I just rescued a sweet 1 year old german shepard mix from a shelter that has a bad case of the kennel cough. I rushed him to the vet when I found out that he wasn't eating. :confused: He is way under weight ( 60lbs) not drinking as well. I have him IV's because the vet can't keep him there due to the cough. So I think that things are getting worse. I just don't know what to do at this point he is such a sweet heart and I have grown so attached. I am Desperate!! Please I need the help.

When my adopted dog had "kennel cough" we soon discovered she had distemper. You need to find another vet who will run a test for distemper. Unfortunately we had to eventually put her to sleep. Time to seek a second opinion.

Here's a link for more information;

Kennel cough - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Originally Posted by sacw25

I just rescued a sweet 1 year old german shepard mix from a shelter that has a bad case of the kennel cough. I rushed him to the vet when i found out that he wasn't eating. :confused: He is way under weight ( 60lbs) not drinking as well. I have him IV's because the vet can't keep him there due to the cough. So i think that things are getting worse. I just dont know what to do at this point he is such a sweet heart and i have grown so attached. I am Desperate!!! Please i need the help.

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So there is no cure for distemper?

Info on distemper;

Canine Distemper - Diagnosis & Treatment - animalhealthchannel

Unfortunately no. There is no cure, we just had to make her comfortable in her last days.

I also think it's time to either call your original vet with a progress report, or seek a second opinion. Kennel Cough takes a long time to run its course. If the cough is so bad that he can't eat for it, you may need more medication or a different one.
(Distemper is a possibility, but it is much less common than it used to be, thankfully. It can be overlooked just because it is so rare now. Good call by J-9. Like most viruses, all you can do is treat the symptoms, and some dogs do recover. They tend to have runny eyes and nose along with a cough.)
You might also call the shelter and see if any other dogs who were there at the same time developed signs. If they have several coughing dogs, it probably is Kennel Cough, since it is spread easily through the air when the dogs cough.

On the flipside, I adopted a 3 month old dog from a rescue that also had kennel cough. She didn't seem sick until the 2nd day I had her. I was up all night with her and I called the vet first thing in the morning. He could here her when I was on the phone. He immediately ordered some very strong antibiotics and a cough syrup that had some other calming drugs in it. SHe was coughing so hard that she was breaking blood vessels in her throat. So I got the pills and the syrup down her and for three days I held this dog and gave her water through a syringe. She made it and perked up after several days. She grew into a nice strong dog, but did have a diminished lung capacity. So unless you have been going to this vet for a long time and trust him completely, I would try another vet. It doesn't hurt to get a second opinion. If it were your child, you would do it. Hopefully, you will be able to spare this poor dogs life.