Hi all

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the long post.
My Irish Girl Brianna who is 16 months has been treated by my vet for Kennel Cough twice now. She is the only one who would appear to have contracted it the past two times. The other two older girls had it when Brianna was about 11 weeks old. Brianna's Mum Keevy took it really badly and was unwell for about 3 weeks, meanwhile Maddie was fine after a week. Brianna didn't have any symptoms at all, so the vet said not to treat her. The thing is I'm not convinced that it is Kennel cough and spoke to my vet about it last time, I made noises about Lung worm and was told that up here in Scotland it's not a problem anyway he gave me the obligitory anti-biotics and sent me packing, telling me if it didn't clear up to come back in a fortnight. Both times the antibiotics seemed to do the trick in about a day or two, I did finish the courses as I know it is important to do so. Last night out of the blue she started couging again, It's only been about a month since the last bout. She isn't unwell, not bringing anything up and isn't doing the wretching thing that normally happens, and when I flick her windpipe there isn't any reaction. I may be wrong but I thought if you flicked the windpipe when a dog had Kennel Cough that it would start the coughing off. Neither of my older girls seem to be affected and I would think that if it is Kennel Cough the puppies I have kept back out of Maddies litter who are 10 weeks would be showing some symptoms too. I'm hoping to get to the vets tomorrow if there are any appointments left, failing that it'll be Thursday. I may well be barking up the wrong tree but something just doesn't add up. Your thoughts would be most welcome.

Both of mine do this during harvesting in late summer and occasionally in the spring when the blossom goes mad (there are LOADS of fruit trees round here) is it possible that she is allergic to something?

Hiya

Thanks for the reply. I suppose it could be something like that. I'll take her to the vet and we can look at when this affects her and maybe be able to tell from there.

Thanks again

Something else I have thought of during the course of my busy working day.... ;-) Someone that I used to train with had a dog with an overlong soft palate and she used to cough when it was warm. She described it as an inverted sneeze whatever that is. Mine sound like they have been in water and it has gone down the wrong way and they are just clearing their throats. It is quite warm here at the moment and I know if they are allowed to run as they would like even in the evenings one of them would develop this snuffley cough for a couple of hours. I know another collie with a weak larynx that HAS to wear a harness or she would cough for England and this apparently can carry on for a few days with no obvious reason why. HTH

Brianna sounds like your dog, it's as though she is clearing something from her throat. She has been fine all evening and then we let her out in the garden and she had a wee run round about, the couging started and now she is back inside it's stopped again. I did wonder if it was excitement. Occasionally she does it if she drinks really fresh cold water, but it's only a wee bit. To be honest I'm reluctant to take her to the vet as he'll probably palm me off with more anti-biotics. I'll phone and speak to him and see what he suggests. I'm hoping he looks into it a wee bit further than last time. I'll also ask about the dates she has been in the past couple of times and see if anything ties in. The other thing I thought about was if she did have a wee case of KC when she was a baby and it wasn't treated would this cause problems later on in life.

Hi Alli, has your vet ruled out tonisillitis ?  I know a couple of Irish who have had this and it is recurring, they do have a slight cough with it.

Never thought of that Claire. I'll hopefully get a word with him tomorrow and see what he says.

Hi Claire

I have an appointment this afternoon, so heres hoping he'll actaully put his brain into gear and think about things. I'll be less than impressed if he tries to palm me off with KC again. He is a good vet but sometimes he can be a wee bit stuck in his ways, if need be I'll go elsewhere as I need to find out whats causing this.

The lady who bred Alfie has a dog Fagans age who has had tonisilitis on and off for a long time and she is considering having his tonsils removed.  Also Alfies sister has recently had tonsilitis so it is definitley worth looking into.  My boys cough when they pull on their leads too much and quite often I get Alfs breeder checking their glands making sure it isnt tonsilitis.

Good luck with your vet

Claire :)

same thing has happened to my boy, the vet has put it down to what i washed his bedding in, but since then the vet says it is more likely and allergy to pollen, it can be worse sometimes when we have been out on cut grass, or walked on the moors,also i know of  alot of dogs that are allergic to febreze this can bring on dogs coughing and wheezing like kennel cough.
carol

Ok, just home from the vet.

He kinda shook his head and muttered Bronchitis sp? More anti-biotics and if it doesn't clear up this time, x-rays of everything to find out what the problem is. He says the Bronchitis could be re-occuring from when she was a baby as she wasn't treated when the other two girls had Kennel Cough when she was tiny. To be honest I think he gets kinda fed up with me going in there and telling him what it isn't lol. I went in to today and he asked what the problem is I said she's couging but I don't think it sounds like Kennel Cough. After having a look he did agree. Tonsils are fine, nothing with the windpipe flicking. She did have a wee cough when she hauled on her lead all the same, he says it doesn't sound like kennel cough either. Told me that even with all the tests and x-rays there is a good chance of never finding out what is causing it. I don't know whether to go to a different vet for a second opinion or to wait until these anti-biotics are finshed and see what happens then.

You say Irish do you mean Terrier, Setter or Wolfhound.  I am assuming that the Vet has ruled out heart problems.  Often coughing is one of the symptoms?

Hi Brainless

It's Irish Setters. The vet gave her a thorough going over today and said her heart and lungs sound perfectly normal. I was a wee bit concerned when this all started as I was aware that coughing could be a symptom of heart problems. I suppose I'll just have to wait and see how it turns out.

Oh Good if it isn't heart then hopefully it can be sorted.

What a nightmare, hopefully she will be ok soon :)

Hiya

Just a quick update. I was supposed to start Brianna on her anti-biotics this morning, however after speaking to the vet this morning we have decided not to bother. When we came home yesterday and all evening there wasn't one cough. I phoned the vet and asked what he thought and he said leave it a couple of days and see how she goes. So far today no coughing at all. I think it might have something to do with her larynx as the coughing started the other night when she pulled sharply on her lead. Vet says it's a possibility, but unlikely. Does anyone know if there a way to test for a weak larynx? Perhaps I'm clutching at straws slighly here but I really would like to find out whats troubling her.