Okay, in a panic here - Page 2

For sure he needs to see the vet tomorrow. If it was my dog, I'd insist on a complete thyroid panel sent to Michigan State University not some crap in-house test, head X ray, complete bloodwork, checking out his teeth carefully, a look up his nose with a scope, and sending out a nose swab for culture. For tonight check the inside of his mouth by running your fingers inside especially the roof of his mouth. A bone or stick can get jammed sideways between the top teeth and cause a nasty infection that hurts like hell. A bad tooth can do the same thing and make him not want to pick up his ball. If it's a bad tooth I'd just have it pulled. It's quick relief and for a dog a root canal is more trouble than it's worth unless he's a working dog that really needs the tooth.

Hope it's something simple that the vet can fix quick.

Hexe is right about the temp check. The canine flu thing is nasty and most dogs aren't vaccinated against it. Also, has he had distemper vaccinations? If those are way out of date, distemper is possible.

And before anyone starts bitching that it's no big deal, please read on:

From www.promed.com
 

Published Date: 2013-03-25 10:06:07
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Influenza, canine - USA (NH)
Archive Number: 20130325.1601563

INFLUENZA, CANINE - USA (NEW HAMPSHIRE)
***************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org

Date: 24 Mar 2013
Source: New Hampshire Union Leader [edited]
http://www.newhampshire.com/article/20130324/NEWS01/130329523/-1/newhampshire


Dog flu outbreak expected in NH
-------------------------------
Outbreaks of canine flu in other states have prompted some veterinarians to encourage New Hampshire pet owners to consider a flu vaccine for their dogs. If you're a pet owner, you may want to consider a flu shot for another member of the family: your dog.

Canine influenza outbreaks have been reported in Vermont and Massachusetts. And Dr. David Stowe, president of the New Hampshire Veterinary Medical Association, predicts it's "only a matter of time" before an outbreak happens here.

The danger is that dogs here have no immunity to the new H3N8 virus, according to veterinarians. And that's why some are recommending flu shots for animals that go to day care, boarding, grooming, dog parks and other locations where dogs congregate.

"Dogs have never had influenza before," explained Stowe, a veterinarian with VCA Lakes Region Veterinary Hospital in Laconia, who recently treated a young dog for what he believes was the flu. "It makes it more likely that they may catch it if they're exposed to it."

Dr. Stephen Crawford, state veterinarian, said he hasn't received any reports of canine influenza. But he noted the illness is not a reportable disease, so he wouldn't necessarily hear about individual cases.

Canine influenza was 1st identified in racing greyhounds in Florida in 2004. Crawford said it spread to the wider canine population, apparently as retired racers were adopted into homes.

The contagious disease has now been reported in 39 states, including New Hampshire.

What makes it particularly worrisome, Crawford said, is that dogs here have never been exposed to the virus. "When the population as a whole has not been exposed or does not live with that disease organism, there's no opportunity for those animals to have developed any degree of immunity," he said.

A flu vaccine is available, which Crawford likened to "putting up a fence."

"The virus can still get over the fence, but it's going to have to work harder," he said.

And even if a vaccinated dog does get the flu, the duration and degree of signs are likely to be lessened, he said.

Still, Crawford said, "No vaccine is without risk." He recommends dog owners speak with their own veterinarians about whether it makes sense to have their pets vaccinated.

Dr. Stewart Ketcham of Upper Valley Veterinary Services in Lebanon said he's treated a couple of dogs he suspects had canine influenza, although that was not confirmed through blood tests.

But there have been outbreaks in neighboring Vermont. A recent survey by the Vermont Veterinary Medical Association found 23 clinics reported treating anywhere from one case to more than 15 cases.

So in his practice, Ketcham is recommending that people get their pets vaccinated if they have contact with other dogs.

"The tricky thing with this (flu) is they start shedding the virus practically before they have symptoms," he said. "So when you see it, it's already too late."

Ketcham said he expects the virus will cause more illness among breeds that have very small airways -- "pushed-in-faces dogs" -- and animals that have other medical conditions.

He did vaccinate his own dog, a Jack Russell-chihuahua cross named Loca.

Linda Baines, executive director of the NH Veterinary Medical Association, said her 9-year-old cockapoo Chloe also got a flu shot. Her vet, Cilley Veterinary Clinic in Concord, recently notified her that all dogs that come there for day care, boarding, grooming or hospitalization have to get the vaccine, which involves 2 shots and an annual booster.

