What is Canine Upper Respiratory Complex?
Well, just like human colds, our canines can also get viruses with the most known being canine upper respiratory complex (canine cough). Canine cough itself can have multiple causes. Dogs "catch" canine cough when they inhale bacteria or virus particles into their respiratory tract. This tract is normally lined with a coating of mucus that traps infectious particles, but there are a number of factors that can weaken this protection and make dogs prone to kennel cough infection, which results in inflammation of the larynx (voice box) and trachea (windpipe).
Causes:
Canine cough can spread through aerosols in the air, directly from dog to dog, or through germs on contaminated objects.
Symptoms:
The classic symptom of kennel cough is a persistent, forceful cough. It often sounds like a goose honk. This cough is different from a cough-like sound made by some dogs, especially little ones, which is called a reverse sneeze. Other symptoms would include gagging, coughing up white foamy phlegm, fever and nasal discharge.
Prevent:
The best way to prevent canine cough is for your dog to not have exposure to other dogs. This may not be ideal to most people, as their dogs love to go to dog parks, the pet store and to see their friends at doggy daycare. In these cases, vaccinations are available for several of the agents known to be involved including parainfluenza and Bordetella.
