28/11/2023
Just a PSA Announcement ~ This article was written in Colorado but the illness is being spread across other states. Please keep your pets safe this "flu" season. Vets are urging dog owners to avoid high-volume pet locations as we head into the holiday season, like boarding facilities, dog parks, doggy daycares and more. If you can, vets are recommending to get a pet sitter at your home.
Veterinarians are seeing a new, nameless respiratory illness among dogs, that can be deadly. Vets have seen all breeds, sizes and ages of dogs with this illness. It presents as a normal kennel cough would where they’re coughing. But instead of resolving in 7-10 days like a normal kennel cough, typically the cough lasts and lingers and it progresses to a pneumonia.
Vets want dog owners to also be aware of the symptoms. If your dog is coughing, vets recommend taking them to your regular vet clinic earlier than you normally would. However, if your dog becomes lethargic, has eye/nose discharge, has a prolonged wet cough, increased breathing or blue/purple gums, vets urge owners to take them to an emergency hospital.
“It’s definitely something that when they wait to come in, it tends to progress and tends to be a lot worse. If they’re seen sooner, and we can get the antibiotics and treatments on sooner, even though the cough is still lingering in a lot of these cases, they’re not progressing.
Any dog is susceptible. Vets report to have seen full vaccinated, totally healthy dogs. The ones that tend to be a little more difficult to treat are the ones that are either older, or have some sort of secondary disease process that is underlying, but it really can affect any dog. ❤️🐾