Veterinarians are sounding the alarm as they see a growing number of coughing dogs.
Wendy Brown’s three golden retrievers — Bridge, Dooley and Lulu — are among the dogs who started showing symptoms earlier this November.
“Dooley started doing kind of this huffing and also seemed to feel quite lethargic,” Brown recalled to “Good Morning America.” “Not too long after, Bridge began to exhibit the symptoms. But his were louder, more boisterous. I thought it was his stomach because he made like a retching sound.”
Initially, Brown thought her pets had a typical kennel cough but when their symptoms didn’t subside, she knew it was something more serious.
“The vet started him on a 10-day cycle of doxycycline. Today was day 10 and he is not a lot better,” Brown said.
Brown, an Idaho resident, said she’s still not sure what could have caused her dogs’ illness in the first place.
While research is underway, veterinarians say the mystery illness is highly contagious and can be fatal. Reported symptoms so far have also been typical of a kennel cough and they include coughing, sneezing, nasal and/or eye discharge and lethargy.
“Instead of that dry cough where the dog felt good, it was now this wet cough where the dog felt sick,” Amanda Cavanagh, the section head of the urgent care service at Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital, told “GMA.”
Experts like Cavanagh said any dogs showing signs of consistent coughing should be brought to a vet to be examined.
“We can ultrasound the lungs to see if there is a problem that is related to pneumonia or the contagious pneumonia that seems to be going around,” Cavanagh said.
Cavanagh also recommends keeping any coughing dogs away from other dogs and for two weeks after the cough goes away.
Owner Travels 310 Miles To Reunite With His Stolen Dog
After being found 310 miles from home, a lost dog was reunited with his owner.
Bandit, a one-year-old Malinois Shepherd, went missing from his home in Côte-d’Or in June of last year (France).
His owner, Farid, was devastated and spent months looking for his canine best friends.
Unfortunately, his search was fruitless for several months. Yet. A kind stranger found Bandit on the side of the road eight months later.
The poor dog was stolen when he was only 4 months old.
The dog was found without a collar 310 miles from home, but he was lucky to have a microchip, which allowed him to be reunited with his owner.
The reunion was well-organized, and the two best friends were overjoyed to be reunited!
Bandit and Farid can now live together thanks to the incredible, life-saving work of the shelter, a kind stranger, and a microchip.
When Farid heard the good news, he rushed to Bandit’s road.
“I’m so grateful to everyone who helped him recover, and I cannot emphasize enough the importance of chipping your pets,” he said. Bringing Bandit home is a miracle that would not have happened if it hadn’t been for that chip.” The day Bandit returned home was one of the happiest of my life.”
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