What owners should look out for as mysterious illness spreads among dogs

PITTSBURGH — This year humans aren’t the only ones experiencing the cold and flu season. Veterinarians are now warning dog owners to be on the lookout and check their pups for a cough, runny nose, and eye discharge as these may be the early signs of a new but serious illness.

“It’s a brand-new bacterium one that we are not familiar with,” said Dr. RJ Skalos, the director of Windrose Animal Hospital.

Veterinarians are sounding the alarm; a mysterious infectious respiratory illness is impacting hundreds of dogs causing serious illness and in some rare cases death.

“The majority of dogs actually have recovered, but instead of being a 10 to 14-day course it’s taken a couple of months for them to get over the illness, and sometimes we have to use antibiotics that we weren’t typically using,” explained Dr. Skalos.

Cases have been confirmed in 10 states, with Oregon reporting more than 200 sick dogs. Pennsylvania has no confirmed cases yet. But local veterinarian, Dr. Skalos said he believes that cases have already been treated here in our region, but have gone unreported.

And here’s why:

“The initial stages of the infection are identical to your typical Bordetella,” he said.

Like with Bordetella commonly known as kennel cough, dogs will have coughing, sneezing, discharge from the eyes, and fatigue’ this makes it challenging for dog owners to identify, so doctors say to be safe rather than sorry. Dog parents Mary and Michael agree and say they heard about the illness and immediately began monitoring their three-year-old pup.

“We are empty nesters now so we are pretty much watching him like you would a child,” said Mary Sullivan.

And with the holidays approaching here’s what veterinarians are saying dog parents should do:

• Make sure dog daycares/ parks are sanitized
• Avoid sharing water bowls
• And much like with human viruses, avoid small spaces with multiple dogs

“If there’s a lot of nose-to-nose, or mouth-to-mouth contact, toys or things that are slobbered over things in that fashion, your risk goes up significantly,” Dr. Skalos said.

Dr. Skalos added to make sure your dog is fully vaccinated so that if it does contract this new illness, it will at least be protected from other illnesses.

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