Why is my dog coughing and throwing up after staying at a kennel?

It sounds like your dog picked up a severe upper respiratory tract infection. This could be kennel cough, but also canine influenza or pneumonia. Please take him to your veterinarian for an exam. Since he is shivering, and lethargic, this could be a life-threatening condition.

This is likely an upper respiratory infection called Kennel Cough, this usually resolves within 2 weeks without treatment, but if the cough is too severe it is recommended to go to the vet in order to get cough medicine and antibiotics.

Poor Charlotte! Any dog with kennel cough should be isolated for at least two weeks, possibly longer depending on the severity of the infection. Keep your dog in a well-humidified area, and use a harness instead of a collar to minimize coughing. Rest your dog for at least seven days to minimize irritation of the airways caused by excessive coughing. Take her into the vet this weekend to confirm she has kennel cough, and the vet can prescribe medications to help with her symptoms. Best of luck.

Kennel cough does not normally lead to vomiting and persistent vomiting should be investigated by your vet as soon as possible as it can be related to bowel obstruction or twist and can rapidly lead to severe dehydration

If the vomiting occurs at the end of a coughing fit then it is likely to be related to the kennel cough. I know it can be pretty scary, and make them quite poorly too. However, the worse is over in 3 days then things start to look a bit better. Kennel cough has its own course of about a week but can last 10 days or even a bit longer if the immune system is a bit depressed for other reasons.Have you tried to offer small amount of food throughout the day ? Something like Hill’s A/D or RCW recovery that you could mix with water and then just offer lukewarm. It is a diet that is quite rich in energy so he would not need to eat as much as his normal food. The most important thing in the acute phase, the first 3-4 days from when its starts, is supportive care. Make sure Peanut rests, encourage him to eat a palatable diet, keep comfortable, warm but not too hot. If you are worried, that he is vomiting all the time, he is too lethargic, have him checked over, better to be safer than sorry.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. The diarrhea is very common after boarding and can be related to either the food or the stress/excitement of boarding. The thirst is usually secondary (that is, to keep up with the water loss of the diarrhea.) The antibiotics Tylan and metronidazole are commonly prescribed for diarrhea because they restore the gut bacteria balance and have some anti-inflammatory effects in the gut as well. I expect that part o clear up in a few days. The cough could still be kennel cough. “Kennel cough” is a syndrome that can be caused by about a dozen viruses and bacteria. The current kennel cough vaccine only covers one bacterial cause. If it is mild, you may not need to do anything. Most dogs clear kennel cough on their own within 4 weeks. If she is not eating, is lethargic, the cough is severe or keeps her (or you) up at night, you need to see your vet for antibiotics and/or a cough suppressant. Of course coughing can also be: pneumonia, fungal infection, heart disease, bronchitis, and others. So if you are worried at all, see your vet. Best wishes to you and the pups!

You are correct that Kona likely has kennel cough, which is a highly contagious respiratory disease. I would take her into the vet tomorrow. Kennel cough is typically self limiting and can take up to three weeks for symptoms to completely resolve, but her symptoms may benefit from some medications such as antibiotics. Medications can lessen the severity of the symptoms, and may speed up recovery.