# Question your vet!!!



## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

Hi

I thought I would post this because I am angry to say the least with my former vet here in Spain.

I have 3 dogs (two of which I brought out from the UK). When in the UK they had their yearly jabs, (Rabies, the Cocktail for Distemper etc etc etc, AND a nasal shot for Kennel Cough). 

When we came to Spain the vet told us that Kennel Cough is not necessary here in Spain. I questioned this and he said that if I really wanted he would order it in, but he never gives it because its just not neccesary. Obviously in a new country I trusted the vet and assumed that perhaps Kennel Cough doesn´t happen here so they all had their normal jabs and rabies and NO kennel cough jab. Call me thick BUT as a pet owner you can only go off the advice of your vet. For the sake of a few euros I would have definately had it done with the other shots but he told me no.

Moved house a couple of months ago, had to return to the UK for a few days, put dogs into Kennels. One of mine has now developed a very nasty cough. Last night it was so bad that I thought he was going to stop breathing. He was having bronchiospasms and was in a terrible state. Anyway, calmed him down, got him settled in bed with me and this morning rushed him to a vet locally.

The vet diagnosed him with Kennel Cough and was quite puzzled as to why he has not had this vacination on the last 3 annual renewals. I explained that the previous vet told me not to bother with it and he was horrified. He "casually" suggested that there is more money in treating the condition than preventing it but said he recommends the vaccine to ALL dogs under his care, even those who dont go into kennels because this can be passed through air, and contact with other dogs is enough to pass it on....MAKES SENSE!

Anyway, little Nico had a shot to surpress the coughing, and is now on comoxiclav for a couple of weeks because hes also chesty but I am absolutely furious with my previous vets for their bad advice and I will certainly be taking a trip to the surgery to question them.

Kennel Cough is serious and can lead to secondary infections such as pneaumonia etc which can be fatal. I trusted a vets BAD advice but maybe the comment said in jest by my new (and ever so helpful) vet carries some truth... some vets would rather treat a condition and run up a heafty bill than make a few euros on a vacine¿?¿?

Either way, be careful... if you havn´t had your dog vacinated against this then get it done, and if your vet says it isn´t necessary FIND ANOTHER VET!


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

steve_in_spain said:


> Hi
> 
> I thought I would post this because I am angry to say the least with my former vet here in Spain.
> 
> ...


Hi Steve, sorry you had such an upset with your dog and hope it's all over now.
It has to be said that our 16 year old dog, who died in Feb, was never vaccinated for kennel cough, nor were we ever offered it. However if I had specifically asked for it I would have expected a professional answer.
What we did do every year was have Oker tested for leishmaniosis, which is rife here. We were told to make sure he slept indoors and to have the test done every year after the summer (late Septemberish). I do know of at least two dogs who contracted the disease (neither of which slept indoors)
Do you have the dogs tested for this?
Link
Leishmaniasis in Dogs | Canine Leishmaniasis | Symptoms and Treatment from Pet Health Information


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Hi Steve, sorry you had such an upset with your dog and hope it's all over now.
> It has to be said that our 16 year old dog, who died in Feb, was never vaccinated for kennel cough, nor were we ever offered it. However if I had specifically asked for it I would have expected a professional answer.
> What we did do every year was have Oker tested for leishmaniosis, which is rife here. We were told to make sure he slept indoors and to have the test done every year after the summer (late Septemberish). I do know of at least two dogs who contracted the disease (neither of which slept indoors)
> Do you have the dogs tested for this?
> ...


Hi Pesky

Funny you should mention that. I always treat to prevent it (used to have collars, but then changed to drops because my dogs ate the collars), but some friends said about testing after their dog died. My previous vet (the one) told me that the test is dooable but we will know soon enough if he has the condition. A friend lost her dog to this last year and was telling me about it recently. I asked the vet today and he said he recommends the test because if he has it then long term treatment is much better and likely to succeed if caught early.

I think i had a pretty crap vet before didnt i!


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Well my dogs all contracted Kennel cough when we went back to England, the christmas before last and put them in Kennels!! Two of them just coughed and were poorly for a few days. The third, became very poorly, I suspect pneumonia - unfortunately we were flooded in so I coudlnt get him to the vets in time.......!!!

The kennels did admit after he died that they had had an outbreak of kennel cough

Jo xxxx


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

steve_in_spain said:


> Hi Pesky
> 
> Funny you should mention that. I always treat to prevent it (used to have collars, but then changed to drops because my dogs ate the collars), but some friends said about testing after their dog died. My previous vet (the one) told me that the test is dooable but we will know soon enough if he has the condition. A friend lost her dog to this last year and was telling me about it recently. I asked the vet today and he said he recommends the test because if he has it then long term treatment is much better and likely to succeed if caught early.
> 
> I think i had a pretty crap vet before didnt i!


Exactly, that was the idea behind the testing - if you catch it early on the dog responds well to treatment.It can't be cured, but the dog can live quite comfortably for many years.

Sorry to say you probablyy had a crap vet Steve...

On a brighter note, hope you're settled in to your new house and new routine!


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Yep, down here the vets all offer it and I believe the kennels insist on it.


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Exactly, that was the idea behind the testing - if you catch it early on the dog responds well to treatment.It can't be cured, but the dog can live quite comfortably for many years.
> 
> Sorry to say you probablyy had a crap vet Steve...
> 
> On a brighter note, hope you're settled in to your new house and new routine!


Fingers crossed the new vet is good! He appears that way and came highly recommended, even though he did look about 14 (i must be getting so old now!)

