Homevet

Kennel Cough is an infectious disease which causes a frequent and harsh or hacking cough, in dogs. It’s called Kennel Cough because its most commonly associated with outbreaks of this condition in dogs at kennels- with the large number of different pets, all close together, and perhaps with different pets from different places, it’s easy for infectious diseases to spread in these circumstances.

Kennel cough is the group name for a collection of different bacteria and viruses which cause this. The disease is airborne and spread by the coughing itself.

It’s mostly Bordetella bronchiseptica (bacteria) but also can include others, including Parainfluenza virus, Adenovirus type 2, Canine influenza virus, Canine herpesvirus, Mycoplasma canis, Canine reovirus, etc.

The extra prevention available is a vaccine which is a squirt of a liquid up the nose. It’s simple and painless and quite inexpensive. Because the ‘Kennel Cough’ disease can be actually a combination of different viruses/bacteria, it doesn’t guarantee 100% protection- but it can hugely reduce the risks of your dog coming home from kennels with a nasty infection. Complicated cases do involve fever or listlessness and can be a real health risk to young or old pets in particular. If your dog is coughing the best course of action is to contact us as early treatment is recommended.

In Hong Kong, many of the bigger professional kennels require this vaccine and at Homevet we do recommend it is given for pets going to kennels or hotels, or to pet shops for grooming.