Griffin has a cough

[pinkcarys]

Hi everyone. i've posted about this "elsewhere" so apolagies if you've already seen it and chosen not to reply. :P

Griffin woke up this morning with a cough which dissapeared then came back. He seemed fine in himself this morning but has now gone all clingy and a sleepy. His breathing is a bit raspy and he feels hot but that could be my imagination. He's eaten well all day though. We're seeing the vet tommorow morning and I know no one can diagnose via a web forum. I just need some reassurance that he's ok and will be ok until the morning. I'm a typical neurotic forst time mother!

[Aearoniel]

Sorry to hear he isn't feeling well, perhaps he has got something stuck and it's irritating him (like a bit of grass or somehting like that) hope all goes well at the vets. :13:

[lyn]

Sorry to hear he isn't feeling well, perhaps he has got something stuck and it's irritating him (like a bit of grass or somehting like that) hope all goes well at the vets. :13:wot she said.
you can give him a childs dose of cough medicine to help him until you see the vet.
hope he feels better soon. will be thinking of him and sending him healing thoughts. please let us know how you get on at the vet tomorow.

[jools]

Sorry to hear he isn't feeling well, perhaps he has got something stuck and it's irritating him (like a bit of grass or somehting like that) hope all goes well at the vets. :13:wot she said.
you can give him a childs dose of cough medicine to help him until you see the vet.
hope he feels better soon. will be thinking of him and sending him healing thoughts. please let us know how you get on at the vet tomorow.

Benylin is fab for kennel cough. No doubt the vet will give him an antibiotic....but they only work if it goes into an infection - kennel cough is a virus :?

Big hugs to Griffin

[pinkcarys]

Hi

Thanks for the messages. Griffin is feeling all sorry for himself and being clingy and sleepy. The vet called him "lazy" which is not true at all, he's poorly! Anyway, she said it is most likely he has kennel cough so we have some antibiotics (but if its a virus that's a bit rubbish and could do more harm than good!) and we've got something to clear his chest which is probably the same as Benylyn but I was a bit stunned when she gave it to us because when she checked his chest for his breathing she found a heart murmer! I have read that puppies often have them and grow out of them but she said that he's a bit old for a puppy one and he probably won't grow out of it. She'll check again at his 6 week check but she's not hopeful. On the good side she said that it is a catergory 2-3 out of 5 so at least its not really bad. If anyone can make any comments on this or point me towards any info that would be great.

Its all going a bit pants today! I'm off to the doctor in a mo cause I've got conjunctivitis that won't clear up, and we've just been told our mortgage provider isn't happy about the length of the lease (which they knew about 16 weeks ago) so we're going to have to wait longer and longer to get in this new house. No chain and yet its taken 16 weeks so far. Grrrrr!

Thanks for listening,
Carys
-x-

[Beth]

Sorry to hear about your poorly boy, hope he perks up soon. Having had Jarvis poorly recently i know i was amazed how quickly he bounced back. One minute he was acting as if he was on deaths door, the next thing we know he's knocked us over as we've come in from shopping. :D :13: Hope Griffin bounces ( :roll: :lol:) back soon too.

Hope everything else gets sorted for you too, just been up the docs with Indie for his gooey eyes, i thought they'd cleared up but it keeps coming back, his is probably viral so just have to wait for it to clear up. :roll: Tis a nightmare abour the house, it must be driving you crazy. :10:

[lyn]

hi carys, i think if you read what i have copied below (i have also put a link to the whole article) you will see why antibiotics are prescribed. hope he feels better very soon. give him a snuggly cuddle from me :13:

If your dog is unfortunate in becoming infected with Kennel Cough, the first thing that you are likely to notice is a dry, wretching cough. Depending on how severe the infection is, your dog may also exhibit signs including :- lethargy, reluctance to eat, fever, runny eyes and/or nose and depression. Unfortunately, there is no specific treatment for Kennel Cough. The most important thing that you can do for your dog once infected, is to rest him or her. Antibiotics may be prescribed to prevent secondary bacterial infections which could lay your dog open to pneumonia etc. Coupage (patting the chest with cupped hands) and steam inhalation can both help the cough - the latter can be achieved by running a hot bath with your bathroom door shut, and sitting in the steamy room with your dog for 10 - 20 minutes. Sadly, Kennel Cough frequently lasts for 4 weeks, and your pet will be contagious to other dogs for up to 3 months! All of this is why we consider 'prevention being better than cure'!
this is the site where i copied the info from. simon i hope this is allowed.
http://www.darwinvets.com/dogs/kennelCough.htm

[pinkcarys]

Thanks everyone, and thanks for the link. That makes sense about the antibiotics. I'm always a bit suspicious about antibiotics as I have first hand evidence of superbugs. But that's reassuring to know it is the right treatment. Does anyone know how you can prevent them getting KC? I assume he's got it from a dog in the park and once he's recovered he'll be mixing with other dogs again and I don't want him to get reinfected. How long is it contagious? Our landlady (we lodge) has two dogs, both elderly. Griffin lives upstairs with us but walks past them to get to the garden. They use the garden too. Is keeping him away from them enough or is it complete isolation. Thanks for all your help. xxx

