Coughing when pulling

Hi, I have a 4 years old toy cockapoo that hasn’t had any problems until having had the kennel cough vaccine back in January. She doesn’t go in kennels but it was recommended to protect her when playing with others. After having the vaccine, a few days later she proceeded to cough (a honking noise) so I called the vets to ask if this was a normal side effect. They told me to bring her in and checked her over and said it was a side effect of the vaccine. On two occasions since then, when pulling (she wears a harness) she’s made the same noise. The first time was shortly after the vaccine so I assumed it was due to that but she’s done it today. It only lasted a minute or so but I’m worried about it being tracheal collapse. She’s not overweight but is a couple of pounds over the ideal at her last weigh in. She’s very energetic and is eating and playing normally. I switched to a short lead recently. I’m going to call the vets tomorrow but I’m worried as every time I do, it seems to cost a fortune and I don’t really get any answers.

Sorry, the vaccine was in March

Hello.  It sounds as though your youngster may have had KC symptoms after the kennel-cough vaccine and true enough, such coughs can stick around for while.   However, you are right - there are also other things that those symptoms could be.  The right thing to do is probably to ask at the vets how long to give it / what intensity of coughing  before they want to see you back for this issue (often unless they see you back, they'll assume it went away).  Using a harness that doesnt pull on the neck is always a good thing.  I hear your frustration about the repeated visits .  Often, it is more cost effective to watch and wait / rule out common things than it is to jump straight into diagnostics that may be unnecessary - I think the art of being a vet is judging that balance correctly.   However, I also hear that the uncertainty can be frustrating.

Thanks so much for your reply and for your advice. I ended up going to get her checked out in the end. I think it’s expensive because I always end up going in as I’m too worried that I won’t and it’ll be something serious. The vet was lovely and helpful. They said the same re the harness. I’m going to get a new one for her. They advised that allergies are causing irritation which leads to the honking noise and so I’ve got antihistamines and steroids for her so hopefully that helps soon :). Thanks again for your reply