Does Your Dog Have Canine Respiratory Infection?
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Recently both my dogs caught a Canine Respiratory Infection (was this Kennel Cough again?). Stetson caught the cold first and about 5 days later Linus was showing similar symptoms. It seemed to me like it was just a common cold the same one I’d get as a kid playing with all my friends on the playground. When I look back I think Stetson caught the cold in similar fashion that is playing with a group of his doggy friends. One of his friends must have had the same respiratory infection and past it on the Stetson.
Canine Respiratory Infection Symptoms
A few days after one of Stetson’s play dates he started showing symptoms of a cold. He first started blowing out his nose like there was some kind of blockage. I took a closer look and it appeared that he had a runny nose. He also started wheezing, sneezing, and hyperventilating from time to time. Besides all that Stetson acted as if nothing was wrong…his behavior was normal. I checked in with Guide Dogs of America and they asked me to bring Stetson into the veterinarian.
Veterinarian’s Recommendation
The veterinarian took a look at Stetson and also observed many of the symptoms I mentioned above. After a few minutes she recommended he start taking antibiotics. He was prescribed Doxycyclin and was to take one pill twice a day for ten days. After about seven days I noticed Stetson’s symptoms cleared up.
Antibiotics Vs. No Antibiotics
If you recall when both Stetson and Linus had kennel cough I kept Linus off the antibiotics to see if his symptoms would clear up on their own. Here’s a link to that article:
My Dog’s Got Kennel Cough…Now What?
I tried the same idea of antibiotics vs. no antibiotics with the canine respiratory infection.
Linus had the same symptoms as Stetson, but unlike Stetson I didn’t put Linus on antibiotics. I decided that because Linus did not have a loss of energy or act any differently besides his respiratory infection that I would keep him off antibiotics. I figured Linus would get better on his own after all I don’t run to the doctor at the first sign of a cold. So, I let Linus’s natural immune system fight off his infection and after about 5 days he stopped showing signs of the canine respiratory infection.
Has your dog or puppy had a canine respiratory infection? Did you give your dog antibiotics?
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I am not a veterinarian. This would be a much better question for your vet.
Hello! I have just adopted out a two year old schnoodle and was ill informed until at the APL (an hour from me) to meet her and adopt. She was showing signs of kennel cough. They gave me liquid doxycycline and said .75mg for 14 days. I didn’t receive that much medicine though. Took her for a vet check, and they said yeah let’s start her on another antibiotic this time we’ll just give a 10-day shot. She is around my 4yo Silky Cairn Terrier, do you think I need to get her antibiotics or maybe just home remedies such as coconut oil and honey? I am just scared since she’s only 8lbs(the silky cairn) and don’t want to compromise her small body :/
@Pam, I hope you’re dog is feeling better today.
I have to pomeranians who are seniors now, my oldest dog is 14 and my younger one
is 9. I took them into the vet for annual shots and ect. The vet said my older dog had
a respiratory infection. My older dog coughs sometimes, not all the time, and I gave
that to old age. She prescribed anitbotics and a drug to open breathing passage way.
Well the drug to open to open breathing way, made my dog pant and shake and I thought
he was dieing. I stopped giving him the breathing drug and all the panting and shaking stopped.
nice article..do not let our pets attacked respiratory disease. I realy hate respiratory infection.. .
I’m not too sure if cats can catch infections from a dog. However, both my dogs were around my mother’s 3 cats and my sister’s cat while they were sick and none of the cats got sick.
My 3 cats were around a dog that had the canine respiratory infection….they are currently sneezing…can cats catch this infection from a dog? Thanks for any input on this.