[lyn]

carys there is an injection the vet can give him, not sure if it lasts a year or just six months tho. i would think carefully before you get him the jab. i do strongly believe that our pets are being over immunised. i have never had any of my dogs protected from kennel cough but then my dogs also only have their first injections then i don't have them done again unless there is an outbreak of something horrid.
are you a member of THE DOG LOUNGE? its a friendly forum run by another ex COL'er. she is very knowlegable(sp) on all things to do with a dogs immune systems.
please remember that it is just my belief on jabs and dogs and is in no way meant to sway you in any direction. you can and i hope will make your own decisions as to wether or not you want your dog to have the kc jab. if you would like a link to tdl i will pm you it :lol:
ps, i thought i should add that i have only ever had one dog who suffered kc and he had it very mild. i know it can be horrid and i may think differently if i had experience of a dog who had had it bad iyswim :D

[jools]

I've stopped giving my 2 the KC vaccine (not an actual jab....a horid up the nose spray thing). my understanding is that there are so many different types of viral Kcough, that the vaccine isn't an effective protection as it only covers one type.

I have posted on t'other place too.

[MightyMouth]

I get Holly done for KC once a year as it is a yearly vaccine. She gets it because she goes to kennels a lot if we go away. Kali has just had the yearly vaccine because she is going in kennels in a weeks time :04: Holly loves it but Kali will fret, I just know it. If neither of them were going in I wouldn't get it done and that is on the vets advice. Anyway, I always ask things when I get anything done and my vet said that there were two major types of KC which can make them extremely ill and that is what they vaccinate against. Then there are others that although they are bad, won't result in anything more than a cough for a while and the other stuff that comes with it but won't be life threatening.

Not sure about the vaccine issue. I suppose I should be more anti vaccine than most as my poor Chloe had AIHA for over 7 years. There is nothing anyone can tell me about immune diseases that I haven't already found out. There is a theory that over stimulation of the immune system caused by vaccination is the cause of AIHA/IMHA etc etc. However, there is also a theory that genetic pre-dispostion can be the culprit, or stress. There is no veterinary website you can go on that will give you a definite answer. It is for this reason that I continue to get my girls done. If someone said to me that vaccination definitely causes auto immune issues then I would stop vaccinating. If a viable alternative comes along then I would use that. The thing that makes me wonder about the genetic issue is that my vet sees a lot more cases of AIHA now than he ever did. He told me that yes, some mixed breed dogs are victims but for the most part, cockers, westies and boxers are the main types of dog that are hit.

Don't know why I started this answer now. Senile Dementia :oops: :oops: :oops:

[lyn]

so mightymouth surely if a dog is genetically predisposed to auto imune disease then you are increasing its chances of it developing it by over immunisation. or have i got that completely wrong?
it seems that the more dogs being immunised (many more dogs are now than say 20 years ago) then the more instances of auto immune disease are being diagnosed. i do admit if i had say, a dalmation, i wouldn't be nearly so worried about immunising it than i am coz i have a cocker.yet, my oes had an awful reaction to her jabs. all her hair fell out on her back and nose

[MightyMouth]

I don't know Lyn :? If a dog that isn't genetically pre-disposed doesn't have auto immune issues then you could argue why blame the vaccine? If millions of dogs get vaccinated and of those, hundreds of thousands are ok then how can the vaccine be the culprit? Don't get me wrong, I think in Chloe's case it was the vaccination as it came just days after. She also managed for years and years never having a vaccination again and went where other dogs had been (although we kept this to a minimum where possible) without catching anything. So it is possible to manage without jabs definitely. I just want the veterinary profession to be 100% agreed before I make a decision and at the moment no matter how many of us with immune compromised dogs state that we feel it is the jabs that have done it, that isn't scientific proof. I got the both dogs from a commercial breeder. Chloe was dead at 9 years with AIHA. Holly is totally blind with immune issues but her body only attacks her nails. I have often wondered if bad breeding is the pre-disposition cause. I don't know really. Maybe the research should be into why some dogs can withstand a lifetime of jabs and others can't. Me more than anyone would like answers to all this. The info around is just too vague for me. I do live in fear of my other babies getting it. I have held Chloe and rushed to the vets because she was labouring to breathe with a red cell count of 7. There was not enough oxygen in her blood to allow her to do anything but moan and all the while her heart was enlarging trying to compensate for it all. Still and all I don't feel I can risk exposing them to other diseases without trying to protect them. It is a rock and a hard place really :cry:

[lyn]

i have this morning just been reading of a rottie who has it. his red cell count had dropped dramatically. he was sent to the vet hospital that evening but sent back to usual vets next morning. he has just had a blood transfusion coz it dropped to 9.
i never knew you had two dogs who suffer/ed with it. it must be heartbreaking.