Baines said canine influenza will be on the agenda for the next meeting of the NHVMA's executive board on 1 Apr 2013.

Stowe said he's been watching closely the northward spread of the emerging virus, which is believed to have jumped from horses to dogs.

Stowe said the mortality rate when the virus 1st appeared in dogs was about 5 percent, which is considered quite high. But he said viruses do tend to become less virulent over time.

Influenza is not to be confused with another respiratory illness, "kennel cough," which presents with just a cough. Dogs with flu can have runny noses and fever in addition to upper respiratory signs, Stowe said. "These are the things we've been watching carefully," he said.

He recently treated an 8-month-old dog that came in with a runny nose. He suspects it was the flu; the pup recovered in a few days. But just like people, dogs can develop secondary infections with influenza, including pneumonia, that can be serious, Stowe said.

And he's concerned about dogs getting both the flu and kennel cough at the same time.

Stowe said he fully expects to see a canine influenza outbreak here by summertime, especially in his area, where there are a lot of seasonal residents who come in from other states. "I think it's imminent."

That's in part because of how much more mobile dogs are today than ever before, he said. "30 years ago, if you pulled up to a stop light, nobody had a dog in their car," he said. "Now everyone has a dog in the car."

Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is monitoring the canine influenza virus "very closely," according to cdc.gov. That's because, while there is no evidence the virus infects humans, influenza viruses are constantly changing, and this one could do so and spread to people, the agency noted.

"Such a virus could represent a pandemic influenza threat," the CDC stated.

Stowe said he's not too worried about canine influenza becoming a danger to humans. But he does expect to see more of these emerging "zoonotic" diseases, animal illnesses that can be transmitted to humans.

Still, he said, that's not a reason to get rid of your dog. "The health benefits of having pets far outweigh the disadvantages."

[Byline: Shawne K. Wickham]

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail from HealthMap alerts
<promed@promedmail.org>

[The "canine influenza virus" is an influenza A H3N8 influenza virus (not a human influenza virus) that was originally an equine (horse) influenza virus. This virus has spread to dogs and can now spread between dogs.

The number of dogs infected with this disease that die is very small. Some dogs have asymptomatic infections (no symptoms), while some have severe infections. Severe illness is characterized by the onset of pneumonia. Although this is a relatively new cause of disease in dogs and nearly all dogs are susceptible to infection, about 80 percent of dogs will have a mild form of disease.

In order for this disease to reach "pandemic" status, it would have to involve more than a few counties. By definition, a pandemic involves a communicable disease that is spread over a large region. When discussing human disease it is generally thought to encompass large masses of land, such as several countries and even continents. So, a few counties likely do not reach the status of "pandemic."

Treatment largely consists of supportive care. This helps the dog mount an immune response. In the milder form of the disease, this care may include medication to make your dog more comfortable and fluids to ensure that your dog remains well-hydrated. Broad spectrum antibiotics may be prescribed by your veterinarian if a secondary bacterial infection is suspected.

If you take your pet to a dog park, a boarding kennel, or play dates, then it is advisable to ask your veterinarian about the approved vaccine for your canine pet.

To date, there is no evidence of transmission of canine influenza virus from dogs to people and there has not been a single reported case of human infection with the canine influenza virus. While this virus infects dogs and spreads between dogs, there is no evidence that this virus infects humans.

However, human infections with new influenza viruses (against which the human population has little immunity) would be concerning if they occurred. Influenza viruses are constantly changing and it is possible for a virus to change so that it could infect humans and spread easily between humans. Such a virus could represent a pandemic influenza threat. For this reason, CDC and its partners are monitoring the H3N8 influenza virus (as well as other animal influenza viruses) along with instances of possible human exposure to these viruses very closely. In general, however, canine influenza viruses are considered to pose a low threat to humans. As mentioned earlier, while these viruses are well established in horse and dog populations, there is no evidence of infection among humans with this virus.

Portions of this comment were extracted from: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/canine/.

