North Texas kennels say there's an uptick in upper respiratory infections among dogs
NORTH TEXAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) – Your furry friends can also fall under the weather. Veterinarians said they've seen an increase in Canine Infectious Respiratory Diseases, the most common of which is Bordatella, also called kennel cough.
Dr. Ashley Priddy of Dallas Veterinary Clinic said spikes coincide with heavy travel times and even population growth.
"Everybody wants to come to Dallas, and everybody moves to Dallas, and they bring their dogs. And obviously those dogs can bring in pathogens and when they go boarding, they'll spread the pathogens, too," he said.
But he said dogs can also infect each other at groomers, dog parks, or any group location.
"And obviously you bring a bunch of dogs together, you can vaccinate everyone and kind of hope for the best," he said.
Dr. Priddy said to look for symptoms including coughing, fever, nasal discharge, lethargy, and lack of appetite - and then take them to your vet.
"It's kind of like us where there's a PCR test. Unfortunately, there's not a rapid PCR test for dogs to figure out what they're sick with. So we do send off swabs to the lab."
Dr. Priddy said they've also seen an increase in canine influenza. And just like with the flu for us, it can live on surfaces, clothing, and hands. So if an infected dog sneezes on the sidewalk and other dogs sniff it, they can potentially become infected.
He said keeping your dog up-to-date on vaccinations, including the flu shot, is your best defense. And don't wait until just before you leave town.
"The best way to do it would be to actually get their boosters a few weeks before they go to the boarding kennel or they before they go grooming," he said. "That allows their body the chance for the immunity to build up so then, when they get exposed to that pathogen, they hopefully won't get sick."