does anybody have this done at all? do you use homeopathic remedy instead if you dont have it?

Never used the vaccine.  Yes, it's covered by nodoses and I've not had a dog with kennel cough.

Never used the vaccine. Never used nosodes. (To date) never had kennel cough. (The dogs, that is, of course. I've got a bit of a cough ...)

Yes, all my dogs have the kennel cough vaccine, ever since an in whelp bitch went down with kennel cough just before whelping.   Since that time they have never had kennel cough since.   Believe that it is the complications from kennel cough that are the worry, i.e.  pneumonia, especially for young puppies and the older dog.

Same as Jeangenie.  Never had a dog given it, and have never had a problem.  Although mine don't go in kennels, I realise that they could pick it up elsewhere.  I suppose if I ever had a problem, I might have a rethink.

I have had a discussion only this evening re Kennel Cough. The vet I was talking to does not vaccinate herself, although she did say that she had seen perfectly healthy dogs die from kennel cough. She does show, but stated that she would only vaccinate if she were to put her dogs in kennels. Another vet friend I asked about the vaccine, did say that in her opinion there were so may strains of kennel cough, that it was not worth vaccinating against. I sit on the fence, and although I don't vaccinate myself, do feel very torn that I am doing the right thing.

i donot cover kc with vacc,but i do use homoepathic kc tablet an touch wood not had kc going down this route.

my friend a vet an stated that vacc dosnt cover all tpyes of kc.it like the flu vacc.

One of our bitches get kennel cough every year without fail (non of the other dogs have got it yet and they live together) we got her vacc in the end but it hasnt made any difference, the problem was that the vet said that there are many differnet strains of kennel cough and the vacc was for the most common.

Some people it has made a huge difference to the dogs life, to be honest even though it didnt work for us id still do it as it really isnt very nice to see.

With our mastiff she get its really bad her eyes run, running into her folds, her face drops and has the worst cough.

Mine have caught it from dogs shows . They shook it off quite easily, worst thing for them was keeping them confined to quarters to avoid spreading it. But yes, in the elderly and young it can be fatal.

In all my dog owning years (20) have had mild doses of KC 3 times, but no dog has had it more than once and most not at all, I do not vaccinate, as like the common cold there are so many strains.  I have had 8 dogs resident here in that time.

Are their any tests that can be done to see if a dog has kennel cough? I ask as mine has had a cough for a few weeks now (see other thread) and been treated ab's to no avail.It isn't vey bad but still not right. Vet has now tested for lung worm -negative and has prescribed advocat  in case of the result being wrong. next stop is a referral and ga ,xrays and endoscope. Dont really want to put her through that if possible.
If it was mild kc could it still be there after all this.
What do you think

Below is a useful link which describes the different types of kennel cough, smptoms, treatment

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2102&aid=452l .

I wish someone would rename this to 'you can catch it anywhere there is a gathering of dogs cough.'

I have been told that yes there are lots of strains of K.C. around.  The main one that we are trying to avoid is Bordatella. If your dog catches this, once the dog stops coughing it can still affect other dogs for up to 3mths.  therefore if your dog catches a cough and your dogs has been vaccinated against Bordatella you know its one of the less serious strains.  Maybe a load of rubbish but it came from a reliable (I think) source.

I think  that the serious ones are bordetella bronchisepticus and bordetella parainfluenza, nasal vaccination for the first and vaccination by injection for the second.   The first one can be excreted for up to 12 weeks after infection!!!!

By having my dogs vaccinated for both strains, I know that I have lessened the chances of them contracting two of the forms that cause tracheobronchitis

Sorry should have said that I agree with tadog.

> I wish someone would rename this to 'you can catch it anywhere there is a gathering of dogs cough.'
>

'Canine Common Cold' would be more accurate.

Done! that is what we shall re name it!

I think renaming it would make people more aware.Some folks seem to think their dogs will never get in because they don't use kennels. I once saw a westie walking along the road with the distinctive hacking cough, owner totally oblivious. Following behind extremely close was another dog, sniffing where the westie had been. Another case waiting to happen. I've also seen dogs coughing in vets waiting rooms and dogs coughing at training classes. In fact the only place I haven't seen dogs coughing is in kennels!!

Mine have the vaccination and when the recent outbreaks came about many friends dogs had a few go down with kc, mine were fine.
We go to shows, training classes etc and never had a problem, maybe coincidence, but i'm happy giving it as its an added layering of protection for my dogs

Having Kennel Cough once with our dogs and thought we were going lose one of them ours are vaccinated as I never want to go through that again

But each to their own, I wouldn't risk it

which reminds me that I need to sort out the homeopathic version for one of mine   (he's not been well enough to vaccinate)

I don't vaccinate against kennel cough, mainly as I understood the vaccine was only effective for around 3 months, plus there are many different strains of KC that the vaccine cannot cover all - I guess similar to the human flu jab. Another reason I don't is a friend of mine who did used to vaccinate, had a bitch who promptly developed KC as a result of the vaccine, it is live.
I do know someone who has used a homeopathic treatment as a preventative. I keep meaning to ask her what it is.  She's quite happy with it and obviously thinks it works as she's been using it for some years.
KC is a sore point at the moment, apparently it's rife in my town and some idiot vet is telling it's customers that it's fine to walk their dogs out and about where other dogs go, so long as kept on lead. AAAARRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!  So, I now have to keep mine in or bundle them into the vehicle and drive miles to ensure we don't happen to sniff the blade of grass that the dog with kc sneezed all over 30 seconds before!!