This is no quiet cough, but a whole body movement where the dog extends his neck to straighten his airway and coughs so forcefully that his whole body shudders.
Once they start coughing, some dogs find it difficult to stop and can cough anywhere from a few minutes to hours.
Some owners mistakenly believe the dog has a vomiting/gastrointestinal problem, rather than a cough that is so severe as to cause vomiting. A veterinarian, after examining the dog, will swiftly clear up this confusion.
The gold standard is to take the dog’s temperature with a rectal thermometer. To do this a digital thermometer (a regular human thermometer is fine—just don’t reuse it on a person) is gently inserted into the anus, keeping the thermometer parallel to the line of the backbone. Never apply pressure, if the thermometer does not slip into the rectum with gentle forward movement then stop and try again. This is not a painful procedure and how cooperative the dog is depends on his temperament. If your dog resents having his temperature taken, it is best to stop and let the professional deal with it!
In a Labrador sized dog you may feel a firm, smooth swelling (about the size of a walnut) in the angle where the jawbone meets the throat. Anything above walnut-sized would be considered abnormal in a dog of this size.
A simple test many veterinarians use when diagnosing kennel cough is to gently pinch the wind pipe. If the dog has kennel cough this precipitates a harsh cough (this is not the case if the dog has heart disease or another cause of a cough). You may notice this effect when your dog pulls on the collar and he coughs.
Most viral infections last about 17 days before they can be resolved by the dog’s own immune system, however bacterial infections, specifically from mycoplasma persist and can last up to 30 days.
It can be difficult even for a trained veterinarian to diagnose the reason for a cough, without the aid of imaging such as x-rays to look at the lungs, and ultrasound to study the heart. However, the distinctive signs of kennel cough include the harsh hacking nature of the cough, the sudden onset, tracheal sensitivity, and enlarged lymph nodes in the throat.
A heart-related cough often causes gurgly, bubbly sounds in the lungs - again, it can be difficult to differentiate pulmonary oedema (fluid retained on the lungs because of heart failure) from pneumonia, by sound alone. In this case the vet will run blood tests to see if the dog is mounting an immune response to an infection (a raised white cell count).
Labored breathing, along with pale gums (because of hemorrhage), in a dog not routinely treated against lungworm, should raise suspicion of this life-threatening condition. A blood test is available that gives a “yes” “no” answer about lungworm infection.
Fit healthy dogs will mount an immune response and destroy the virus within 7 to 21 days.
Anecdotally, not all the dogs living in one house come down with kennel cough—it seems exposure to a low dose of virus and a healthy immune system are enough to see off infection in some dogs.
Do not attempt to stop the cough 24 hours a day because the cough serves to move mucus and bacteria up out of the lungs. However, it is ok to settle the cough at night so that your dog can get some rest.
Is lethargic Coughing so much he vomits Not eating.
