Any dog owner whose pet has become infected with kennel cough (or bordetella bronchiseptica) knows what a struggle it can be to treat the problem once the virus has set in.’ It is likely that your pet has contracted kennel cough if he or she was recently boarded in a kennel or has been in contact with another dog harboring the virus.’ Kennel cough is an air borne virus, which can be carried in aerosol droplets from the discharge of an infected animals sneeze or cough or via direct contact with another animal.
Kennel cough can produce a number of symptoms including a dry, hacking cough, gagging responses, sneezing, and when the virus progresses can result in fever, nasal discharge and the coughing up of mucus. Without treatment, kennel cough can escalate into a very serious infection or even pneumonia.
Effectively handling kennel cough is much easier when treatment is administered soon after the initial development of symptoms. There are several well-known and very efficient homeopathic treatments for the problem.
In the beginning stages, if your dog is suffering from a dry and retching cough use a treatment of Drosera. If the cough has progressed into a more rattling or phlegmy sounding cough, try using Dulcamara. For a serious cough, which is producing mucus, use Coccus. All three remedies are great for battling cough symptoms.
Continue reading for extensive feedback from our readers on which supplements, herbs and home remedies they have tried to treat Kennel Cough in their dog. Please join the conversation and let us know which remedies you’ve tried to treat your pet.
In response to:
Posted by Gail (New Zealand) on 11/06/2015: Hi, my small dog has allergies, she coughs and coughs for a long time and for a few days at a time, she has had it for years just wondering if apple cider vinegar would help. Thanks.
I use wild cherry bark, slippery elm bark or honey (one at a time, not all three) when my mini poodle starts coughing. The honey I just put on my finger and she licks it off and the coughing stops right away. The other 2 supplements come in capsules so I open 1 up and put half of it in her wet food (they don't taste bad) twice a day. The honey stops the cough right away and is a quick fix. I use the other 2 supplements when I think she may be having a problem and after about 3 days, she's okay. Don't know if these supplements would work for allergies but we had some very bad air quality this year and she starting coughing so I gave her 1 of the supplements and after a few days she was fine.
Tried the hydrogen peroxide method on my golden Retriever,, stopped her cough within minutes. Amazing.. thank you
2 or 3 drops.
Can you let me know how to make this remedy as my dog has a bad cough and it won't stop it's quite upsetting to see him coughing can you help?
Hey Beverly,
Kennel cough *looks like* your dog is trying to cough up a lung, or as if a bone is stuck in their throat. You might consider a homeopathic children's cough remedy, and you might try hydrogen peroxide – food grade is ideal but if you have the brown bottle from the drug store in your medicine cabinet you can use 3 drops on a bit of bread with a few drops of honey. Give a spiked bread ball once an hour and wait and see if it is working. Other reasons for a dog to cough are congestive heart failure and collapsed trachea. If the coughing persists despite home treatment you should see your vet to rule out a more serious condition.
I believe dogs get kennel cough from being cold-That's why dogs always get it from being at the pound- its all cement there- COLD. At home… dogs don't always do what's good for them- they sleep on cement… and the cold goes deep into their bones. They mostly sleep right at the back door so they can't miss if you happen to come out- even if it's unprotected from the rain at the door- put a mat there to save the dog from kennel cough and from arthritis later in life. I have 2 mats so that when one gets wet in the rain I move it to dry out (or to hose down wash) replacing it with the dry one.
Mine sleep in the garage on a thick dog bed and there's linoleum on the floor in the garage just so they CAN'T sleep on the cement floor (lino is cheap- and easy to mop) and they have never gotten kennel cough. Keep them warm and they may not ever get it again. I believe in Hydrogen peroxide and also in collodial silver water but not at the same time) 🙂
I have male rescue pit bull (about 5 years old) about 60 pounds, that came to me from a shelter. At the time I was fostering another pit bull.
The rescue had a terrible cough when he came to me and promptly spread it to the other dog. I used colloidal silver ( a couple of capfuls) in each of their full water bowls along with about a teaspoon of 3% hydrogen peroxide. It cleared up within a month as I recall. I've had him a couple of years now and no recurrence. The foster has been returned to his owner and she has not had any further problems either.
