Sometimes a cough is just a cough

[buckeye96]

Just thought all of you would like to hear this.

Last sunday Ellie had a very deep cough that sounded almost like the croup. We gave her some benadryl and made sure she didn't get any worse.
Sunday night it wasn't any better so I checked on here and looked at what the cough might be leading too. Well the opinions on here ranged from kennel cough to a possible heart defect . Ellie had her kennel cough shot within 6 months so I was a bit puzzled by all of this and called the vet on Monday and got her an appointment for Monday afternoon.

She was still coughing and obviously didn't feel good. I talked with the vet and she checked for kennel cough (she didn't have it) and checked some other things. No temp, no discharge. She decided that it was either allergies or that Ellie picked up a small cold at the dog park. The vet said sometimes a cough is just a cough. She had me give ellie an antibiotic twice a day and 3 benadryl capsules 2-3 times a day.
Ellie cleared up in about 2-3 days. And has been feeling a lot better.

[Tywaknya'sBABY]

Glad to hear she's all better now

[Trace]

I wasn't so lucky...Last year our 12 year old girl had a cough, we took her in that very day, the vet decided she had doggie bronchitis, put her on antibiotics and sent us home. She seemed fine for about 6 weeks, then, all of a sudden her health declined rapidly in a matter of a few days and in the end they decided her heart was failing. We had to send her to the bridge

I will never underestimate a cough again.

[observer]

I'm glad she's all better, too. Yes, you got the worst case scenario here, but a persistent cough should be checked out, exactly as you did, and treated as appropriate. It turned out to be something simple, and she got better fast. Good news all around this time.

[groupieindenial]

Originally Posted by Trace

I wasn't so lucky...Last year our 12 year old girl had a cough, we took her in that very day, the vet decided she had doggie bronchitis, put her on antibiotics and sent us home. She seemed fine for about 6 weeks, then, all of a sudden her health declined rapidly in a matter of a few days and in the end they decided her heart was failing. We had to send her to the bridge

I will never underestimate a cough again.

The cough is a symptom to the heart related disease. Did she have Cardiomyopathy?

[Trace]

In all honesty I was so devastated I don't recall much of what was said that day and as for what exactly they vet said I am clueless. What I do remember clearly is the vet saying was that she was old and basically her heart was just worn out.

[stella123]

Ruby has suddenly got a cough.. she reaches aswell ( like shes going to be sick) but she hasn't been sick, just a really nasty cough... shes a year old, how much benadryl can i give her??

[szky]

I too wasn't so lucky. Buster got a cough that the Vet treated as kennel cough, although it didn't "sound like kennel cough." Three Vets treated him and gave him enough antibiotics to cure an elephant over 3-4 months. It turned out that Buster had OS in his lung (there was no other tumor). The cancer spread to his lymph nodes near his heart.

I'm sooo glad to hear that Ellie is fine and it was a minor illness.

[buckeye96]

Ellie weighs 65 lbs. the vet had me giving her 2-3 benadryl pills 2-3 times a day.

[fbkeays]

There is about 30 different strains of kennel cough. The vac for KC only covers only a handful of them. So it is VERY possible to have kennel cough after being vacinated for it. For this reason, I don't vacinate my dogs for kennel cough.
For any human meds that are safe for your dog (different breeds, such as the collie, some human meds are toxic), go by the adult dosage for an adult rottweiler.

[Paulos]

A cold, allergies, or even, something they ate that is irritating to the throat. You did the right thing taking her to the vet.
I also agree with Francis about not giving the KC vaccination.