[Kendraleigh]

I got my puppy Sam when he was 10 wks old and he had a runny nose, but no coughing. It was during my graduation so I didn't have time to go to a vet. 2 days later when I was moving home he started coughing and wasn't eating or drinking so I immediately brought him to the emergency vet b/c it was a Sunday. They diagnosed him with kennel cough and possible pneumonia b/c his chest didn't sound too good. They kept him over night and then he was transferred to my vet and spent 2 more nights there on IV and antibiotics. He was showing improvement so they let me take him home, but 3 days later he got worse so I brought him to the breeder's vet all the way in Queens, NY (I live in South Jersey but it was free!) and they kept him for 4 days on IV and nebulizer treatment. They sent him home with cholorphenocal (not sure how to spell it) which my vet at home said isn't really used anymore and if it is they use it on kittens. By this point he wasn't as congested and his nose was cleared up. Anyway once he was finished that antibiotic he was still coughing so I took him back to my vet and she put him on Clavamox (amoxicillin) and Antirobe Aquadrops for 2 wks and he was still coughing after that. Finally she put him on the Cefa-drops w/ the Antirobe Aquadrops for another 2 wks plus Robitussin without the DM (she said to get the one that says it has Guafenisin in it b/c it's an expectorant). So after the Cefa-drops he's still coughing and I just brought him to the vet this past Thursday and she said that b/c he's been on so much medicine that we'll take him off for a while and see what happens, but to still keep him on the Robitussin. I've been giving him that at night and he gets up at 3:33 on the dot every night coughing. Like you said, Sam coughs mostly at night and in the morning and then occasionally during the day. It is definitely not when he is active. It's like when he's playing he's preoccupied so he won't cough, but the minute he lays down it bothers him. My vet said that his last chest x-ray showed some fluid, but it could just be scarring. I don't think Sam has collapsed trachea b/c he doesn't cough when he's active and he was diagnosed with pneumonia. I was finally able to get him his 2nd round of shots at 4 months old b/c they couldn't do it when he was sick. I know exactly how you're feeling right now. I still don't see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it is definitely a huge improvement from when I first got him. He is so playful and eats like a hog. You would never know he was sick. I'm supposed to go back to the vet in 3 wks for more shots and a check-up but once the medication is out of his system and if he starts coughing more I have to bring him back. I was actually nervous today b/c he was coughing more than usual and they say sometimes all the fluid isn't cleared with pneumonia and the infection can come back. I'm just trying to take it day by day and pray because he is my little baby. I hope your puppy will get better soon as well. I was thinking of going to a different vet for a second opinion, but he has been to 3 already and they all said the same thing. Hopefully this will just take time for it to go away. They do say kennel cough is a virus and will go away on its' own.