Penny's cough is improving

Yesterday Penny alarmed us by throwing up her breakfast, some hours after she ate it. On reflection, I think this was because I put some apple cider vinegar in her food, hoping to improve her possible kennel cough.

She had small meals of boiled chicken and rice last night and this morning and seems to be fine as far as her appetite and digestion are concerned. I won't be trying any more apple cider vinegar, but I'll continue with a quarter teaspoon of top-grade manuka honey for the next couple of days.

We've gone on no walks the last two days, and I think the rest is helping her. Because of renovations on the house, she had plenty to keep her occupied, checking out the tradesmen and saying hello as they arrived, so I don't think she was bored.

She has pretty much not coughed at all today, so tomorrow we'll take a short stroll around the streets, keeping away from other dogs. (On the other hand, Penny has only one speed on walks, and it's not a stroll, more like a race to find as much discarded food as possible, as quickly as possible, with quick rushes towards interesting smells on the bases of trees and shrubs and poles. But we'll try to keep it restful and healthful.)

I've blocked off the compost heap, because I turned it today. Penny thinks the compost heap smells delightful at any time.

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.