My babies have Kennel Cough :(

My husband took Porthos (7 months) to the vet tonight and he has Kennel Cough It is apparently a mild strain but the poor little baby is really feeling poorly. He has had a bit of a raspy cough for a few days BUT, only a few episodes a day and then we noticed he had a runny nose and eyes and was always on the hunt for a cuddle or to be on our laps or in our bed. He is not normally like that - he's Mr Independant... our older boy is Mr Cuddly.

Anyway the older boy (19 months) almost certainly has it as well. Has a runny nose and eyes. The vet gave us an intranasal vaccination for the older boy and gave Porthos some shots. Porthos then came home and threw up a few times and has missed dinner. The vet also gave us Panadeine Forte tablets (500mg paracetomol and 30mg Codeine) and said half to 1 tablet for his cough. They are strong tabs, I was on those when I lived in the UK for my back... 1 tablet would knock me out and I am a lot larger than a 7.5kg dog.

Anyway, both boys are cuddled up under blankets on their bed and look thoroughly miserable.

I would like to reassure you about the dose of analgesic. One of my dogs recently got hold of a pack of Lisinoporil and also another of Fresemide. There were 9 of each available for her to chew, as she did to the foil blister pack, leaving me with a soggy mass of mushed up foil.

I rushed her to the vet, while the nurse rang the poisons unit for advice. We were both surprised to be told that no harm would be done. The short answer was that the metabolism of a dog, even a little one such as my Holly, is many times faster than the human, thus meaning that she had not had access to the maximum dose for a dog of her size.

Of course, later that day I found what I think were all the tablets, another soggy powdery mush on the throw which she had sat on to eat her prize. I can only assume that she didn't like the taste and so spat them out.

So that is how I know that your vet is probably giving the absolutely correct dose.

So far as the treatment of the cough is concerned. I always give any of mine that have KC a teaspoonfull of a child's strength cough syrup (Benelyn it's called over here), up to 4 times a day, which has always suppressed the cough.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for that. We didn't need to give him the Panadeine Forte last night, we just gave them extra blankets and warmed up the bedroom before bed. He ate his normal breakfast this morning, coughed a bit (he's on dry kibble) and then is running round the garden like a mad thing. I tried keeping him inside but with two under two, they like to run around doing zoomies and playfighting first thing in the morning.

I think the cough mixture is called Benedryl over here and I may get some. I also heard that Manuka Honey is meant to be good (I am not sure if it is an Aussie thing). It has antibacterial properties in and alot of dog peeps on the Aussie forums I frequent reccommend giving it with water to ease the throat. Right now, he seems ok... more sneezing and wheezing than coughing.