Kennel cough treatments

[Spyglass Sally]

Buddy woke up this morning with a dry hacky cough (upper respiratory infection, aka kennel cough) – probably from the dogs at the park. Dr. Pitcairn’s book says it sounds awful (they got that right!) but is not generally serious. You can put them on an antibiotic (which our vet offered) , but it’s usually caused by a virus so I’m thinking to just skip that unless I think it’s turned into something worse. Right now he’s more tired, but eating & drinking fine so I’d like to give him a chance to fight it off on his own.

I’m giving him an Echinacea compound for general immune support and peppermint tea and honey to help with the dry hacky cough and soothe his throat. I just made some up and keep it next to his water dish. He prefers it over the water. Also, a little (~1/4 tsp) honey on a spoon really seems to help him stop coughing. As soon as he starts, I offer it to him and it really seems to cut short any coughing spells. I read here that it's more effective than DM cough medicine.

I'm also trying something kinda strange sounding - hydrogen peroxide. Dr. Mercola has found a few drops of H2O2 in the ears to be quite effective in treating colds & flu in humans, and I'm thinking this is an upper respiratory infection so maybe it will help. (You guys probably think I'm nuts. ). H2O2 has been described in medical literature as a disinfectant, antiseptic, and oxidizer. I read other places where people used it in water to treat kennel cough so I put a few drops in his water too. Don’t want to use too much though.

We were supposed to go out of state to a family reunion this weekend and kennel him, but that’s probably out now. Oh well. Hope he feels better soon.

[daisy'smom]

I hope Buddy gets better. Try banana to sooth his cough. It works for humans so it may work for dogs.

[KeeperBoy]

I hope he's feeling better. We would lay in the bathroom with the shower on hot and the steam helped my two more than anything.

[AussieGirl]

My father in law swears by hydrogen peroxide. Poor little guy, do you have a vaporiser you can put on for him, I remember reading somewhere it helps.

Here is a link I saved a while ago that has some info on Kennel Cough for those who would like to read a bit about it, I liked it because it was one of the few that had a section on Homeopathic Treatment.

[Ron]

hope he feels better soon. that's one thing i'm glad i've never had to deal with. I've heard the cough can be pretty scary sounding

[Spyglass Sally]

Thanks for all your good wishes and advice. He's doing amazingly better today!
I found out that the 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide is not good for oral use so I'm not doing that. But I'm still using the echinacea and honey, which are working well.

Yesterday he laid around more but today he's actually feisty again! I don't really want him jumping and nipping when he wants to play, but I'm glad he feels well enough to do it. Gotta say though, there's something very amusing about being harassed by a dog with a dry hacky cough - I feel like I'm in a cartoon .

He's sleeping in sun right now which is probably the best thing. His appetite is still good and he seems much better than yesterday. I'm very glad to see him fighting this off so well.