Pam,
I told you about my experience with kennel cough in the other thread. I'll try to find some more specific information though..
Here's a few things I found about the different opinions in medication. It seems that most vets do like to give the medication. I have had good luck with my fosters without medication though. It went away quickly on its own every time. The main reason vets don't use medication is that they may become resistant to the medication and if they got pneumonia or something, the meds wouldn't work:
If your dog is diagnosed with kennel cough, your veterinarian will likely prescribe an antibiotic to help prevent any secondary bacterial infection and a cough suppressant. We have found in those persistent cases of kennel cough, the use of a relatively new antibiotic, azithromycin, to be effective. This medication is very effective in the treatment of the mycoplasmal forms of tracheobronchitis. Again, before any treatment regimen administered, is it is imperative that a proper veterinary examination and appropriate diagnostics be performed.
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Some vets feel that it is best not to treat this condition with antibiotics since it is almost always self limiting and the organism is a normal inhabitant of the upper airways. Treatment may lead to resistance problems and difficulty treating the most serious complication, pneumonia, if it occurs. So many dogs are very uncomfortable due to the severity of the cough that I think most vets do use antibiotics to treat this.
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Although most cases will go away on their own, we like to think we can hasten recovery with antibiotics to directly kill the Bordetella organism. Alternatively, Kennel Cough may be treated with cough suppressants to provide comfort during natural recovery. Or antibiotics and cough suppressants can be combined.
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And this page is 6 strategies to beat kennel cough:
http://www.petsmart.com/pet_library/...el_cough.shtml
Last edited by aly; 01-19-2003 at 10:49 AM.
Alyson
Shiloh, Reece, Lolly, Skylar
and fosters Snickers, Missy, Magic, Merlin, Maya
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