Follow up to earlier post. My dogs have kennel cough...vet has given each one an injection of amoxicillin and an injection of carprieve, plus carprieve tablets. My friend has just pointed out that carprieve is anti inflammatory rather than antibiotic?? Surely they should be having antibiotics for kennel cough?? I'm also concerned as my Labrador is extremely (almost died when taking rimadyl!) sensitive to rimadyl, metacam and zubrin, so if this is similar it could have serious  consequences for him :/ Obviously I will be phoning the vets tomorrow but just wanted to make sure im not stressing for no reason...if kennel cough requires anti inflammatories then fine, as long as they are 100% necessary and as safe as possible!!! :/

Amoyxycillin is an AB.

If Carprieve is an anti inflammatory, your vet may be thinking of ways to calm the irritation in the throat. If you had a terrible cold or cough you would also be taking anti inflammatories in the form of paracetamol, ibuprofen, Lemsip etc.

Antibiotics are not always used for KC as I understand it - as some causes are viral (which ABs will not touch). But AB's can be useful for non-viral KC [bordetella is bacterial I believe] and can also help to quash any secondary infections.

Do ask the vet about your Lab if you are worried. While I've not had KC in my dogs, that sounds like a reasonable approach to me, and I'd be ok with it (but I would be asking questions about why).

Thank you for your quick response...I hadn't even thought about calming the irritation :) Definitely makes sense and I had wondered if it was even worth taking them for antibiotics in the first place because of it possibly being a virus. Will double check in the morning before giving them to my lab and ask why those tablets, but hopefully thats the answer :)

Although it wasn't amoxicillin that my dogs were prescribed, my vet knows I have Metacam at home, and did say that any dogs getting really hoarse may benefit from Metacam.

Just give the antibiotic and wait to speak to the vet about anti inflammatories.  It will be the antibiotics that are needed most.  At least it will put your mind at rest.

 

Thank you :) They had the antibiotic as an injection and I haven't been given antibiotic tablets...just the anti inflammatories. It just never occurred to me that they might need those and the vet didn't say what he was giving which is why I just assumed antibiotics like we had before. I'm phoning before giving the tablets in the morning :)

I'm sure that my lot had a 7 day course of tablets.  Will check tomorrow how long they took them, and what they were called.

Thank you :)

Carprieve active ingredient is Carprofen = Rimadyl.  You have good instincts!  If your lab is intolerant to Rimadyl (and I do know a lab who died from Rimadyl) you definitely don't want to be giving this.

It may well be a long lasting AB injection as I opt for that rather than tablets with all my dogs and cats.

Fact is as KC is usually the viral kind, there is no 'cure'.   It has to run the course.   Vaccinated dogs usually shake it off pretty fast, especially if adult and basically healthy.   This virus, like the human flu, mutates so even if a dog is vaccinated, the current strain may be different although again, having some protection should mean they shake it off without complications.   And it's the complications that these days vets will prescribe antibiotics for - to help prevent it going to pneumonia, which obviously is far more serious, again especially in puppies and the elderly.   However, with any virus, you can only treat the symptoms.   And the antiinflammatory would be to help with the effects of the coughing.   Giving this isn't a bad idea!

Whatever you do, keep your dogs off exercise (so they don't spread it around the neighbourhood) and if you see the vet again, OUT of the waiting area.  Keep them outside until the vet is ready to see you or they will pass it to any dogs in the waiting area.

I'm sure they will recover just fine - you can use cough medicine btw.   We use a small dose of Benelyn, if the coughing is really bad.

Add - I seem to remember mine had a 5 day course of a broad spectrum antibiotic.

If it had just been my BC I wouldn't have taken him, he's young fit and healthy....i was worried that my older (10.5 year old) Labrador might not shake it off so easily. It turns out after speaking to the vets again, carprieve shouldnt have been prescribed for my lab, it IS the same as rimadyl which has almost killed him in the past! I have double checked that it WAS on his notes not to give it....i guess its a lesson to always ask what it is and why its being given!!

And yes, they are confined to home until they are better and we have benylin and honey for if its needed
Lol and they won't be visiting the vet again but its not an issue as they have a separate entrance to use and once you mention coughing they ask you to wait in the car.

Just to let you know - my dogs were prescribed Tribrissen, and they all had a 7 day course.  Like someone has already mentioned, it was the worry of my vet that the tiny tots, if hit by pneumonia, didn't have much to fight with.

Metacam was given to the dogs that I felt needed a bit of help.  The ones that really got quite hoarse.