Natural Pet Health

Basically cough is a body’s natural way of indicating that there is something wrong inside the body and especially in the respiratory system. Dogs, like humans, cough due to many reasons. The type of cough is often, but not always, sufficient indication of the cause. A dry hacking cough is a typical symptom of kennel cough in dogs.

Kennel cough is an infection that dogs usually acquire when exposed to other dogs with a similar infection. Dogs that have been recently boarded or those that have returned from dog shows are at a higher risk of contracting the disease.

Kennel cough is commonly caused by parainfluenza, Bordetella bronchiseptica, and mycoplasma. Other possible infectious agents include adenovirus, reovirus and the canine herpes virus. In majority of the cases it is a disease caused by a combination of bacterial and viral infection.

The condition commonly known as “Kennel Cough” is one of the most prevalent infectious diseases that dogs can contract. The disease is not serious in most cases, however, and often resolves itself after one to two weeks. The accepted medical term for kennel cough is tracheobronchitis, indicating a form of bronchitis that affects the dog’s trachea.

Kennel cough can be caused by several airborne bacteria and viruses. It is generally accepted that most cases of kennel cough are caused by the bacteria Bordetella bronchiseptica but it has also been associated with the canine distemper virus (CDV) and canine parainfluenza.

It is the general consensus of the veterinary medical community that in order to cause the illness, an animal must be virtually bombarded by multiple versions of these pathogens at one time.

Hookworms are considered to be the most pathogenic of all canine and feline parasites including roundworms and dog tapeworm.

Hookworms are excessively greedy blood suckers and cause extensive loss of blood. They ‘hook’ on to the walls of the intestines and draw out blood and ingest it directly. Some can bite and cause lacerations which result in blood leaking. To add to the miseries, the esophageal glands of the hookworm secrete an enzyme that inhibits blood coagulation.

Hookworms can penetrate skin and infect humans as well. Barefoot humans and children who play in areas where dogs defecate are at a high risk of infection. A study of the lifecycle of hookworms can go along way in achieving the goal of treating hookworm infection and eradication of hookworms from the environment.

Dogs can be infected by different kinds of throat infections and conditions. The saliva in the mouth plays a critical role in the prevention of such infections.

The parotid and mandibular glands in the mouth of a dog produce most of the daytime and nocturnal saliva. Besides these there are two more glands that secrete saliva.

Dog saliva is alkaline and it contains antibacterial enzymes, which along with the normal flora of bacteria provide protection against throat infections. Despite this protection, canine throat infections can occur due to a number of reasons. These are:

- Cuts
– Burns
– Foreign bodies stuck in the mouth
– Diseases of the gums
– Structures that support the teeth
– Metabolic diseases like kidney failure.
– Systemic diseases like parvovirus infection, distemper, herpes and pseudo rabies

The respiratory system of dogs is almost similar to humans and comprises of openings in the nose, the sinuses, the larynx (air passages), the trachea (wind pipe), the bronchi and the lungs. As such, any ailment that affects these organs is termed as a respiratory disease. Canine respiratory diseases may be caused by infections, parasites, cancer, trauma or infections.