Recently, there has been a widespread report of cases of an unknown illness that affects dogs.
Here are some advice of veterinarians regarding the mystery respiratory disease that is affecting hundreds of dog across the country.
According to Amanda Cavanagh, the section head of Small Animal Emergency Service at Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital, “There was just far more coughing dogs coming into the emergency room than in years past,”
Even though study is still ongoing, veterinarians report that the illness is highly contagious and can be lethal in certain circumstances. The majority of symptoms, which include coughing, sneezing, nasal and/or eye discharge, and fatigue, are comparable to those of a common kennel cough.
“Instead of that dry cough where the dog felt good, it was now this wet cough where the dog felt sick,” Cavanagh said.
The disease first surfaced in August in Oregon, and the state’s Department of Agriculture received more than a hundred written reports about it from veterinarians. The San Diego Humane Society temporarily stopped accepting owner-surrendered dogs until next month in an effort to stop the cases from spreading even farther west.
According to Wendy Brown, an Idaho dog owner, symptoms began to appear in each of her three golden retrievers, Bridge, Dooley, and Lulu, early this month.
“Dooley started doing kind of this huffing and also seem to feel quite lethargic. Not too long after, Bridge began to exhibit the symptoms. But he and his were louder, more boisterous. It was like, I thought it was his stomach because he made like a retching sound,” Brown explained.
Brown initially believed it to be a common kennel cough, but when the illness continued, she realized there was a significant problem.
“The vet started him on a ten-day cycle of doxycycline. Today was day ten and he is not a lot better. So quite a bit of concern for us there,” Brown said.
Although Brown’s dogs are gradually beginning to recover, she stated she still doesn’t know what initially caused the diseases.
Experts advise having a dog examined out if they exhibit any persistent respiratory symptoms.
“Let the vet fully evaluate,” Cavanagh recommends. “We can ultrasound the lungs to see if there is a problem that is related to pneumonia or the contagious pneumonia that seems to be going around. That early vet visit can be so important to establish that relationship with your vet and have them help you take care of your dog and then track how this illness is going to progress.”