Dogs sneezing an issue?

[Richard]

I called my Vet & talked to his assistent. She said she didn't think there was anything to worry about.

Here's the deal, we have 3 indoor dogs here. My sis in law has 2 others. Three of the 5 were strays that we've taken in, been to vet, shots, fixed, yada yada... all is well, shots are up to day & all are healthy.

One of sis in laws dogs was sneezing. not coughing but "ahh CHOOOO" sneezing. Now, about 2 weeks later, all five dogs are sneezing.

I'll take them out (our 3) in the morning and they will each sneeze maybe 2 to 5 times by the time I get them out, walked and return.

I can deal with a dog sneezing every now & then but with Otis having had Blasto Mycosis a while back, lung issues concern me (then it was more wheezing and coughing/hacking)

She said not to worry, but when ALL of them are doing it, it has me confused & nearing concerned. I'm watching it for few more days but thought I'd post here to see if anyone had any experience or ideas about this.

[shvl73]

Have you thought it could be kennel cough? Quite contagious.
Ask the vet.

[gordon21]

Get all your dogs a "kennel cough" shot or nasal spray ASAP. Bordetella is the name of the ailment. Shots at a vet are $10-15 and the medicine is available over the internet for as low as $6. Check with TSC or a local pet supply, they might have it in stock. A dog needs one yearly if it is ever boarded or travels a lot.

Check Google if you want to learn more about it. Once you do, you will be getting the treatment fast.

[Richard]

Although I'm not defending what the girl at vet told me I want to clarify, the dogs are SNEEZING and not coughing. She said there was a difference and that kennel cough was a cough with at times, mucus (or something) being coughed up. I think she said perhaps foam?

given that, they've been borded at this very vet within the last year and I'd lay good odds down that they've already had the kennel cough shot (or spray, what ever it is)

Since they are now ALL sneezing, something DOES seem amiss. That's why I called them.

So, to be clear, does kennel COUGH, sound like a SNEEZE? To me, there IS a difference, and if you agree that there is a difference, then this is CLEARLY a sneeze and NOT a 'cough'.

With that helpfully clarifying something (not sure what), does that affect any thoughts differently, or do you still conclude kennel cough?

If it IS kennel cough, should I get them TO the vet or just give them the spray (or what ever it is)??

Is Kennel cough self limiting or can it lead to other issues? We live out on a farm, nearest neighbor is like 1/2 mile away so it's not like they'd be playing round robin with the 'local' dogs (if it's self limiting, it will go away on it's own without a large population to sustain it is my thinking)

??

[gordon21]

Kennel cough is the common name, but sneezing is the symtom. The dog will not cough or "hack". It is not deadly, but watching your dog go through it is painful. Think of a human having a very bad case of the flu with no medicine. I really feel sorry for the people who had the flu 50 years or more ago before the current crop of OTC medicines were invented. The act of sneezing is a violent convulsion of the lung cavity. Maybe a doctor here on TBN can explain better.

I know that if I sneeze several times in a 2 minute period, my chest hurts. The thought of sneezing for a couple days hurts just thinking about it.

[Richard]

Just so you all know, I'm going to call vet again & see if I can get one (or all) of them in tomorrow. I feel need to take all because if I only take ONE, I don't know that he/she will be sneezing when I need them to. If I take 3, then odds are, one of them might.

With that said, I paid more attention to them this morning and if you think of perhaps 2 sounds that come to my mind...

1. A bull snorting through it's nose. Kind of a quick stacatto exhale is one thing they've been doing. The second thing I'd liken the sound to is when a heavy duty truck is moving down the road, their air brakes (or something?) make a periodic "psssssss" sound. Again, short duration and on a somewhat frequent basis.

Dunno if any of that helps. I'm calling vet in about 2 minutes so I'll see what they say.

[NewToy]

My two dogs just went through the same thing. The vet termed it an upper respiratory infection and prescribed anti-biotics. The big lab mix contracted it first and 2-3 days later my other one had it. I spoke to my BIL who raises beagles and they (20+ dogs) all had it. I have no doubt my dogs contracted it from them when they go to pester them in their kennels. It subsided after 4-5 days and cleared up completely in a week or so. I would get the easiest one to manage down to the vet for a check up. I think it'll be fine though, just like people catching a cold. Takes a little time to pass. Keep us posted.

John

[Richard]

All three of them, appointment tomorrow at 9:15 I don't like to waste time. With all three of them there, hopefully ONE of them will sneeze 'on que'

[Richard]

I'm slowly getting closer to 2,000 posts!!!

(this was a cheap comment to get me 1 closer)

[MossRoad]

On the humerous side...

I had a dog that I could go up to and just barely touch his nose and he'd wind up and give a great big 'ol sneeze. Sometimes 3 or 4 in a row. I taught him to bark on command when I said "speak!", and then I found out that if I waited about an hour between speaking sessions and then told him to speak! he'd wind up a big sneeze or two before barking very happily. So I stopped telling him to speak! and started telling him to sneeze! He didn't know the difference. It was pretty funny to tell people my dog could sneeze on command and then watch the look on their face when I'd tell them very quietly, so the dog couldn't hear me, to go tell my dog to sneeze!. They'd walk right up to him, lean over and tell him to sneeze! Then he'd wind up and sneeze dog slobber on their feet! . Funny thing is, I'm one of those people that sneeze 6 or 7 times if I go from a dark room into bright sunlight, or if I eat dark chocolate. What's that they say about dog's taking on characteristics of their owners?

Any how, I hope your dogs are all O.K. Hopefully it is just allergies or something. And you should get your dogs vaccinated for kennel cough every year, as it is highly contagious. All the kennels around here require proof of that vaccination (among others) before they will board them.