On 20th May, I had my 5-month-old pup vaccinated against kennel cough via the nasal spray.
She's had a bad reaction to the jab and has developed a series of issues... A dry cough that turned chesty, loss of appetite because her throat is so inflamed, trouble swallowing, and sometimes even difficulty breathing.
We've seen the vet, who prescribed some treatment, but after a week, there hasn't really been any change.
Yesterday, the vet prescribed something else because her throat is in a really bad way.
But she's hardly eaten a thing for two days now... On top of that, it gets worse at night and she's barely sleeping (and neither are we) because of her throat.
We're looking for advice on how to soothe her and help her eat (we've already tried softening her food).
Thanks, everyone.
Translated from French
The forum content is sometimes translated from another language, and posts may concern countries with different animal laws. Do your research before making any decisions.
Since the forum is translated by AI, the translations may contain errors.
Hi there,
It’s been 3 years now, but how is your girl doing? I’ve just adopted a 2-month-old puppy but he’s got a cough... I took him to the vet the day after I brought him home and he prescribed Augmentin and some anti-inflammatories. He’s been taking them for 3 days now but the cough is getting worse at night. Could you let me know how you got on or share your experience?
Hi,
I don’t know of a 100% reliable vaccine either. My dog also caught kennel cough when she was about 4 months old. We managed to treat her without needing to see a vet, and she hadn't been vaccinated at the time. The vet told us that the vaccine prevents more or less serious complications, but I wouldn’t like to comment on that. In the end, we did get her the jab anyway, even though we’d managed to get her better in a few days without it.
That’s just my experience; I don’t think the vaccine would have really made much of a difference...
Hope the pups get well soon.
I'm so sorry to hear about your girl, I hope she’s back on her feet soon.
I know my vet isn't a fan of the kennel cough vaccine at all because of the side effects and the fact it isn't always effective. Mind you, if you ask for a full vaccination schedule including kennel cough, he’ll do it, but he’s admitted to me before that he really doesn't like the vaccine and almost discounts it entirely when making a kennel cough diagnosis...
Kennel cough is basically the equivalent of human flu, so there are bound to be several different strains, which is likely why your vet is hesitant. The vaccine uses a live virus, so if you vaccinate a dog that’s already a bit run down, you risk a secondary infection.
Once your girls have recovered, the vet will have a much better idea of how to proceed.
I’m actually quite surprised the boarding kennels didn’t insist on the vaccine for their stay. It’s incredibly contagious, and having lots of dogs together in a small space massively increases the risk. We’ve certainly seen how that works over the last 18 months 😓.
The booster is normally done annually.
Since yesterday, my two White Swiss Shepherds (WSS) have had kennel cough (they’ve just come back from the boarding kennels). It's not too severe—they were vaccinated about 3 or 4 years ago, but they only had one jab; I’m not sure why I didn't get the second one done... The vet has put them on steroids for 2 days and antibiotics for 10 days, but she isn't sure when I’ll be able to get them vaccinated or if they’ll have any immunity after being ill. Doesn't seem very logical, does it?
I’m also surprised because my vet refuses to do the intranasal one first. For dogs that have never been vaccinated against kennel cough, he does an injection first and then we do the intranasal spray at the booster...
Apparently, side effects in puppies can last for 4 weeks... that’s ages... honestly, I’d go and see another vet...
Hi,
Thanks for your replies. We went for the nasal route because our breeder and trainer recommended it.. And the vet didn't tell us that it wasn't ideal for a small dog.
We really regret not doing more research ourselves..
Hi, so sorry about your girl. I’ve just got a bit of a silly question – why did they do it nasally?
I had my dog done and it was an injection just like a standard jab, but in two goes – an initial injection and then a booster shortly after. What’s the benefit of the nasal one?
