For years, I’ve hated it when someone refers to bordetella bronchisptica as “kennel cough.” I’ve hated it even more when veterinarians, groomers, or dog walkers called it that! Call it what it is — “canine cough” or “bordetella” — since a dog can catch it anywhere there are other dogs (such as a veterinarian’s lobby, so maybe we should call it “vet virus,” or at a grooming salon so call it “salon sickness,” or out with a dog walker so call it “walker wheezing”).

There’s absolutely no reason to associate bordetella with any overnight or dog daycare facility, whether it’s in San Francisco or elsewhere. In fact, according to this month’s Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine’s “Your Dog” newsletter, “[r]esponsbile kennels that insist on proof of vaccination against the illness before taking care of a dog are among the least likely places your pet will end up with the infection.” (Your Dog, February 2014, page 11, emphasis added)

At Pet Camp, we require proof of vaccination for rabies, DHLPP and bordetella. In fact, we state that it is our preference that your dog gets the bordetella vaccine every six months, though we will honor it for a year if that is the practice of your individual veterinarian. You can’t bring your dog past our lobby — for a tour, a swim, or a bath, let alone for dog daycare or boarding purposes — without proof of these vaccines. Frankly, we wish our counterparts throughout the dog care community were as stringent. We really hate it when we hear about a dog coming down with vet virus, salon sickness, or walker wheezing. A responsible dog boarding or doggie day care facility, in San Francisco or anywhere else, will take simple precautions to guard against these conditions.

Thanks for reading!

4 Responses to “Tufts Veterinary School Supports Lodging Facilities”

  2. Laura

    Infectious tracheobronchitis just doesn’t have the same ring as “vet virus.” I am going to start telling my fellow veterinarians in PA that our facility requires proof of vaccination against “vet virus” and see how they respond!

  3. Joanne

    Thanks Mark for finally communicating this so clearly. We have been saying this for years and finally there is some expert opinion to back it up. We always referred to it as “Vet Waiting Room Cough”

  4. Amber

    Great information! I’m embarrassed to say I was one of the naive ones who thought “kennel cough” came from boarding. Oops! Thanks for the FACTS though, and it’s great to know that you take animal health and safety so seriously!