Oxytetracycline injectable (Liquamycin LA-200)....can get at Tractor Supply. 1 or 2 drops in each nostril for 3 days (don't forget to remove the needle):) along with amoxicillion and cough syrup, gone in a few days. Be sure and use a cough syrup with a cough suppressant AND expectorant. I have used the oxytetracycline on kittens with severe colds too and works great.

Just a reminder......The doseage may be small enough to not cause a problem, but I wouldn't want to be sorry later.

This will work well to prevent or treat secondary (bacterial) infection to kennel cough, but KC is a virus, and the antibiotics have no effect on that. Viruses have to run their course.

There are other antibiotics that work well on secondary infections, and won't stain teeth... Check with your vet.

Most kc is virul AND bacterium.

Yes, you are right. Most kennel cough is virAl, followed by a secondary bacteriAL infection. Antibiotics won't work on the virAl part. Antibiotics will work on the bacteriAL part.

Please be careful in any advice you might read here. Amoxicillin is a bacteriocidal antibiotic, meaning it kills bacteria. Tetracycline is a bacteriostatic antibiotic, meaning it slows the bacterial growth down and the body is able to overcome it. These two types of antibiotics given together sort of cancel each other out. A veterinarian would not prescribe these two antibiotics at the same time. Also, most dogs with kennel cough don't need antibiotics, as was previously stated, as kennel cough is usually caused by viruses. A sick dog with a fever will need antibiotics.
Just be careful of what you advice you heed here. It may harm your dog.
I've been a vet for 24 years. Please email privately if you have any questions.

Hi Karen, thanks for the wonderful advice for all regarding KC. Having a few veterinarians on the forum is a blessing at times like this.

Hope all is well, I missed saying hello at Potomac but did see you and your Labs from a short distance.

Congrats and Best wishes!! Once again, thanks for the DVM advice for all to see.

Michelle

I agree with Karen. There are definitely somethings that we can do at home to self medicate, but when it comes to diagnosing and treating our dogs, that should be left to a capable veterinarian.

Thank you Karen for educating ALL of us on bacteriocidal antibiotics vs. bacteriostatic antibiotics.

Having someone that has the amount of experience that you do as a DVM truly is a blessing on this forum.

Thank you so much Karen....you are very generous to share your expertise with everyone on this forum. I for one really appreciate when a Veterinarian is kind enough to offer assistance and education! Thanks again Karen.
Melody

Karen, it is great to hear the voice of reason on this Forum. I have never understood why everyone gets so worked up about kennel cough. It is usually no big deal. Once my dogs get a good case of it, the rarely catch it again. One of the Veterinarians I worked for used to say "If you treat kennel cough they get over it in 7 days, if you don't treat it they get over it in a week.

I just had kennel cough go through my kennel. Twelve dogs, mostly youngsters, had it. I brought it home from a show. It was very mild and basically no problem. There are a lot worse diseases out there than kennel Cough. JMO

The only time I had an issue with KC was with a senior girl, at the time my oldest at age 12ish. (have fortunately only seen it twice, both times in all of my Labs.) My senior girl went into a pretty severe vestibular incident from coughing very hard. She was prescribed Baytril and a strong cough suppressant by my VET, not by me. He also prescribed a low dose Amoxil for my litter of 11 pups at the same time to avoid a SECONDARY infection (bacterial) at 5 weeks of age. (I am not telling anyone to use Baytril, Amoxil or anything else, that was his course of action given my girl's symptoms and excessive coughing, age and other factors) We thought she initially might have had a stroke until nystagmus(sp) was noticed.

Thanks once again Karen! Sharing your expertise and knowledge is appreciated by so many of us.

Best regards

Michelle

One more cautionary note: According to several veterinarians I have discussed kennel cough with, use caution with a heavy-duty cough suppressant. If you have a nasty bacterial infection hitchiking along with the viral infection, NOT coughing can cause pneumonia, as the infection cannot be expelled by coughing; it just sits there in the lungs looking for a place to grow.
Plus, as was previously posted, using antibiotics needlessly is going to contribute to resistant bacterias in the future.
Thanks to all the veterinarians, techs and knowledgeable breeders out there who are watching out for our dogs and the people who care for them!

S.Allets maybe the kennel cough was about over anyway. That sounds like doing more than most of us do. It is not often to bad.
And thank you so much Karen for checking in here every so often and guiding us. We do appreciate it !

If you go to dog shows, I would suggest you
vaccinate all your dogs for KC(Bordatella)
every 6mo.

Once they are affected it just has to run
it's course.