# Kennel Cough and Robitussin?



## Lynsey Fuegner

I am a pharmacy tech at Walgreens and, needless to say, we get our share of "fun" patients and great questions but this one today not only took me completely off guard but had me a bit concerned. A woman walked up to the pharmacist and said "Hi, I'm fostering a puppy. He's got kennel cough, so my vet told me to pick him up some plain Robitussin" she wasn't questioning the vet, she simply couldn't tell which of the Robitussins was plain. tha pharmacist and I gave each other a sort of "what the...?" look and he showed her where the syrup was. He was a bit confused, as regular Robitussin does not have a cough suppressant in it, and I was a bit concerned because I have never heard of anyone giving a dog cough syrup...Has anyone else ever heard of this or had any experience with it?

thanks!


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## Chris Michalek

my vet told me that I could give some robitussion or thera-flu thin strips. I went with the thin strips because it's a heck of a lot easier to to stick in melting strip of medicine in a pug's mouth than to squirt some in her mouth with a syringe.

BTW- it worked very well.


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## Lynsey Fuegner

that's interesting, I had honestly never heard of it...I've been lucky enough (knock on wood) to only have to deal with kennel cough once, and it wasn't that bad.


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## Lyn Chen

I've used it before. It worked pretty well.


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## Katrina Kardiasmenos

I actually just used Delsym for a dog with kennel cough...

The active ingredient you are looking for is:dextromethorphan...and you want to give about 1/2 of a child's dose...


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## Lynsey Fuegner

thanks all! I learn something new every day!:smile:


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## Connie Sutherland

Katrina Kardiasmenos said:


> I actually just used Delsym for a dog with kennel cough...
> 
> The active ingredient you are looking for is:dextromethorphan...and you want to give about 1/2 of a child's dose...


There must also be adjustments for the size of the dog. I can't imagine that a 15-pound dog and a 100-pound dog would have the same dosage. (And before anyone says "this is a working forum," I have working earth dog granddogs, and there are other small working dogs.  )

I'm going to add to this that I know no one here is prescribing the med or the dosage; they are making suggestions to ask your vet about. Just clarifying.


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## Bob Scott

Connie said;
"I'm going to add to this that I know no one here is prescribing the med or the dosage; they are making suggestions to ask your vet about. Just clarifying."

Excellent point Connie! I don't think this can be stressed enough.


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## J. Hunter Allred

I would *speculate* dextromethophan would be save to give to a dog. At higher than appropriate doses it causes increased heart rate, dizziness, nausea, fever, and other things but not renal failure or liver problems or things such as that so even a larger than appropriate dose wouldn't do any harm. A dose sufficient to be fatal could not be accidently given. (Unless of course there is something specific about dogs that complicates things, but given that several vet's seem to reccommend it it would seem that it is safe). Delsym is available in time release so I wouldn't use that as the chemical could "load up" in the dog's system. Just make sure it is a cough suppressant that doesn't contain other things like fever reducers or pain killers.


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## marcy bukkit

J. Hunter Allred said:


> I would *speculate* dextromethophan would be save to give to a dog. At higher than appropriate doses it causes increased heart rate, dizziness, nausea, fever, and other things but not renal failure or liver problems or things such as that so even a larger than appropriate dose wouldn't do any harm. A dose sufficient to be fatal could not be accidently given. (Unless of course there is something specific about dogs that complicates things, but given that several vet's seem to reccommend it it would seem that it is safe). Delsym is available in time release so I wouldn't use that as the chemical could "load up" in the dog's system. Just make sure it is a cough suppressant that doesn't contain other things like fever reducers or pain killers.


hmmm ~ increased heart rate and fever sound a bit worrisome to me, and dizziness and nausea aren't so great either. Considering that I have no idea what a safe dosage would be for my dog vs a fatal overdose quantity, I would wait until my vet prescribed it and told me how much to give.

I have, however, heard of vets telling people to use robitussin for kennel cough. I've been fortunate ot not have had an outbreak of kennel cough among my dogs.


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## J. Hunter Allred

marcy bukkit said:


> hmmm ~ increased heart rate and fever sound a bit worrisome to me, and dizziness and nausea aren't so great either. Considering that I have no idea what a safe dosage would be for my dog vs a fatal overdose quantity, I would wait until my vet prescribed it and told me how much to give.
> 
> I have, however, heard of vets telling people to use robitussin for kennel cough. I've been fortunate ot not have had an outbreak of kennel cough among my dogs.


robitussin is dextromethorphan. those are the side effects observed in humans, primates, and rats (for many times the correct dosage). I'd assume they are the same in dogs. Given that an lethal overdose for a 150lb human would be literally bottles of the stuff, you couldn't overdose a dog on it by mistaking a tablespoon for teaspoon is what I meant. I agree that the best bet is to seek a vet's advice. That being said, I'm not a vet, just sharing what I know about the medication


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