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Hi folks!
My adorable new lab puppy started coughing deeply and often, last night. I think it may be kennel cough b/c she is newly adopted and the vet told me about this condition on her initial visit, which was 34 hours ago.
I'm taking her in again, as soon as they open.
In the mean time, should i give her some benadryl?
She's 6 months old, and i don't know how much.
thanks for reading this.
Since kennel cough is something you can vaccinate for, it must be caused by a virus, I think. Benadryl is no good against viral infections, just allergies. I think if you gave the pup some, it would not hurt, but it wouldn't help either.
Not benedryl, won't help with kennel cough. You can give her a child's dose of cough syrup. Just make sure it is the plain cough suppressant with no other ingredients--no pain killer or decongestant.
Given she's a pup, your vet will likely give you some anti-biotics to prevent the infection from turning into pneumonia. Generally in a healthy adult dog, kennel cough just has to run it's course. It's like a human cold and nothing hurries it along. It can be more serious in old dogs, puppies or dogs who's systems are already comprimised somehow.
A couple winters ago all my dogs got kennel cough, 18 of them at the time! Took a month to run through all of them. Not fun!
Keep her quiet, no exercise, no running or hard play. Make sure she keeps drinking. It's ok if she doesn't feel like eating normally, but she has to stay hydrated.
Thanks VTJess03 and Glacier for your responses.
Oh my, Glacer 18 with kennel cough!
Bless you and your babies.
Well, Daisy's just about over her cough now.
I think I'll wait until next week to let her in the yard with the other dogs, just to be sure. So far, there's no sign of it in them. :)