We know that flu has been spreading quite quickly lately.  A lot of people have become concerned for the smaller members of their family- their dogs and cats.

There have been several articles published recently on dog flu and even if pets can get the h1n1.  A point all of these articles make is to lesson chances of your dog or cat catching the flu- keep them home!

Fox News posted, “Exposure to H3N8 is highest in kennels, shelters, pet stores, dog shows and other communal settings. Although dogs of any age, breed and health status are susceptible, puppies, old dogs, and dogs with pre-existing health issues are especially at risk. Veterinarians say that virtually all dogs that are exposed to the virus become infected. About 80 percent of them can show symptoms such as cough, sneezing, nasal discharge, and some ocular discharge. Coughs typically last two to three weeks. Twenty percent of dogs can become seriously ill, developing bronchopneumonia and secondary bacterial infections. Dogs with pneumonia have high fever, respiratory distress and in some cases severe hypoxia. If untreated, such conditions may lead to death.”

and on the ASPCA website, “CIV is easily transmitted between dogs through a combination of aerosols, droplets and direct contact with respiratory secretions. The virus does not survive for a long time in the environment, so dogs usually get CIV when they are in close proximity to other infectious dogs.
Any dog who interacts with large numbers of dogs is at increased risk for exposure. Dogs are most infectious before symptoms are apparent, and can continue shedding the virus for around 10 days. This means that by the time symptoms are seen, other dogs may have already been exposed.”

While the flu is very treatable in companion animals, we know it’s better, of course, that they don’t get it at all.  If you need pet care or entertainment for your animals, why not hire a petsitter instead of increasing their exposure risk at a kennel, doggy daycare or vet?”

Tags: cats, doggy daycare, dogs, flu, kennel cough, petsitting

This entry was posted on Monday, October 19th, 2009 at 10:12 am and is filed under From The Pawsident, Pet Health and Safety. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.