Kennel cough is a very contagious, infectious disease that attacks your dog’s respiratory tract and causes acute inflammation of your dog’s trachea and bronchi.

Kennel cough may be caused by a bacteria called Bordetella bronchiceptica or by a virus such as the canine parainfluenza virus (CPIV), canine adenovirus (CAV-2), canine herpes virus or the reovirus.

Kennel cough usually last from 7 to 14 days.

If your dog has a mild case of kennel cough, he will generally have a dry cough. However, if your dog has a lot of mucous, it may give the cough a wet sound. Your dog’s coughing will increase with exercise, agitation or temperature change. The coughing may be followed by a retching noise. Your dog may also have some eye or nasal discharge that is clear, white, or green-tinged.

Severe cases of kennel cough include the above symptoms in addition to reduced hunger, weakness, fever, trouble breathing, and sometimes increased production of saliva.

Your dog can be infected with the either the bacteria or virus through direct contact with the respiratory secretions of an infected dog. Infection can also occur via an airborne route: when an infected dog exhales, he sends some of the virus or bacteria into the air. When your dog inhales, the bacteria or virus gets transmitted to him.Thus, any environment in which there are a lot of dogs, such as grooming facilities, kennels, vet offices and dog parks, can be a kennel cough “hotspot” as the disease will spread quite easily once one dog is infected.

Your vet will generally make a diagnosis based on your dog’s symptoms, a physical exam and your dog’s history of recent exposure to other dogs. Other diagnostic methods, such as blood work, X-rays and cultures of your dog’s tracheal secretions, can also be performed.

For mild cases, your vet will likely prescribe antibiotics such as amoxicillin and doxycycline, and also give your dog a cough suppressant. Corticosteriods and bronchodilators may also be used to help suppress your dog’s cough and ease breathing. For more severe cases, hospitalization will be required in order to give your dog supportive care, including nebulization and intravenous antibiotics.

The best protection is to make sure your dog gets one of the various kennel cough vaccines currently available. Puppies are generally vaccinated at approximately six weeks old, and then receive a booster two weeks after the initial injection and yearly thereafter. However, since kennel cough can be caused by various organisms and most vaccines only contain protection against one or several types of kennel cough, the vaccine does not provide total protection from kennel cough.

In addition to vaccinating your dog, proper health and wellness can help your dog’s immune system to help fight off a kennel cough infection.

Bordetella bronchiseptica can be transmitted from your dog to you, especially if you have a suppressed immune system. However, the risk is considered low.