BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – An infectious respiratory disease among dogs has been reported in at least 16 states, not including Louisiana.
As more people look to board their dogs ahead of the holidays, veterinarians want people to know the difference between kennel cough and the mysterious dog illness.
“Kennel cough specifically is caused by another bacteria called Bordetella bronchiseptica, and then there are a lot of viruses that can cause the same type of symptoms,” said Dr. Nancy Welborn, an Associate Professor of Community Practice with the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. “Symptoms starting out look very similar. The dogs are coughing.”
She said with this new disease, the dogs seem to have a dry cough for six to eight weeks. Other symptoms include sneezing and eye or nose discharge.
Dr. Welborn said there are a couple of things to keep in mind before you board your dog ahead of the holidays.
“Make sure their dog is correctly vaccinated for everything it needs to go into a population of dogs,” she said. “We recommend that that dog is current on Bordetella and influenza. We try to tell people don’t put your dog into a new population of dogs if you can help it because you don’t know where those other dogs have been.”
Amanda Floyd Bovino is the owner and founder of Royal Treatment, a premier pet grooming salon, pet boarding, and dog daycare on Lee Drive in Baton Rouge.
They have purifiers that circulate with their air circulation in the building. They’re also doing stringent cleaning protocols with veterinary-grade cleaners and have a deep clean protocol that they use. They’re making sure your kids have separate cleaning bowls and different spaces. She’s ensuring people have a peace of mind when they bring their pups in.
“Like always when you’re dealing with uncertainties, when you’re dealing with live animals it’s so important to know your kiddo, your fur kid, if they’re acting different, if they look like somethings going on, they got some sort of strange cough or anything, just communicate that to us and we’ll communicate to you as we know more about everything and know that we’re doing everything we can and upping our protocol as we get into the busy season.”
She said they’re going the extra mile each year to have the safest and cleanest environment possible.
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