AN Orange veterinarian says an outbreak of the respiratory disease kennel cough has left his surgery inundated with dogs suffering from the potentially fatal condition.
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Canobolas Family Pet Hospital veterinarian Geoff Freeth said in the past two weeks his surgery has treated at least two dogs a day when in a normal season the facility would see a couple a month.
Dr Freeth said just as human colds are more common when the weather becomes cooler, kennel cough has taken hold in the dog population in Orange in the last few weeks.
“The coughing is often severe and can be really quite distressing for the dog,” he said.
“It tends to persist for between 10 to 14 days.”
“Kennel cough can be caused by a number of infectious agents just like the human cold but is much more severe.
Dr Freeth said the kennel cough is roughly equivalent to whooping cough in humans.
Kennel cough is also highly contagious and is passed on with only a brief meeting between an infected dog and a non-infected dog.
Dr Freeth said the kennel cough vaccine isn’t long acting one so he recommends at risk dogs be re-vaccinated.
While the disease is rarely fatal, except in very young, old or infirm animals it can lead to various other respiratory ailments like chronic bronchitis.
Treatment involves quarantining the infected dog and giving the appropriate symptomatic care.
tracey.prisk@ruralpress.com
