My small dog has bronchitis. How long will it last without treatment?

He could have bronchitis from kennel cough. Have your vet examine him to determine the cause. He many need an antibiotic, bronchodilator, and/or a cough suppressant to help treat the problem. Puppies usually recover in 7-10 days from a respiratory infection, like kennel cough.

If the bronchitis is secondary to infection, then the antibiotics should resolve the infection. Once the infection is resolved, the inflammation should resolve as well. The "other medicines" may be anti inflammatory meds and possibly cough meds which will help relieve symptoms.

If the bronchitis is caused by a virus it can take up three weeks for the body to fight it. However if your dog still has breathing trouble I strongly suggest you take Mocha back to your vet for a recheck. You can help her breathe by taking her with you into the bathroom when you take a hot shower as the steam from the shower will help.

A blood test may be able to indicate any infections present but the vast majority of cases do have a low grade infection due to the trauma and injury associated with prolonged coughing and do benefit from a course of antibiotics if unwell. I would also recommend a course of prednisone to settle the condition and allow the inflammation and irritation to reduce and natural antiinflammatories may be considered to try to maintain the condition thereafter. The side effects of steroids are generally dose and time related and short courses are of limited risk of side effects compared to the benefits produced

Yes, this can be normal. Sometimes a longer course of antibiotics is needed to treat a respiratory infection. Keep in touch with Nugget's vet to update them on her progress, and get her into the vet immediately if she stops eating, the cough gets worse, or she becomes very lethargic. Best of luck.

If nothing else has helped for the bronchitis, I have to wonder is it bronchitis for sure? Could it be anything else? X-rays, heartworm Test, CBC, parasite check are all important. If your vet has ruled out everything else, then yes, you could try an antihistamine to see if there is an allergy component. If not, a lot of people have luck with trying an inhaler with their dog. You are lucky to be in Canada and not here in the States as inhalers are a lot less expensive there! They are used with a mask and spacing system.

This does not sound like a typical Kennel cough, which is usually responsive to antibiotics within 3-4 days, and then goes away after stopping medication in about 10 days time. There is something else going on here, which could include any of the following: an underlying heart condition (the heart and lungs are very much involved with each other), laryngeal paralysis (causes coughing in young adult dogs but not as common as other disorders), lung parasite, fungal infection of the lungs. You will have to get some testing done at this point to determine what the underlying cause is so that we know how best to treat Bruno moving forward. I would recommend starting with chest x-rays through your vet. I hope that Bruno feels better soon! Best wishes and take care.