ever had a dog before? A puppy? Just because it's kennel card said "no concerns" does NOT mean the pup doesn't have any other problems that were missed (which is VERY common at shelters) or develop problems.

The record I got is from animal hospital next to the shelter. and all it has other than the shots is the treatment on 9/27/2010 (kennel cough) as I reconfirmed with the shelter. I just scheduled an appointment with the vet tomorrow.

Thanks for your help.