A new respiratory illness for dogs is spreading across the country, but at least right now, it isn’t in Hutchinson, according to Erica Miller, DVM with Apple Lane Animal Hospital.
“We’ve gotten phone calls,” Miller said. “I’m sure the other veterinary clinics have, too, about people hearing about it, either news, reading about it, social media. There is some sort of respiratory disease that’s been going around. Luckily, we haven’t really seen any here in Hutch, at least at our clinic. I’ve heard there was maybe a little bit in Kansas City.”
Since they don’t know the cause yet, good preventative medicine is the best you can do right now.
“Make sure your pet is up to date on vaccinations,” Miller said. “Especially around this time of the year, because everyone travels, if you’re going to be boarding your pet or taking them with you somewhere where there’s going to be a lot of other pets, really making sure that they are up to date on their vaccinations that they need for boarding is very important.”
If you don’t have to take your pet with you and can get a pet-sitter and keep them at home, that may be best, especially if they have pre-existing conditions.
“If you are finding someone to come in and watch your pets at home, do your due diligence,” Miller said. “Make sure you get some references. Talk to some people that have used that person before for pet-sitting. There’s plenty of people that do either in home pet-sitting or they go to their house.”
The symptoms of the new respiratory illness can last from six to eight weeks.
