Our vet clinic has received a large amount of concerned phone calls regarding a mystery Canine Respiratory Disease that has been in multiple media sources this week. To begin, if you only have cats, there is nothing to consider or worry about. But for dog parents, we are constantly dealing with mysterious respiratory diseases in our populations.
However this time, it has made national media, so we’d like to inform you of what we know.
There are some instances of dogs getting rather ill, more so than with a typical respiratory virus in some areas of the country. A causative agent has not been identified, hence the word “Mystery.” There are no identified cases in Illinois.
There are 3 typical patterns that have been identified:
Chronic, mild coughing that lasts 6-8 weeks, non-responsible to antibiotics
Chronic pneumonia (lung infection), non-responsive to antibiotics
Severe, acute progressive pneumonia
Again, we are constantly dealing with unknown diseases, but we are notifying you here since the media has sparked such broad concern. Our recommendations have not changed. We still recommend bordetella and canine influenza vaccines for dogs that are determined to be at significant risk (these conversations are had individually at disease prevention visits). We still recommend a physical exam for any dog with coughing or respiratory patterns that are concerning. We recommend no action if your dog is acting normally.
Please only call your clinic if your animal is having any clinical problems, as our phone call load has compromised our customer service representatives’ ability to help our patients in need of care. If any concerning or relevant information becomes known, we will be sure to reach back out in the form of another blog post.
Dr. Christopher Dupuis
Wheatland Animal Hospital of Naperville