Kennel cough

[RoseAmy]

Has anyone had a dog get kennel cough even through they were vaccinated?

 

Of course this started Friday night and my vet is out of town until tomorrow.

 

1 yr. old dog. coughs once or twice just a couple of times a day. Eating well, very energic seems perfectly normal except for the cough.

 

I might add he doesn't cough when exercising. Seems mainly when he gets up after lying down.

 

Also I have been baby sitting 2 pups for the last 2 weeks..which have also been vaccinated.

 

Of course he is going to vet first thing tomorrow.

[JohnLloydJones]

Kennel cough is a catch all name for a number of ailments with similar symptoms. The bordatella vax is for one specific (and nasty) variant, but yes, dogs can get kennel cough even if they have been vaccinated. [and vaccines are never absolutely 100% effective, either]

[mum24dog]

Yes, the only time I ever had mine vaccinated against it a couple of them got it. Don't bother now and it wouldn't worry me if they did get it unless they were very ill with a secondary infection. It's most often an inconvenience rather than a concern.

[Hooper]

The kennel where I normally board my dogs a couple times a year does not require the bordatella vaccination and I've never given it before boarding there. In over 20 years of boarding 2 or 3 dogs 2 or 3 times a year, I've never had a dog get kennel cough after being boarded there. On three occasions I had to use a different kennel that does require the bordatella vaccination, and in each case within a week I had a dog with kennel cough. It was the same dog all three times, and the other dogs that I boarded at the same time at the same place didn't get it. Co-inkydink??!! I think not. My guess, and this is purely a guess, is that kennel had some strain of bordatella that particular dog was particularly susceptible to, and the vaccine offered no protection. The other dogs were either naturally resistant to that particular strain, or the vaccine boosted their resistance but the one dog simply failed to respond to the vaccine for some reason. Anyway, I think the vaccine provides some protection in some dogs against some types of kennel cough, but it's far from fail safe.

[etlai]

Echoing knowledge that vaccines help to, but don't ultimately, prevent, ailments.

 

I didn't vaccinate Maggie for 4 years, and she was boarded (sometimes kennels, sometimes on a family farm with plethora of livestock, chickens, dogs) about once a year, sometimes amongst dogs that had the cough. Strong as an ox going in, strong as an ox coming out.

 

I recently (Dec of last year) updated her vaccinations as I was fostering another dog at the time and his health past was unknown. Didn't make a difference.

[Sue R]

In general, I don't believe that a basically healthy dog is at much risk from most types of kennel cough. I came home from a trial, both Celt and Dan came down with it (Dan was just about nine months old), and Megan caught it from them. No biggie, and it was over in a few days.

[GentleLake]

There are many strains of Bordatella, and like the human flu vaccine, only some strains are covered (though unlike the flu vaccine, it's not a guess as to which strains will be circulating that year). And the vaccine doesn't last very long.

 

So, the dog may have gotten a strain that wasn't in the vaccine or the immunity may have already lapsed.

 

Either way, it's similar to a human catching a cold, so for an otherwise healthy dog it's usually not a big deal, and it's self limiting.

[RoseAmy]

Thanks everyone. I was hoping it was just kennel cough and not the start of something bigger. As a matter of fact he hasn't coughed at all the afternoon.