Athena is coughing/wheezing after boarding

[Athena's Mom]

Athena was boarding for two days at a pet resort. She was updated on all her immunizations, including Bortedella, before boarding. Two days after she came home she started having some type of respiratory distress which is hard to describe. Several times a day she would experience something in between sneezing, coughing, wheezing, snorting. It was several times a day for two weeks while I was still away. Since I came home, I've seen it only once after a full week.

Last night Athena came into my bed having a terrible time breathing. I hugged her and rubbed her chest, which calmed her down and helped her to stop wheezing. Controlled fires have been buring near where we live.

Has anyone seen this strange breathing in a dog?

[k9Karen]

A couple of things come to mind:

A viral kennel cough. Although Bordetella bronchiseptica (a bacterium) is the "true" agent of kennel cough, there are several viral agents that can cause a similar disease, and there is no immunization for them.

Streptococcus infection. One of the beta-hemolytic streptococci can also cause a very contagious form of "kennel cough".

The Streptococcal infection would be treatable with antibiotics. If the infection is viral, only paliative care will be available.

Also, rarely, vaccinations are not effective, and an animal (or person) can become infected with an organism they are supposedly vaccinated against. So it is possible, though unlikely, that this is a Bordetella infection. (Most vaccines do not have all of the possible strains of the organism in them; they contain only the most common strains).

Sounds like a vet visit is in order. Please see your vet for the correct diagnosis and treatment.

[Magnum's Mom]

Athena will see the vet tomorrow. She would have gone sooner but I wasn't home when the worst of this strange wheezing was going on. She must be on the mend since she didn't do it for the first week I have been home. I really scares her. it scares me, too.

The first sign that Magnum was ill was respiratory problems - pleural effusion, so I am extremely upset when I see Athena struggling with breathing.

[Traci]

Agree, a vet visit is in order. While antibiotics are the mainstay in treating bordetella, if severe coughing is present, your vet can prescribe a cough suppressant in low doses.

It could be a combination of the bordetella and the smoke in your area. Depending on Athena's age, you might want to opt for a chest x-ray just to play it safe.

[Magnum's Mom]

Athena is 4 years old. She is very healthy and runs free on the golf course every day. She presently seems fine, except I observed this wierd wheeze type symptom one time and my husband said she was "sneezing" for about two weeksafter he brought her home from the pet resort. It seems that whatever she picked up there has run it's course, but she's going to the vet today anyways. Her brief episde two nights ago was frighteneing. I just don't know how to describe it to the vet.

Magnum's first symptoms were respiratory. He was short of breath. He had a pleural effusion - chylothorax. He lived with it for five months.

Today Athena will look healthy and the vet probably won't find anything, but she's going to get checked out.