Tuesday 17 March 2015

kennel cough again?

Penny has a cough. Again...

I had a look at a clip that shows the difference between a heart-related cough and kennel cough and I'm glad to say her cough seems more like the latter.



It's not a bad cough, so we're not going to the vet yet, but if it's worse tomorrow we'll get her checked. In the meantime, we're going for only short strolls, aiming to stay away from other dogs in case Penny's contagious, and also to let her rest and recover.

I'm trying a remedy suggested to us by a tradesman who was here today, and who is a dog lover. (BTW, we do wonder whether the cough is a result of months of home renovations and the consequent dust.)

After he suggested honey and vinegar, I looked at America's Blue Lacy Dog Blog, which has an article on natural remedies for kennel cough. We're giving Penny a little bit of - super expensive! - Manuka honey and putting a touch of apple cider vinegar in her water. The woman in the health food shop said the vinegar is better than most, because it has 'the mother' in the bottom of the bottle.

A site called Authority Nutrition (now there's an impressive title for a site, lol) says:
Organic, unfiltered apple cider vinegar...also contains "mother,", strands of proteins, enzymes and friendly bacteria that give the product a murky, cobweb-like appearance.
On reading more, I gather that there's some thought that we shouldn't give too much honey to dogs, so I guess we'll only try it for a couple of days, and assess her stools and her general health. After all, it's wonderful stuff for humans, so it won't go to waste.

There's a great deal of information about honey and about its benefits and dangers for dogs here.

6 comments:

proud womon said...

oooh, do hope Penny is ok... if you can get your hands on a copy, the best book i've ever come across is 'the complete herbal book for the dog' by Juliette de Bairacli Levy, she studied veterinary medicine and was noted for her pioneering work in holistic veterinary medicine... i have had numerous copies of her book (she has written a number of books for dogs, cats and farm animals) - alas, i loan them to people and never seem to get them back - but i recommend her knowledge and methods highly...

Molly the Airedale said...

We hope your remedy works and you can avoid going to the vet, Penny. Feel better soon!

Love ya lots♥
Mitch and Molly

parlance said...

Thanks, Mitch and Molly. She's about the same today, so we're making sure she rests and we'll keep and eye on her.

parlance said...

proud womon, I'm going to search the internet for the book right now. Thanks!

proud womon said...

i hope there are still copies available parlance... if it wasn't for juliette's book, my beautiful old companion, friend and confidente allie, who started out life as a breeding machine in a puppy factory and then found her way to my home after 4 years of hell, worn out and given up as worthless and dying from a perennial hernia, would never have survived to live to the grand old age of 19 when her journey ended... i'd like to think the same wonderful longevity is in store for petey...

parlance said...

proud womon, what a great age, 19! She must have had many years of joy with you, and I hope they outweighed for her the memory of her years of torment. I hope petey has many years of happiness also.