811. When to vaccinate a puppy who has kennel cough?

E-MAIL TO DR SING DATED JAN 11, 2012

Hi Dr Sing

Thank you for your follow up call on Pillow's recovery last Sunday. To
be quite honest, I was quite surprised to receive your call and was very
impressed with your concern and professional service :). Even my own
physician do not follow up on my visits, kudos for your kind concern
.... great customer service :)

PP was recovering quite well over the last few days and he should
finish the Antibiotics today. The 'coughing' has decreased
substantially but I still do hear him cough every now and then after
meals. Is this normal ? or should he stop coughing completely by now ?
He is eating well and playing well but breathes heavily at times when
running around.
Do I need to bring him back to you for a check up ?

The next appointment for his Vaccination is this Friday, do I proceed
with this or should I postpone till next Monday ? Appreciate your
advise, thanks

Best Regards

E-MAIL FROM DR SING DATED JAN 11, 2012

Dear ....

Thank you for your email and compliments. I try to follow up cases whenever possible to know the effectiveness of treatment and therefore acquire the knowledge that vet books and professors cannot impart.

In reply, PP is still coughing, though considerably less.

It is not possible to predict exactly when the coughing will cease after medication. The medication to treat bacterial infections of the upper respiratory tract. However, kennel cough is caused by a bacteria and a virus. There is no usual medication against viral infections and therefore the puppy needs time to recover.


Vaccination must be delayed till 7-14 days after the end of coughing as this will indicate that the puppy has fully recovered. In your case, the puppy has already got 2 vaccinations and the 3rd one has to wait 7-14 days after the date of no coughing from the puppy.

Pl let me know if you have more queries. Thank you for 3 pictures of PP. PP was my first case for 2012 and reminds me so much of my son's Bichon who is now 5 years old and is well behaved (no urine marking inside the house)

P.S
I have 2 Sec 3 students and Dr Vanessa Lin produced an educational video on kennel cough with one rehearsal only. Pl let me have your comments as to

1. whether you have a better understanding of kennel cough and
2. whether the video was fun to view or make you fall asleep and snore.

Feedback is important to improve my pet video educational work. The video is at:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmTYP8T95V4
Best wishes for the New Year