All about kennel cough

Q: I’m going on vacation and cannot take my dog with me, so I’ll be boarding her at a kennel for the first time. When I called the kennel to make arrangements, I was told Sadie needed a bordetella vaccine to protect her from kennel cough. I don’t know anything about kennel cough or bordetella. Can you enlighten me?

A: Kennel cough is an old term describing a dry, hacking, infectious cough that dogs would get after being in a kennel. Most kennels require dogs to get a kennel cough vaccine to limit the number of dogs who would get a cough after boarding in a kennel. This vaccine usually provides protection against Bordetella bronchiseptica and parainfluenza virus. It is a highly effective vaccine, but the story of coughing dogs from a kennel is not that simple.

Certainly, bordetella and parainfluenza are major contributors to infectious coughs that dogs can get from a kennel, but they are definitely not the only causes and, in some areas, they aren’t even the primary contributors to infectious causes of coughs. Furthermore, dogs can pick up these infectious coughs from places other than a kennel — in shelters, veterinary offices, dog parks and doggie day care facilities, as well as at the groomer’s. Because there are many different causes of infectious cough and many places where dogs can contract a cough, the term kennel cough is now frowned upon in veterinary medicine. These infectious coughs are now lumped under the name canine infectious respiratory disease (CIRD).

Other causes of CIRD

Some of the other causes of CIRD (other than bordetella and parainfluenza) are the viruses canine distemper virus, canine adenovirus type 2, canine respiratory coronavirus, canine influenza virus, canine pneumovirus and canine herpesvirus.

Also included in CIRD are some bacterial causes, which include Mycoplasma and Streptococcus equi subsp zooepidemicus. In addition to the vaccine for bordetella and parainfluenza, there are vaccines for canine distemper virus, canine adenovirus and canine influenza. The vaccines for all of these viruses are often required by kennels before a dog can stay there. But don’t let this overwhelm you. Your vet can talk you through it.

The bordetella vaccine

The vaccine for bordetella can be given via three different routes: intranasal (in the nose), oral or as a subcutaneous (under the skin) injection. Of the three, the intranasal route tends to provide the best and quickest immunity — within three days — and it protects against the parainfluenza virus. However, it is often the hardest to give, since dogs don’t like things shoved up their noses.

The oral vaccine is easier to administer and provides quick immunity as well — three to five days. However, it does not provide protection against the parainfluenza virus. Both the intranasal and oral vaccines provide local immunity, which means they give protection at the site of infection. They also tend to have minimal systemic side effects, though they can both result in a cough a few days after the vaccine.

The injectable vaccine is nice for dogs who will not let a person put something in their nose or mouth (which occurs more often than you might think). The downside

is that the injectable vaccine requires two doses 2-4 weeks apart and it does not provide immunity until 7-10 days after the second injection. Also, with the injectable product, there is more of a risk that the dog will have a systemic reaction to the vaccine (though this risk is low).

Signs, diagnosis and treatment

If a dog contracts one of the infectious causes of CIRD, he typically shows signs of a dry cough, especially when pressure is placed on his neck. Dogs show these signs 2-10 days after exposure to the infectious agent. Most of these coughs are self-limiting; that is, the dog feels better within 10 days without any treatment. However, if the cough worsens, the dog has a fever or other signs (such as weakness, not eating and increased breathing rate) are present, antibiotics are often needed. Rarely does a dog require hospitalization or intensive therapy.

The prime exception is if a young dog comes down with the distemper virus. The distemper virus is the most serious of the infectious agents of CIRD, and dogs often die when they are infected with it. The good news is that the distemper vaccine is very good at preventing illness from the distemper virus. It is also possible for any of the causes of CIRD to result in pneumonia or to weaken the body’s natural defenses enough so that normally harmless bacterial exposure can result in pneumonia. For a veterinarian to specifically diagnose bordetella (or any of the components of CIRD), a swab of the dog’s deep oral tissue and eyelids can be used to diagnose genetic material of the infectious agents. This test can tell which of the infectious agents are causing the cough. However, the test is relatively expensive and it’s not normally needed to provide successful treatment. A veterinarian can usually make a general diagnosis of CIRD simply based off of clinical signs, a good physical exam and a history of being exposed to other dogs.

The good news

All in all, bordetella is not a very serious disease of dogs. It will often resolve on its own, rarely develops into pneumonia and rarely causes death. But the cough caused by it is annoying to dogs, and it is hard to know, based just on clinical signs, if the cough could be due to something more serious.

Furthermore, the folks who run boarding kennels do not want dogs coming in with an infectious cough or going home with one. That’s bad for business and for the health of the animals they have been trusted to care for. So, if you are going to board Sadie, or have her around other dogs, especially in poorly ventilated areas, it is best — and usually required — that you get the bordetella vaccine for your dog.

If you have a question you’d like our vets to tackle in Best Friends magazine, send an email to editor@bestfriends.org and we’ll consider it. Please type “Ask the Vet” in the subject line. For timely medical advice, please consult your veterinarian as soon as possible, or download the VetsPlusMore app at bestfriends.org/vetapp.

It’s a highly effective vaccine, but the story of coughing dogs from a kennel is not that simple.