How To Treat Dog Cold
How to treat a dog cold
- Use a humidifier. Just like humans, warm, steamy air can help loosen up a stuffy nose.
- Clean your dog’s environment.
- Make sure he get lots of rest.
- Keep away from other dogs.
- Give him plenty of fluids.
- Keep your pup well fed.
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What medicine can I give my dog for a cold?
If your dog is congested or has a dry nose from a cold, you can give them pediatric or saline nasal sprays. Don’t use any other type of OTC nasal medication unless prescribed by your veterinarian.
Should I be concerned if my dog has a cold?
How Are Dog Colds Treated? – If you suspect your dog has a cold, the first thing you should do is call your veterinarian. While a mild cold is probably not a cause for concern, it is very important to rule out any other causes of your dog’s symptoms. Your veterinarian will perform a physical exam of your dog to listen to their heart and lungs and may suggest running a series of diagnostic tests to make sure your dog does not have a more serious condition.
Do I need to take my dog to the vet for a runny nose?
What does it mean when my dog has a runny nose? – If your dog has a runny nose, it shouldn’t be cause for immediate concern. If the nasal discharge is clear, it may be a sign of a seasonal allergy or a reaction to the heat. However, if nasal discharge is discolored, bloody, or has pus in it, you should take your dog to the vet.
Should I take my dog to the vet for a runny nose?
Diagnosing the issue – A runny nose that is recurrent, persistent, or involves a change from clear watery discharge to mucous, pus, or even blood should be seen to by a vet as soon as possible. Your vet will likely examine your dog’s teeth to rule out any dental issues causing your dog’s runny nose.
- A sample of the nasal discharge may be taken and sent for examination to look for fungal or bacterial presence.
- Your vet may require further lab work and X-rays for particularly elusive causes of your dog’s runny nose.
- A rhinoscopy – a small camera inserted into your dog’s nose to see inside – may also be needed to determine whether something inside the nose that could be causing the problem.
This is usually done under anesthetic.
Is it OK if my dog has a runny nose?
What is Runny Nose? – A healthy dog may have a mild runny nose occasionally with no cause for alarm, but chronic or severe nasal discharge could indicate serious health issues. A mild runny nose is characterized by small amounts of watery discharge, may be accompanied by sneezing, and can be a sign of nervousness.
- However, a severe runny nose may persist with discharge that is thicker, a color other than clear, and may contain blood or pus.
- A runny nose is characterized by nasal discharge that may range from watery to thick and may contain blood or pus.
- Upper respiratory organs produce nasal discharge.
- It’s important to remember that while sneezing and nasal discharge might be normal for dogs, it should be a concern if it becomes severe or chronic.
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Does my dog need a blanket at night?
A dog’s blanket provides a great deal of comfort both in and out of the home. Many families have chaotic routines. Work, school, and nightly activities can all provide a jolt of unpredictability into your pet’s life. These are essential activities in your world, but to your pet, they are a source of stress. Your dog needs a spot to call their own. When chaos is thrust upon them, they need something, however small it might be, that they can depend on to provide comfort. A dog’s blanket is often just the thing that they need to provide that source of comfort.
When it comes to purchasing a dog blanket, it’s good to know you have plenty of durable and comfortable options. Below are some of the reasons that every dog needs a blanket: A Natural Instinct to Nest – Dogs have base instincts that have stuck with them since before the days of domestication. For instance, they may circle and scratch around their sleeping spot.
For them, it may feel like they’re building their comfortable nest, or a place to rest for the remainder of the night. A blanket gives them a natural place to rest their head inside your home. They won’t need to go searching all over for this spot on a regular basis if they have a comfortable, favorite blanket accessible for them to sleep on. Keep Your Dog Warm – Sleeping on a blanket instead of tile or a hardwood floor can provide your dog a source of warmth and comfort on a cold winter night.
This is especially true if you don’t sleep in the same room as your dog, or don’t allow them on your living room furniture. Offering your animal this option, especially on a winter night, can just feel like the right thing to do. Keep Calm in a Thunderstorm – Summer thunderstorms can be a great source of anxiety for dogs.
The shockingly loud booms can send animals into panic mode. Having a blanket for them to take shelter on can provide a source of stability in chaos. Comfort on the Go – Travel is stressful for dogs. For many animals, the car becomes automatically associated with the vet, which can make going anywhere with your pup difficult. Comfort in Unfamiliar Places – Families travel and go on vacations. People often board their animals to make vacations a little easier. A favorite blanket can provide a permanent reminder of home, and their “favorite humans.” This is another difficult and anxiety-provoking experience for dogs, and that sense of stability that a blanket provides can really help.
