I've been told to get her out in warm sunshine, if possible, but wouldn't you know it, after months of unseasonably dry and warm weather we've been gifted with proper wet, cold autumn weather. Wait a minute. The sun just came out...
Okay, back inside after ten minutes in a the sun. An informative site at Lowchensaustralia says that if the infection runs a normal, uncomplicated course, there's no need for antitbiotics. (That's what the vet at the animal clinic told me the other night.) A couple of points that surprised me, however, were that it is actually possible for this bronchitis-related disease to pass to humans, and that dogs can shed the virus, ie pass it on, for up to fourteen weeks.
The vet who treated Penny at the emergency clinic said an intranasal spray is a more effective preventative than the annual vaccination, but the site at Lowchensaustralia says:
This vaccine is not without its problems. It is a very effective vaccine, but it must be used carefully and is generally only recommended for dogs that are at high risk. If your dog is not shown, boarded, or comes into contact with stray dogs, your dog is considered low risk.Hmm... Penny spends lots of time in contact with other dogs, through canine freestyle, flyball and pet dog training with Cindy.
However, when I rang my own vet, he said he prefers the vaccination, as the nasal spray is not necessarily that much more effective as to warrant the trouble in administering it to dogs who hate having something sprayed up their nose.
12 comments:
Kennel cough is nasty. That's why pet sitters (like myself) are needed. We come to your home to feed and play with your dog instead of using kennels. Penny sounds like she has a very active social life. Flyball is great.
Glad to hear Penny is getting better. We are vaccinated as we are boarded at least once a year. Interesting about the spray.
Noah x
Poor Penny...hope she gets well soon.
Oh dear - poor Penny! Hope she gets better soon!
Honey has routinely had the kennel cough vaccine all her life, because we have boarded her regularly in kennels and that was a requiements. In fact, back in Auckland, they weren't even satisfied with annual vaccines but wanted it done every 8 months! She has had both the injection and the nasal spray - the latter is more effective faster but has the side-effect of giving the dog nasty/potentially frightening experience and my trainer there told me that he had many clients with dogs that developed a phobia of the vets after being given the nasal spray. Luckily, Honey loved her vet too much to mind although she still hated the procedure! Don't know if you ever saw the video of her & Lemon going for their annual check-up but it shows her getting the nasal spray (it's here if you want to watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAYCxRF5iAY).
All vaccines can have side-effects and adverse reactions - it's why there is so much talk now of extending the annual vaccines to 3yrs...but unfortunately, those of us who use kennels often have no choice. In any case, I think dogs like Honey & Penny who are in close proximity with lots of other dogs through training & dog sports and other things are probably in a high risk group so probably do merit the vaccines...just cross the fingers and hope about the reactions!
Hsin-Yi
Bummer about the kennel cough, Penny! We hope you're over it soon!
We came into contact once on our walkie with 2 dogs who had kennel cough and fortunately neither one of us got it.
Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch
Hi, Paw Friends. I had a look at your website and see you're not too far away!
I agree that pet sitters do a wonderful job and I'd always prefer to have Penny stay in her own home rather than go to a kennel.
In this case, though, I don't think we could have avoided the kennel cough, as we probably got it at the wonderful canine freestyle seminar.
Hi, Noah. I think we were just unlucky with this bout of kennel cough, as Penny is also vaccinated each year. Both vets I spoke to said the vaccination can't completely protect against it, but that it does make the illness likely to be milder.
Hsin-Yi, that's very interesting about using BOTH protections. I'm going across now to see your video clip.
Oh sorry - I think you misunderstood me - Honey didn't have BOTH the nasal spray & injection at the same time - it's either or. The vaccine comes in both forms - you can choose the injection or the nasal spray. So my trainer preferred the injection coz he said dogs were less likely to develop a vet phobia afterwards - but the nasal spray was effective quicker so for eg,.if your dog suddenly needed to go into kennels next week and wasn't covered, then they would give the nasal spray to give protection faster. I think Honey had the nasal spray some years and the injection some years...
Hsin-Yi
Hsin-Yi, I did finally realise what you meant. I hope it was okay with you to embed your YouTube clip on the nasal spray, in my next post, because it made the process so clear.
While I watched Penny's video my Niki is barked. I think it was something like :
" Hi Penny, I hope you will be better soon.":)
Penny barks back, "Thanks. Niki!"
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