The canine flu outbreak continues as over 1000 dogs have had symptoms and 5 dogs have died.  The Chicago area has been hardest hit with the flu. In that area, dog owners are asked to vaccinate their dogs with the flu shot and keep their dogs away from other dogs.

I live in Michigan where there hasn’t been an outbreak yet.  Even so people are concerned.  Yesterday, I was at my vet picking up Frontline when someone called about the flu vaccination.  The vet is carrying the flu vaccination, but the receptionist said just like the human vaccination, this vaccination covers only certain types of flu.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Artie and Buddy were very sick over the Winter with some time of respiratory virus, which had the same symptoms as this current flu.  Their symptoms included stuffy noses, congestion, coughing, wheezing, and tiredness.  The vet put them both on an antibiotic as a precautionary, but their symptoms still lasted about two weeks.  I felt terrible – there was nothing I could do.  When they were at their worse, I gave them Benadryl.  I also read that a humidifier would provide some help. I would hate to see my dogs that sick again. I know there are some precautionary steps I can take like staying home from the dog park and keeping the dogs home and away from other dogs. I haven’t decided if I will get the dogs the vaccination. It is probably a good idea…for me it’s purely a money issue.  It’s difficult when everything is times three!!!

To to find out more about the canine flu, please see the attached article from PetMD.

Canine Flu Outbreak Worsens, What Should Owners Do? | petMD.