Our dog became sick while boarded for a week and she was fully vaccinated...

[Anonymous]

We picked up our dog from boarding in early August and she seemed just fine, but two days later she began presenting signs of what appeared to be kennel cough. We let it play out for a week, but it began to get worse and so we took her to the vet. She was given a weeks worth of antibiotics and a cough suppressant. She seemed to be getting a little better, but the cough has still been lingering and she just looks awful. So last week we made an appointment to have her seen today. The vet offered up chest xrays or a new stronger antibiotic. The chest xrays seemed a little aggressive since her lungs were clear. We went for the stronger antibiotic in hopes to get rid of this. We feel awful for our pup and just want her to feel better. We will certainly do the xrays if this round doesn't help.

After the first vet visit I called to notify the boarding facility to let them know what happened. But now, we are almost a month into her being sick and $500 out of pocket in vet bills. Not to mention we have a trip planned this weekend and need to board her. Not possible if she is sick.

Has this happened to anyone else? Do we just suck up the cost of the vet bills or does the boarder have some type of financial responsibility?

[Anonymous]

Was bordetella up to date?
It's like when your kids get sick. Unfortunately you suck up the cost. Hope ur pup feels better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was bordetella up to date?
It's like when your kids get sick. Unfortunately you suck up the cost. Hope ur pup feels better.

Thank you, and yes she is up to date on everything. I was thinking another dog may have not been up to date, but I'm sure they manage that closely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was bordetella up to date?
It's like when your kids get sick. Unfortunately you suck up the cost. Hope ur pup feels better.

Thank you, and yes she is up to date on everything. I was thinking another dog may have not been up to date, but I'm sure they manage that closely.

If your dog got sick despite being up to date, it's possible that someone else's dog was also sick despite being up to date. The incubation period for kennel cough can be up to ten days, so it's entirely possible that no one was aware (or had reason to be) that another dog was sick at the same time it boarded with your dog. There is not necessarily someone else to blame here, unfortunately sometimes these things just happen when an animal is in a group care situation.

[Anonymous]

There is a strain of flu going around in other parts of the country. Maybe it's here too?

A flu vaccine for dogs isn't among the typical required shots, so maybe dog didn't have that one? And picked up the bug?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a strain of flu going around in other parts of the country. Maybe it's here too?

A flu vaccine for dogs isn't among the typical required shots, so maybe dog didn't have that one? And picked up the bug?

The vet mentioned this as a possibility although she said she has not seen a case in DC yet. Although we board her in VA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was bordetella up to date?
It's like when your kids get sick. Unfortunately you suck up the cost. Hope ur pup feels better.

Thank you, and yes she is up to date on everything. I was thinking another dog may have not been up to date, but I'm sure they manage that closely.

It's sounds like it wasn't a vaccine preventable disease, if your dog is fully vaccinated. There are things that fully vaccinated dogs can catch, just like there are viruses that fully vaccinated humans catch.

I'm sorry this happened, it sounds super frustrating, but it doesn't seem like anyone's fault.

[Anonymous]

Dogs can get kennel cough even when their bordatella is up to date. It's like the flu shot. It can't protect from all strains. This happened to my friend's dog. All dogs were up to date and they still got sick.

[Anonymous]

And I guess its no more risk than going to a dog park or socializing with other dogs, so we can't just worry about boarding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We picked up our dog from boarding in early August and she seemed just fine, but two days later she began presenting signs of what appeared to be kennel cough. We let it play out for a week, but it began to get worse and so we took her to the vet. She was given a weeks worth of antibiotics and a cough suppressant. She seemed to be getting a little better, but the cough has still been lingering and she just looks awful. So last week we made an appointment to have her seen today. The vet offered up chest xrays or a new stronger antibiotic. The chest xrays seemed a little aggressive since her lungs were clear. We went for the stronger antibiotic in hopes to get rid of this. We feel awful for our pup and just want her to feel better. We will certainly do the xrays if this round doesn't help.

After the first vet visit I called to notify the boarding facility to let them know what happened. But now, we are almost a month into her being sick and $500 out of pocket in vet bills. Not to mention we have a trip planned this weekend and need to board her. Not possible if she is sick.

Has this happened to anyone else? Do we just suck up the cost of the vet bills or does the boarder have some type of financial responsibility?

Yes, this happened to us at Petsmart kennel in Tysons. Our dog had the Bordetella vax, but got sick with Kennel cough anyway. Petsmart denied that any other dogs were sick in the kennel when I called. It was the LAST time we boarded there, NEVER again. Our dog was filthy and dehydrated when we picked him up. Who knows the conditions! We paid the vet bills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dogs can get kennel cough even when their bordatella is up to date. It's like the flu shot. It can't protect from all strains. This happened to my friend's dog. All dogs were up to date and they still got sick.

+1

My dog was sick for weeks with kennel cough. She was vaccinated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dogs can get kennel cough even when their bordatella is up to date. It's like the flu shot. It can't protect from all strains. This happened to my friend's dog. All dogs were up to date and they still got sick.

+1 was just going to post this.

[Anonymous]

It happens. It is a risk with boarding. No, they are not responsible.

If you want to eliminate this risk, hire a pet sitter. I strongly prefer that and never taken my dogs to dog parks.

I board horses but won't let one on property without a several week quarantine (built a separated paddock for it). I also keep horses I have taken to shows separate. Viruses just happen, like kids get sick at daycare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dogs can get kennel cough even when their bordatella is up to date. It's like the flu shot. It can't protect from all strains. This happened to my friend's dog. All dogs were up to date and they still got sick.

+1

My dog was sick for weeks with kennel cough. She was vaccinated.

Same for our dog.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It happens. It is a risk with boarding. No, they are not responsible.

If you want to eliminate this risk, hire a pet sitter. I strongly prefer that and never taken my dogs to dog parks.

I board horses but won't let one on property without a several week quarantine (built a separated paddock for it). I also keep horses I have taken to shows separate. Viruses just happen, like kids get sick at daycare.

+1. Whenever we board our dog for more than a few days, there's a good chance he'll come back with a bit of a cough. Usually, it goes away fairly quickly for him (knock on wood).