#dogflu

Canine Influenza has moved out of the mid-west and has now been found in Texas after a dog traveled from the Chicago area to Houston. How can you protect your dog?

1. Avoid travel to areas where the new influenza virus is suspected to be active (Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and now Texas).

2. Avoid taking your dog to areas where other dogs are present if at all possible: groomer, daycare, training, veterinary office; until the threat has passed over.

3. Ask your veterinarian if they are seeing any symptomatic dogs. Ask them if they have a plan in place to deal with sick dogs with flu symptoms. Ask if they are hospitalizing any sick dogs and if they have an isolation ward. We have a plan at our hospital. We ask if the coughing dog has had any exposure to dogs from the mid-west, if they have traveled to that area recently, or brought any dogs in. We will not allow those dogs into the building and will see them in an area away from our building, with full hazmat gear. They are scheduled at the very end of the day so no other dogs are exposed. All gowns, caps, masks, gloves, and equipment used is disposed of outside the building. We do not have an isolation ward, so we will not hospitalize dogs with influenza, but we have made arrangements with three 24-hour care facilities that have good isolation areas. After all, not only do we not want your dog exposed, we do not want our own pets to become ill.

4. Keep you dog’s immune system as healthy as possible. Include foods that are high in vitamin C and zinc in their diet (beef, cooked oysters, spinach, bell peppers, broccoli, peas, Shiitake mushrooms, blueberries, strawberries, melons).

5. Support the immune system with Omega 3 Fatty Acids, Shiitake mushrooms, Echinacea, or Astragalus.

6. Local honey can stimulate the immune system and also has antiviral and antibacterial properties. It also soothes a sore throat for sick dogs.