Deep, productive or dry coughs in dogs can be difficult to watch and hear.
The poor beast will seemingly cough using its whole body coming from its hind feet through its muzzle. The act is fatiguing, and they may struggle to breathe in between coughing fits. If left untreated or unsupported, the cough and its cause may be fatal.
Don’t read this wrong. I am not saying this is worse in dogs than in people. It is a horrible experience to see a person, especially a pediatric patient, doing the same or suffering with a severe asthma attack.
Unfortunately, in dogs, there are numerous infectious agents than can cause what has until now been called “kennel cough.” Kennel cough is a terrible catchall term that has been mostly misused by most people who are not veterinarians. Breeders, groomers and boarders along with the general public assign “kennel cough,” to any such clinical sign in any dog at any time. Most times, they do so dismissively in an attempt to downplay the sign.
The truth is, what is now known as canine infectious respiratory disease complex is complex and multifactorial, explains veterinarian and internal medicine specialist Jonathan Dear at the University of California Davis College of Veterinary Medicine. Dear wrote the piece in a recent edition of Clinical Briefs. (bit.ly/3qKakNz)
CIRDC is a much better term to use because it gets people thinking beyond the easily dismissed term kennel cough. In medicine, words actually matter. Improperly describing a clinical sign may direct subsequent clinical care in the wrong direction or cause owners to be dismissive of something that needs immediate care.
The causative agents of canine coughing can range from viruses to bacteria or a combination of both. While not infectious or included in the definition of CIRDC, inhaled objects such as grass awns can also cause similar signs.
Dear explained that in most instances, viral infection results in injury to the tissues lining the respiratory tract. That in turn increases susceptibility to a secondary infection with bacteria, Mycoplasma species or other organisms. Working in concert, these infectious agents then compound the damage to the respiratory tract. For the owner, what you see is a dog not getting better or taking a long time to get better. In the worst case, you see a dog declining rapidly, drowning in their own fluids.
If that were not enough, consider that the dog’s immune system plays a role as does the environment it lives in. If the pooch has a diminished immune system or lives in a very warm, humid and confined environment like a high-density kennel or shelter, things could be worse.
What about kennel cough vaccines? Recall, that term was used so commonly in the past the definition was muddied if not lost. Dear writes that the discussion about vaccination, “ … can cause confusion because dogs with appropriate vaccination history and robust immunity can still become infected with [the] other CIRDC pathogens.”
This basically breaks down into two main types of CIRDC, uncomplicated and complicated. “Complete resolution of uncomplicated disease typically occurs within 10 to 14 days after onset of clinical signs. Complicated disease can require treatment for 2 to 6 weeks, and, although prognosis is generally good, subsequent development of severe pneumonia can progress to sepsis or multiple organ dysfunction due to systemic inflammatory response syndrome,” writes Dear.
Coughing dogs need to be seen by a veterinarian and isolated for 2 to 3 weeks. Owners need to avoid sharing of bedding, bowls and other husbandry items to prevent spread.
Charlie Powell is the public information officer for the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine, which provides this column as a community service.