New Hampshire may be found on the HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map at: http://healthmap.org/r/613M.
- Mod.TG]

 

See Also

2012
----
Influenza, canine - USA (02): (PA) 20120901.1276129
Influenza, canine - USA: (CA) 20120714.1202100
2011
----
Influenza, canine - USA (06): (NY) 20111124.3437
Influenza, canine - USA (05): (TX) 20111105.3291
Influenza, canine - USA (04): (TX) historical context 20111003.2977
Influenza, canine - USA (03): (TX) comment 20111001.2961
Influenza, canine - USA (02): (TX) 20110928.2931
Influenza, canine - USA: (TX) 20110921.2863
.................................................sb/tg/ejp/dk

Canine influenza vaccine .. WOW another useless vaccine.  What proof do we have that the canine influenza vaccine works and is safe??  The fewer vaccines I give, the healthier my dogs become.  All that my dogs get is rabies as required by law and two distemper/parvo at 9 and 13 weeks as puppies.  No booster for distemper/parvo ever and certainly no Lyme. Lepto or other worthless and dangerous vaccines.  If the rabies vaccine requirement was based on science and not politics the rabies would be very five years but the veterinarians contribute a lot of money to politicians so that will never change.

Drake is fine, thank goodness.  He's got a bit of a runny nose, but it could be due to the high pollen count, post nasal drip causing the cough.  The white crust was the Bag Balm softening around his nostril, where it turned the dead skin white.  He went to the "office" with me, to look at an abandoned house that has evidence of recent arson activity.  I know a very cute, very young Siamese cat on that block and not only was he with us every step of the way, Drake only barked when he got too close to the Jeep..  He's fine

I know I shouldn't panic, but now at least I'm really relieved.  Thanks for being here, it was nice to have support

Hexe, you scared the crap out of me with that last post, LOL.  Thanks for the info, good to be aware.

Travels, I'm glad he's fine, and my intention wasn't to scare the crap out of you, it was to get you to take his temperature--I honestly don't understand why this isn't the first go-to move for any  owner who suspects their dog might be ill, because it is such an easy thing to do and provides such a valuable diagnostic result!  Fever? Take dog to vet now.  No fever? More likely that the problem isn't an emergency situation.  

bubbabooboo, I didn't say a word about vaccinating for canine influenza--but as far as vaccinating against lepto goes, you're dead wrong to consider it a 'worthless' vaccine; tell that to the people who have lost their dogs to the disease in recent years, and see how worthless they consider it to be.  Yes, it only provides a 6 month period of immunity, and yes, it can't presently protect against all of the many serovars of the organism, but it's the best protection we can provide our dogs for this illness at the moment.

Hexe, because of your post last night, I went to the all-night Pharmacy to buy a thermometer.  The Pharmacist pointed me to the best one for dogs --->  102.3  Then I went to sleep.

<LOL> Travels, while I'm sorry you had to make an emergency run for a thermometer, I am also very happy you did so, AND that his temp was normal.  Upon getting that reading, I, too, would have gone to bed and slept soundly, reassured that whatever was making my dog seem a bit 'off' wasn't an emergency-vet level issue.   And now Drake has his own thermometer, so you won't be in a panic the next time he doesn't seem quite right--you'll take his temp, find it's normal, and wait to see if whatever was bothering him blows over in less than a day. 

It is one of my missions in life to get every dog owner to automatically take their dog's temperature anytime they think there might be something amiss with their pet, because it not only can save the owner the cost of a visit to the vet, but it can also save the dog's life as well, and at such little expense and effort!

One of the first things I thought about was that maybe he had inhaled a foreign object. One of my "puppies" managed to snort up an almost 4 inch leafy stem--she ended up with a major infection before they figured out what the problem was and flushed out the stem. (First exam showed no sign of anything in her nose.) And in some areas of the country, I understand the foxtails are particularly bad this year.

Christine

It also helps to know what your dog's normal temp is. My first GSD had a chronic infection in her spine, due to spondylitis. Her baseline temp was only about 99 F. For her, 102 WAS a fever! But trying to convince the vet of that was a hard sell, until I started charting her daily temp.

Hexe .. my vet who is better than most at not selling snake oil freely admits that the Lepto vaccine is wishful thinking and pretty much useless.  The Lepto vaccine sold by vets does not cover all the serovars .. just 4 and there are at least 7 so did the dogs that took the vaccine get protection or no exposure and did the dogs that died could have likely died regardless if they took a vaccine that did not cover all serovars.  What you did write was a huge canon on the canine influenza vaccine that is not supported by any science.  The canine influenza vaccines are just like human influenza vaccines .. work about 60% of the time and you still get sick.  The best claim for the canine influenza vaccine is that the dog may still get sick but it won't be as bad .. what a load of bull .. no way to prove that claim with science.