I went through the SAME thing w/Momo!!
 

We had him vaccinated w/bordatella when he was only 8wks old cuz he came to me from his breeder already sick w/kennel cough. He suffered through it for 3 months. The only thing that worked was upping the dose of antibiotics (Clavamox) to 5ml from 1ml.
We did 3 rounds of antibiotics, many medications including Hydrocodone, 3 different vets & 1 specialist because an x-ray indicated that he had an enlarged heart.:( He had an echocardiogram, it's like a sonogram of the heart. According to that test, he was ok.
I didn't read through all the posts of the op, but I hope your baby has a speedy recovery.

Read the post above yours from me. We must think alike

I had a Jack Russell Terrier that got the bordatella vaccine regularly and he died of an enlarged heart and congestive heart failure. I will definately think twice before I give it to my precious Yorkie and other two JRT's.:mad:

kennel cough vacine
 

I too feel there's a problem with the bordatello vacine given intranasally. I had my yorkie almost three months & he never coughed. After he was given the vacine he started coughing. He was given an antibiotic but now seven months later he still coughs at times. The vet said it was coincidental but I do not agree. I do intend to pursue it further. As I stated he NEVER COUGHED before then.

I'm so sorry about your baby. Prayers that he gets better.

When my dog had that shot his kidneys failed, doing okay with that. Now he has other medical issues, cancer and stroke but he is doing pretty good.

Okay now I am worried, I posted about it a lil bit ago.. Shay has been what I thought gagging, maybe it is a cough? he had the vaccine for kennel cough on thurs. he also had distemper shot...he never had any of this before...
I will be calling the vet in the morning...he came in with it and never even was going to tell me what he was giving him,I of coarse stopped him and asked, I wish I would of read this all before we went on thurs.

Mine had those vaccines and never had enlarged heart . I don't even think its the vaccine that cause enlarged heart . He or she might have it before and it was not diagnosed .

The vaccine is not causing an enlarged heart. That is a congenital condition. They are born with it, it worsens as they grow and some are diagnosed earlier than others.

Don't rely on a regular vet for the diagnosis...they need to be seen by a cardiologist and if they do indeed have this condition...that's who needs to be treating them any way.

Hi all -

I haven't been here in a while but checked in today to read up on enlarged heart diagnosis. I was stunned to see this old thread as it is exactly what has happened to Joni.

Took her to vet for bordetella vaccine. They assured me it was not the nasal spray, but an oral medication. Within 2 days Joni was coughing violently and sick. This was over a month ago. Earlier this week, she had a chest X-ray to look for pneumonia at which time the vet said her heart was enlarged. She suggested an echo with a cardiologist once Joni has the cough settled.
Two issues:
1- can't even speak to how frustrated (and angry) I am over this bordetella vaccination. I should have never given it to her as she's never boarded and we have a mobile groomer. But she is around another dog or two every so often and she revels in full face smelling of every tree, shrub, post along our walks so I thought it might be helpful. Never really expected her to develop bordetella from the vaccine but I'm convinced that it happened. She's been sick for a month.
2- no murmur and no other indication of heart disease. She will be 3 next month. I am praying that as others have said, the X-ray read by my vet was not accurate - shadows or whatever. She showed it too me and my first (very non-medical) reaction was that her heart filled her entire rib cage! The vet had a radiologist read it as well and he said the left atrium was prominent and bigger than he expected to see given no murmur. They both said the trachea was narrowed but not collapsed and this may be putting pressure on the airway contributing to the cough. He too recommended an echo by a cardiologist.

So a perfectly healthy baby 5 weeks ago is now sick with bordetella and potentially diagnosed with enlarged heart and trachea issues. I'm just sick about this. Will never allow bordetella vaccine again! Is there a connection in all of this?

Max got the nasal vaccination for kennel cough. Vet said might sneeze for a day or two. He coughed and sneezed for a month. Had to go on antibiotics as a preventative too! Thought next time he'll get the shot but maybe not?

It's not uncommon at all for dogs to contract kennel cough from getting the kennel cough vaccine itself - this is very well known. The most important thing is to not let it progress to pneumonia.

I'm so sorry about the enlarged heart, but this may not end up really affecting her at all in the long run. Several yorkies get diagnosed w/ an "enlarged heart" when in the end, it wasn't really enlarged at all.

I wouldn't be getting the bordetella vaccine at all, if I were you. It's not a core vaccine - not necessary. So if your dog is sensitive to it, I wouldn't get it. I've never gotten it for any of my 4 dogs and they've never, ever gotten kennel cough, btw.

GiGi, who is now 14.5 years old, had been diagnosed with an enlarged heart when she was about 4yrs old. This came from her Vet who xray ed her for another unrelated issue. I told her breeder about it and she said all Yorkies have enlarged hearts and not to.worry. As I said she is now almost 15 and doing fine. Last summer we had to see an internist for her diet. He xrayed her also...I mentioned the enlarged heart , at first he said he did not see it so he brought up the xray so we could both look and said that one side of her heart appears to be enlarged.
But you see this was even difficult for him to see. And also GiGi is now back track with her diet and happly on her way to her 15th and hopefully not her last year and doing great.

I would start with your babies breeder and go.from there. GiGi was never on any meds for her heart and is not now.

Hope this helped you...keep us updated
Christine

I would not worry that the x-ray showed an enlarged heart as it is common for small dogs to appear to have an enlarged heart on x-ray, but when sent to a cardiologist it's normal. I once had a cardiologist tell me this very thing. Not saying not to go to a cardio but saying it's most likely not enlarged.