Kennel cough (infectious tracheobronchitis) is a complex, highly infectious respiratory disease. The most common cause of kennel cough is a virus called Parainfluenza and sometimes dogs may get a secondary infection with a bacteria called Bordetella. Unlike the name suggests, most cases are not as a result of a stay in kennels. Your dog is likely to encounter the disease in the park or street - anywhere where dogs meet. The disease is spread via direct contact with an infected dog or by inhaling the spray of an infected dog's cough.

Kennel cough presents as a dry, retching, 'honking' cough and can affect dogs of all ages. The cough may worsen with exercise and infected dogs may also have a high temperature. Puppies and dogs with a weakened immune system can become particularly unwell if infected and may take several weeks to recover. It is a highly infectious disease and can quickly circulate within the dog population.

At The Veterinary Centre, we have recently seen an increase in the number of dogs presenting with kennel cough and although a lot of cases just need TLC and rest until they fight off the infection themselves, some of these individuals have required veterinary treatment to try to alleviate the symptoms. Symptoms can persist for 3-4 weeks in some cases.

We recommend that your dog receives a kennel cough vaccination. The kennel cough vaccination is not a core vaccine and won't routinely be given to your puppy when it embarks on a vaccination course, so we would advise that you check your dog's vaccination record and if they have not received a kennel cough vaccine, we would recommend booking an appointment for a vet to administer this vaccine. It is an intranasal vacine, administered as drops into the nose and can be given at the same time as an annual booster vaccination or on it's own. The vaccine lasts for a year and although, like the human flu jab, it does not completely prevent the possibility of a dog developing an infectious cough, it does reduce the chances that any such infection will be serious and also reduces the risk of the infected dog spreading the infection to others.