Hi Everyone, My 11 years old Shitzu-Poodle dog has been coughing since November last year. I went to the vet to find out what it is. The vet prescribed a Kennel cough med. We gave him twice but never go away. We took him to another vet to seek another opinion and the vet advised to video when he is coughing. After showing the video, the vet said he needs Xray so had xray. The results showed he has an enlargement of the heart. The vet gave us a Furosemide 20 mg once a day. I noticed my dog drinks water like a cow and never stop peeing. I studied Biology myself and did research on side effects of the meds so I am worried that his kidney will be working like crazy.
My dog is coughing but not too often like twice a day. At night he slept well and coughs maybe in the morning once or if I pick him up off the bed, pressing his chest to put him on the floor. He is very happy and eats well and we continue to gave his Wellness food under healthy weight management level. We put him on diet as he gained weight during long wintery weather as he sleeps all day. He loves to play and continues to go for 30 minutes walk whenever he could.
I am very happy to find your website with an amazing reference on this type of condition. With tons of opinions under similar circumstances I am hopeful that my dog's condition will improve. We took him off the Furosemide pill. We gave him a Nordic Fish Oil and All Natural Kibble Booster along with home cooked food. We are seeing a Holistic Vet Doctor this coming April 1st to have an assessment then see what kind of Holistic Med he suggested. Also I would like to try the supplements you all suggested on line and see how it works. I also gave my dog with Good Digestion Enzymes from Biopaw.com which has all kinds of probiotic and green ingredients.
I need help about where to buy those lists of supplements that all of you gave to your dog? I found Milk Thistle, L Carnitine in Whole Food store but attendant not sure if it's ok for pet. Any website to buy this product that anyone can share a link please? Please help me…thank you so much!!! Josephine
Hey Jojo!
Some of the products discussed when treating pets for CHF or heart murmurs cannot be purchased outside the US or are only available via vet prescription – namely Standard Process products.
Google is your friend – do a google search "natural heart supplements dogs" "wholistic heart supplements dogs" "homeopathic heart supplements dogs" – you will get many results to sift through and many options for purchase.
Hello!
We had two calves that came to the farm rather sickly. They developed a cough and runny nose. They sounded awful! I made them a bucket of herbal tea each day.
Here is the recipe:
Bring 5 quarts of water to boil. Remove from heat.
Add 1/4 cup each of dried leaves of the following:
Cover. Let steep (with no extra heat) for 2 hours. Strain out the leaves. Stir in 1/2-3/4 cups of blackstrap molasses. When the tea is warm (a comfortable drinking temperature) but not hot, feed to calves. My calves loved it, in fact, they fought over it.
Here is a video of it:
Calves Fighting over Herbal Tea
The calves "shared" one bucket of tea each day. I did this for about 2 weeks. The best part is that the cough and runny nose did clear up! And the calves and I became friends. 🙂
~Mama to Many~
Hey MTM!
The remedy makes so much sense, and the video is AWESOME!
Thanks for sharing!!!
Dear Theresa,
Thank you for being so encouraging!
It is always a pleasure to see your positive, caring, and helpful posts for people needing help with their animals. I know that so many have been blessed in many ways by your posts! Thanks for all you do!
~Mama to Many~
I have used honey lemon and Peroxide mixture and it worked so good for my 13 1/2 year old Retriever. I was just wondering how long I can continue using Peroxide on her for since I have seen a huge improvement since using it.
I have an old retriever who picked up a case of Kennel Cough. I started using Honey, Food Grade Peroxide, Lemon and Distilled Water and her cough seems to have almost gone. I was just wondering how long I can keep this process up, and if anybody knows how many drops are allowed for a dog per day. Right now she gets 3 drops in her water with about 2 cups of water. It has definitely helped but I wasn't sure how long it is safe to carry this on. Thank you, Amy
Hi, I'm very interested in trying this home remedy for my 11 lb doggie. he's 14yo has an enlarged heart and taking “vetmedin” for this. this has caused another problem (gagging cough )for which he has been on “tussigon”. IT works! However it is too expensive so Id like the exact portions or proportions of water, honey and food grade hydrogen peroxide so that I can try it out. Thanks so much!
Hello, I have 2 dogs on Tussegon and you are right. It is very expensive.