Yes, settled in nicely GRACIAS


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

Alcalaina said:


> Yep, down here the vets all offer it and I believe the kennels insist on it.


and so they should!


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

jojo said:


> Well my dogs all contracted Kennel cough when we went back to England, the christmas before last and put them in Kennels!! Two of them just coughed and were poorly for a few days. The third, became very poorly, I suspect pneumonia - unfortunately we were flooded in so I coudlnt get him to the vets in time.......!!!
> 
> The kennels did admit after he died that they had had an outbreak of kennel cough
> 
> Jo xxxx


So sorry to hear that Jo. The vet said today that Kennel Cough doesn´t kill them but while they have it they get susceptible to other things like pneumonia, so what you say makes sense.

Why didnt the kennels tell you on collection that they had experienced an outbreak? I mean at the end of the day, nobody would blame the kennels, these things happen BUT if they tell everyone you can at least be on your guard and maybe get a vets opinion!


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## zilly (Mar 9, 2010)

Vets round here do not offer kennel cough vaccination. My dogs came back from staying with friends and were coughing--I covered them with augmentine and they were fine.A friend of mine ex-vet nurse- gets vaccine sent out from the UK and does her dogs herself. I don't worry about it as much as LM though.


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## owdoggy (Jul 23, 2008)

I thought the KC treatment was a blast of powder up the nose (NO!....Not that!....I'm being serious here ..... for a change) or am I a bit out of date here?


Doggy


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

zilly said:


> Vets round here do not offer kennel cough vaccination. My dogs came back from staying with friends and were coughing--I covered them with augmentine and they were fine.A friend of mine ex-vet nurse- gets vaccine sent out from the UK and does her dogs herself. I don't worry about it as much as LM though.


WHY dont all vets offer it... its crazy!

Oh well, we live and learn. just hope the little boy pulls through (fingers crossed)


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

owdoggy said:


> I thought the KC treatment was a blast of powder up the nose (NO!....Not that!....I'm being serious here ..... for a change) or am I a bit out of date here?
> 
> 
> Doggy


In the UK it was always stuff up the nose... The vet today said you can choose that or the injection but he perfers the injection. I didn´t ask why but I am sure he has his reasons!


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## zilly (Mar 9, 2010)

I do hope he pulls through, Steve--must have been a horrible experience. I was lucky that mine were not so ill and I had Augmentine to hand--but the sound of them coughing was horrible.Fingers crossed for you both.


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

zilly said:


> I do hope he pulls through, Steve--must have been a horrible experience. I was lucky that mine were not so ill and I had Augmentine to hand--but the sound of them coughing was horrible.Fingers crossed for you both.


Gracias. Actually, the jab he gave him has stopped the big coughing. He is hacking a bit but its stopped. He said that will give the airways chance to recover by surpressing the cough and stopping further irritation. Then the comoxiclav whould stem any infections and fingers crossed 

Next task to go to previous vet and bang on desks! I want answers as to why I was told its not necessary in Spain... and perhaps I shall take the receipts for this set of vets bills and see what he has to say about them!


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## zilly (Mar 9, 2010)

steve_in_spain said:


> Gracias. Actually, the jab he gave him has stopped the big coughing. He is hacking a bit but its stopped. He said that will give the airways chance to recover by surpressing the cough and stopping further irritation. Then the comoxiclav whould stem any infections and fingers crossed
> 
> Next task to go to previous vet and bang on desks! I want answers as to why I was told its not necessary in Spain... and perhaps I shall take the receipts for this set of vets bills and see what he has to say about them!


Good for you--I'll be interested too as to why they don't give it routinely--especially as so many people now use kennels. 
Hope all goes well.


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## donz (May 5, 2010)

aw poor furkid! Hope all is on the mend now Steve

Re the vaccine, I agree it should be an option HOWEVER as I understand it, kennel cough is very much like the flu virus in humans in that it can change so much that one particular vaccine may not be enough to prevent another particular strain/s so it is still possible for your dog to develop KC...

One of my dogs had it a while back and lucky enough it was 'just' a bit of vomiting and hacking which I treated with cough syrup but it can be nasty...if it gets to proper green coming out of the nose type stuff then a trip to the vet is in order for sure because this is certainly the time when they are most susceptible to secondary infection

Just in case anybody is not aware, it is highly contagious


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## Guest (Apr 8, 2011)

IMHO farm animals make the best pets. If I grow weary of them or can't take with then it's "off with their heads". 3 goats and two cows...they are living the life in the Andes right now...but it only takes a phone call and it's goat vindalo and properly cut steaks for everyone...


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## donz (May 5, 2010)

what's your point though? Dogs are the same in some cultures....China for example bred the Chow for human consumption.

Don't farm animals also require some sort of vaccination also?


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## Guest (Apr 8, 2011)

donz said:


> what's your point though? Dogs are the same in some cultures....China for example bred the Chow for human consumption.
> 
> Don't farm animals also require some sort of vaccination also?


You are correct, our animals do require a vet....farm animal vet expenses are 10% of the typical western pet expenses...My dentist cost less than a vet exam for my cat....just because of cultural differences one can't really eat spot, but they can drop him off at the side of the road. Personally after four kids and nth spots...I can say I've done that...(didn't drop any on the side of the road, kids or spots)

second thought...I'd eat dog/cat whatever...as long as it tastes like chicken


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

donz said:


> Just in case anybody is not aware, it is highly contagious


Yes.. and i have 3 dogs, so fingers crossed!!!


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## donz (May 5, 2010)

awww you might be ok Steve, when one of mine got it the 11 week old pup did not..... (back when I only had 2 dogs!)


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