maybe he aspirated some jerky or plastic which would not always show up on x-ray.

Actually, "kennel cough" is a descriptive term that relates to infectious bronchitis brought out by being in stressful siuations with multiple etiologies. Parainfluenza (a virus) and Bordatella ( a bacteria) are the two most common bugs implicated. Vaccination for both is the best way to protect against kennel cough, but no vaccination is 100% effective, nor is every case of KC caused by these two agents. At the very least, a dog infected with parainfluenza or Bordatella would have a less severe case if they were properly mmunized.

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like Kennel Cough which is a virus so unless he got an infection in his lungs from it, he wouldn't have needed the antibiotics. I think him eating the jerky was probably just a coincidence. He would have been throwing up, not coughing if he had a problem with it. Kennel cough is just like a bad cold or flu, it will take him a while to recover from it.

FYI -- kennel cough (bordatella) is not a virus.

OP here. The abdominal u/s was completely clear. That vet's opinion was that the eating of the jerky was a coincidence and that even though he's had the bortadella vaccine it doesn't prevent all "kennel cough" as there are many strains. I merely/hopefully lessens the severity.

The good news is that he seems to be doing much better. He has more energy and wanted to play last night. He hasn't wanted to play for about a week now. He had his regular energy on his walk this morning.

He's always had a sensitive stomach so I put forti flora in is food every day. Unfortunately, it didn't help this time.

Thanks for your help and opinions.

If he was on antibiotics, that probably caused his stomach to act up. If he needs antibiotics again, I would get forti flora, and have him take that every day while on the antibiotics.

Were the xrays of his chest or abdomen? Both?
It sounds like his lungs are the problem.
Hope he gets well soon, OP!

It sounds like Kennel Cough which is a virus so unless he got an infection in his lungs from it, he wouldn't have needed the antibiotics. I think him eating the jerky was probably just a coincidence. He would have been throwing up, not coughing if he had a problem with it. Kennel cough is just like a bad cold or flu, it will take him a while to recover from it.

The vet is not necessarily referring to chronic issues, OP. Just recovery from an illness takes time. I'd give it another week.

Anonymous wrote:I think he ate or inhaled the plastic wrapping.

Would have shown up on xray or cleared stomach by now.

I think he ate or inhaled the plastic wrapping.

I would have just gritted through with the antibiotics just to get through the course. If not, I would have asked for an alternative a/b that the dog could tolerate. I have no idea what anti-inflammatories they give dogs but, can't they just give him one and see if it clears up? And wouldn't a severe cough cause inflammation?

Our dog got into a bag of beef jerky about 12 days ago. He shredded the plastic bag and ate all the jerky. The next day he started coughing. We took him to the vet. The vet said that regardless of whether the cough is related to the eating of the jerky or an unrelated respitory infection they treat it the same way with antibiotics. I started giving him the a/b and he seemed ok but for some bouts of coughing and reverse sneezing. His energy was fine for a few days. By the end of the week he was listless and lethargic so we took him back to the vet who said that he appeared nauseated so she took him off the a/b and put him on a bland diet.

He has gotten marginally better but is still pretty lethargic. The vet took x-rays and did b/w. The x-rays look clear but the b/w indicates that he has some chronic inflamation somewhere. He has an appointment tomorrow for an abdominal u/s to see if there is something in his stomach that the x-rays missed.

On the plus side he is eating and drinking normally and pooping. He doesn't have the cough and the reverse sneezing is intermittant. He is a bit less lethargic but still not himself. We go out for walks and he seems ok but he isn't sniffing as much or lifting his leg on every tree in sight. He pees when he needs to just not "for fun" like before.

Any experienced dog owners have any ideas? The vet says that he has had both respitory and gastro issues so he could just be still under the weather but I'm not convinced. The dog is only 1 and 1/2 so too young for chronic issues. TIA.