I did find that if you get the GoodRx app and sign up it will cut the cost in half. All pharmacies honor the GoodRx card and the app will tell you where you can get the medicine the cheapest.
It does work great with our maltese who has a cough due to heart disease.
Hey Blanca!
Just an FYI – the gagging cough that the tussigon treats is very different than the cough caused by the kennel cough [viral/bacterial infection].
‘Kennel cough’ is a complex of infections—both viral and bacterial—that causes inflammation of the dog’s voice box and windpipe. It’s a form of bronchitis and is similar to a chest cold in humans.
The Tussigon that you are using to treat the side effect coughing from the vetmedin, is an anticholinergic and narcotic cough suppressant combination. The anticholinergic works by drying up secretions and the narcotic depresses the cough reflex in the brain.
These are two very different treatments for two very different kinds of coughing; using the honey/hp to treat your dog’s cough may at best have no effect – and at worst cause him suffering and worsen his condition and quality of life for lack of an effective remedy.
I noticed that this post was originally started by an individual in British Columbia. The original post made reference to Food Grade Peroxide. From this I make the assumption there is a difference between H2O2 I would find in on the drug store isle and grocery store isle. Is this true in USA as well? If not, what isle at my local grocery should I look for Food Grade Peroxide or should I be planning a trip to health food store?
Hey Southernstar!
There are two main differences between the drug store hydrogenperoxide and the food grade that I have found – strength/dilution and pureness. The drugstore kind is typically a 3% dilution and has stabilizers to give it a longer shelf life – so impure. The food grade is pure and usually highly concentrated 15% or higher.
It is ideal to use the food grade because it is pure, and to dilute it to 3% or even 1% for oral use or taking in small doses as you would for kennel cough. That said plenty of folks have used the drug store kind orally with good result and no apparent ill effects **in small doses**. Again, ideal to use the food grade though it may require some searching to locate it, but in a pinch folks have used the easier to locate 3% impure-due-to-stabilizers drug store stuff.
Dear Southern Star,
I don't think most health food stores stock food grade hydrogen peroxide. Many, many people use the stuff from the drug store in the brown bottle for medicinal purposes. We do. I had some food grade, but it is actually quite dangerous if you don't know how to dilute properly so I gave it away. It made me nervous.
~Mama to Many~
I thought hydrogen peroxide will induce vomiting?
My dog has an enlarged heart as well. Cough tablets for dogs and cats by creative science…it works! You can order it from Amazon without a prescription. I also use young at heart and lung gold by Pet wellbeing along with CoQ10.
It's fine. You store it away from children when its undiluted form. You mix it to 3% or 6% (for teeth-mouthwash etc) and keep this in a spray bottle- that's what I do, I inhale a fine mist of it 4 times a day because I'm a smoker, I use it as a mouthwash daily, I spray it on cat bites (I'm an animal rescuer) spry it on any and every wound- and any wounds my animals get because it stops infections and takes away a lot of the pain. I drink 4 drops a day in a glass of water because it kills parasites and put 3 drops in my dogs cats and birds water whenever they're sick- to kill germs and infections and parasites. It's always the first thing I go to. There is so much information online about all it can do you should research. MUST be FOOD GRADE and must be diluted for use- that's all 😉
Recently rescued a mastiff mix from a shelter – a week later she started a bad cough with discharge from her eyes and nose. Used this HP/honey/lemon recipe (3 drops Food Grade 3% HP, tsp organic honey, small squeeze fresh lemon) administered every 4 hours – she stopped coughing within 20 min, discharge cleared up in a day. However, the rest of the dogs started coughing – administered it to them with a turkey baster two times and they stopped coughing within minutes – all but one stopped coughing/sneezing entirely after the 2nd dose. (I’ll post separately my continued problems with remaining dog.) The properties of this particular recipe appears to be quite effective.
My dog Is coughing more after honey and lemon mixture whereas I was using concentrated orange juice before. what should I do I'm worried sick pls help
I just rescued a 60+ lb border collie/newfoundland mix yesterday and he was up all night coughing and hacking up mucus. I just tried this about 45 min ago and he only coughed about 2x right after giving it. Since then- not a peep! He’s finally getting some rest. Hopefully my Aussie won’t get it!