Hey everyone, quick question..

So Kenai was given a Bordetella vaccine at the shelter the day before I got him, he ended up coming down with kennel cough and got a respiratory infection for which I took him to the vet for an got him a penicillin shot and some antibiotics. He's since recovered from it all but the vet scheduled me for yet another Bordetella vaccination in a couple weeks, my question is if this is really necessary because he just had one not even really a month ago.. Does his need this second one or is this just the vet trying to make an extra buck?

Do you plan on doing any boarding or day care or dog walkers? If so, they will need updated bordatella vaccines.

It's kind of a sketchy vaccine, but public dog places require it.

How long ago was the first one?

Vets make a buck, yes, but they are also just following protocols for general vaccine schedules. It's pretty common.

You can opt out of most except rabies, I believe, in most places. Rabies was the one that made my dog sick.

Jordan,  kennel cough to a dog is basically the same thing as the common cold is to a human (see this Dog Journal article)

Just like the common cold, it's not caused by any one virus but any of several; it's highly contagious; it's rarely fatal in a healthy dog but may lead to pneumonia in a very young / old / unhealthy dog.

Can you have your dog given the Bordetalla vaccine and have them still come down with kennel cough - certainly, it's simply a different virus. Vaccination with live vaccine may also cause kennel cough in dogs whose immune systems aren't capable of handling the virus.

Since it's formulated for specific viri (virus' ?) - the most common - it may be effective, then again it may not.

To now answer your question, as Jeff asks if you're going to be boarding your dog, using a dog walker or doggie day care they may require it, not because it's particularly effective but because the virus' are so contagious and, in their minds, anything that will help prevent an outbreak is worthwhile.

As to the part of the question that asks "does he need this second one?" my answer to be that you need to do some homework.  Is it the same as the one recently <?> given at the shelter then the answer is no; if it's a different formulation then the answer would have to be "probably".

Also - the vet may be trying to "boost" his immunity since he needed the antibiotics. Did you ask why he needed another so soon?

When B&B got KC they re-did his Boardatella but he was 4 months since his last vaccine and the vet said the "vaccine" type or live agent in it changes as much as every 6 months.
I was told to look at it more like the flu vaccine for humans but as common as the cold in dogs but they have a harder time getting rid of it and a harder time keep it just a cough and not progressing to something worse.
I know several people who never give it as they question are you getting the right vaccine strain will it actually help. But my boarding requires it ever 6 months. So I would say ask some questions check some research and figure out what you situation is.

Were I am the recommend them once a year ( if boarding or doing things like that) So that does seam kind of soon I would ask the vet why.

I don't like the bordatella vaccine, so I don't give it. I don't board or take my dog anywhere that requires it. I also found an awesome trainer who will take a titer test instead of the bordatella vaccine so I am thankful I didn't have to give my dog the vaccine for that either

Thank you for all the replies everyone!

I will look and see which vaccine he was given at the animal shelter and see which the vet wants to give him. See now if they were saying come back in six months than yeah I could understand, but he just had one not even a month ago, so it made me feel like why another one so quick again?

I guess it makes sense though if they want to protect any way they can, I didn't know there was different types of this virus, our other three dogs have never been boarded or anything before so they never caught it (at least to our knowledge) until Kenai came in an caused an outbreak at the house, so we've never really had experience with it before. I'll talk to the vet again and see what he says. Thank you again for all of your replies!

I wouldn't get it. I don’t get the bordetella vaccine for my dogs. They don't go anywhere that requires it and I won't get it unless I absolutely have to. My sibe had kennel cough when we adopted him from the shelter. Took him a couple weeks to get over it but he did and has never picked it up since and we travel a lot and I used to take him to the dog park once a week or more. But I am anti over - vaccination so the ONLY vaccine we get is the 3 yr rabies as required by law.