is and foremost a viral infection – this means that it does not or cannot respond to treatment involving the use of antibiotics. As of the moment, there is no available vaccine for this dog disease, meaning there's no way that your pet can and will develop immunity against the ailment, for now. It is airborne, so transmission of the virus can be done quickly, especially in closed areas such as a kennel, which happens to be an excellent breeding grounds for it. I know that the initial reactions of some of the few readers of this article would be scared, panic, and worry; but this really isn't something to get worked up over.
It's actually a relatively “harmless” and semi-common cough related dog disease; if that doesn't make you feel better, only 3% to 5% of
will die – or to put things in a more positive perspective, a beloved pooch will have a 95% to 97% chance of survival. I could say things that would make you feel at a little more relieved, such as “there is a 16% possibility that your pet will develop the disease if exposed to the virus”, or better if I said “there is an 84% chance that your beloved pooch won't develop the dog disease if exposed the the virus”.
But no matter how I state it, the fact that your pet could belong to the 3% to 5% mortality rate will still be a possibility. How then will you deal with Canine Influenza? Don't break a sweat, there are symptoms that can notify you of its presence. One of the early symptoms would include sneezing – this could be because of an allergy to something or it may have sniffed something that's been irritating its nose, but it's still a valid sign of the dog disease. Another would be a fever – this of course would mean that your pet's temperature would be higher than normal, like say 106 degrees.
A runny nose is also to be taken note of, and I'm sure you have an idea of what it'll look like. For those ever so ignorant, a runny nose would resemble a fluid coming out of its nose, and it'll be trying to sniff it back in, that's why it's called “runny” nose. Check if your pooch is lazier than usual – such acts of laziness would include refusing to go out for a casual jog or walk, and even playing. Any decrease in the duration of the physical activities it usually does is also to be taken as a symptom - you're not being paranoid, you're just playing it safe.
A loss of appetite may also occur; no matter what kind of dog food you'd feed it, it wouldn't be eating much of it and perhaps even skip out on some meals. Canine Influenza symptoms may resemble other dog diseases, so if you “suspect” your pooch to have contracted it, don't hesitate to bring it to your veterinarian for a check-up and treatment – it'll be in good hands from there, the veterinarian is very capable of
. You don't have much to worry about, but it isn't an excuse to be cheap and save money – remember you could be paying with your dog's life if things don't go the way you'd expect it to.
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