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My dog is dry coughing. Should I use erythromycin for kennel cough?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Black Mouth Cur | Female | spayed | 50 lbs

My dog started dry coughing a hacking which sounds like kennel cough. I was told erythromycin can help kill the bacteria. Is that true? If so, how many times should I give her this? Until she gets better?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By David Elbeze, DVM, MRCVS

Veterinarian

Published on July 30th, 2017

erythromycin is absolutely not recommended, it's not a safe antibiotic for dogs and is very rarely used. Kennel cough usually resolves without treatment within a couple weeks but if the cough is too severe it is recommended to go to the vet in order to get cough medicine and antibiotics.

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