Ahem, ahem…

Cooper’s got a case of the yucks!

While Foster Dad and I went out of town last weekend, Oscar stayed with a friend and Cooper got to spend the weekend at his favorite doggie daycare, which also does boarding.  Unfortunately, while he was there it seems he picked up a little case of tracheobronchitis….otherwise known as kennel cough.

Kennel cough is highly contagious and spreads very quickly among dogs housed in close proximity, like vet offices or boarding facilities.  Even though our boarding facility (like most) requires all dogs to be current on their vaccines, the vet explained that the Bordetella vaccination is more like a flu shot – while it lessens the chance that a dog will become infected, it’s not a guarantee against each and every strain.  

If you’ve never heard a dog wheezing from kennel cough, consider yourself lucky – it is horrible sounding.  Cooper has this dry heaving wheeze, that sounds like he’s choking and about to wretch.  Poor guy!  For reference, if you need to recognize it, it sounds a little like this:

Just kidding.  (But for those of you keeping track, yes, this is our second blog post containing a Zoolander reference.) 

The good news is that just like a human cold, most dogs will recover from kennel cough without treatment.  However also like a human cold, persistent ongoing kennel cough may lead to a more serious illness like pneumonia. Always consult your veterinarian if you think your dog might be infected. Cooper came away from the vet yesterday with a combo anti-inflamitory/steroid, and a prescription for extra snuggle time. 

The bad news for Coop is that since it is highly contagious, he’s on complete house arrest – that means no doggie daycare, no adoption events, and maybe the worst of all – no Agility! We were scheduled to start Cooper’s second round of Agility classes this weekend, but unfortunately he’ll have to sit out until he’s all better.

Once Cooper is all, well, re-coop-erated (har), he’ll still be looking for his furever family! If you’d like more information about adding Cooper to your family, please fill out an adoption application with Agape Animal Rescue.

…oh yeah, and VOTE for COOPER!

~