Do dogs get cold indoors?
Do Dogs Get Cold at Night? – It is possible for dogs to get cold at night, even if they’re kept indoors. “If you think your dog is getting cold at night, consider giving him a cozy blanket to snuggle up to in bed. Most dogs will not feel cold at night or will seek out a warmer place if they do,” says Satchu.
Why does my dog sound like his nose is stuffy?
How do I know if my dog has a stuffy nose? – The medical terms for a canine’s blocked nose are “rhinitis” and “sinusitis”. If you are worried your dog may be suffering from a blocked nose, there are some common symptoms to keep an eye out for. Is your dog sneezing more frequently? Is there visible mucus discharge from the nose? Has your dog’s appetite decreased ? All of these may be symptoms of a stuffy nose.
- Several things can cause rhinitis and sinusitis.
- Dogs can get a blocked nose due to allergies,
- They can be allergic to dust, mites, mold, even grass! They could also be suffering from a bacterial or fungal infection in the nose.
- One other cause to watch out for is botfly parasites.
- The larvae make their way through the mouth or nose of your dog.
Less common, but also possible, is a stuffy nose as a result of tumors and cancerous glands in the nasal passage. When you take your dog to the vet, they will undergo a physical examination to diagnose the cause of the stuffy nose. A dental exam, blood work, and sometimes even radiographs will be taken to rule out complications and to provide an accurate diagnosis.
To learn more about this condition, plus receive more detailed advice and guidance, visit our guide to Rhinitis and Sinusitis in Dogs, Most pet insurance companies don’t cover pre-existing conditions. To avoid stress and high veterinary care costs, insure your pet today. To avoid high veterinary care costs, secure pet health insurance today and save up to $273 each year.
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Can a dog get over a cold without medicine?
Most dog and puppy colds will go away on their own with a little love and care. But if they linger or don’t seem to get better, take your pup to the vet. What seems like a common cold could actually be kennel cough or another serious respiratory illness.
Can a human with a cold get a dog sick?
5 Illnesses You Can Give Your Dog (and a Few You Can’t) by David F. Kramer Some of the best things about pet ownership involve sharing. We share our love and affection, prime real estate on the bed or couch, and even our meals. Unfortunately, another thing we share with our pets can be unwanted visitors in the form of germs and infection.
Animals can pass a multitude of diseases to humans in a process called zoonosis. In recent years, the advance of, and other animal-borne diseases have revealed just how serious this problem can be. What’s lesser known, and even lesser studied, is the prospect of reverse zoonosis, which involves the passing of disease from humans to animals.
While less prevalent than disease transmission in the other direction, we can indeed make our dogs sick. Here are some diseases you can give your dog, and a few you can’t. is a highly contagious viral disease in people. Initial physical symptoms of the disease include lethargy, muscle pain, headache, and fever, and are usually followed by a painful swelling of the parotid salivary glands, located on the sides of the face.
- While often associated with children, mumps can strike at any age.
- The good news is that most cases of the disease can be prevented through vaccination.
- People who do come down with mumps typically recover over the course of a week or two, but in some cases the virus can cause serious complications such as hearing loss and inflammation of the pancreas, testicles, ovaries, and the brain and the membranes that cover it.
“Though rare, dogs can become sick after exposure to the mumps virus from an infected person,” says Dr. Jennifer Coates, veterinary advisor with petMD. She says that symptoms can include fever, lack of appetite, and a swelling of the salivary glands below the ears.
- After palpating your dog’s salivary glands, your vet will most likely order tests to rule out other, more common conditions that also cause the salivary glands to swell.
- He or she may also aspirate a sample of the infected gland by use of a small needle so that it can be analyzed.
- Most dogs recover from a mumps infection in five to ten days, according to Coates.
While no specific remedy for the disease is available, your vet may recommend symptomatic treatment to keep your dog comfortable during recovery. While the risk of human to dog infection from mumps is low, it is obviously best to keep your pets away from any infected family members., is an infection of the skin that affects humans as well as animals. Despite its name, ringworm is not caused by any type of parasite or worm but by a fungus. The primary symptom of ringworm in people is an itchy, round rash. In dogs, ringworm typically causes roughly round patches of hair loss that may or may not be itchy.
Ringworm can be transmitted through direct contact with an infected individual (human or animal) as well as through contaminated objects (brushes, towels, etc.). “We treat that topically with antifungal medications, and treat it systemically with an antifungal suspension or oral pill, if necessary. We also use shampoos or dips to minimize the spread of spores to avoid further infection,” says Dr.
Adam Denish of Rhawnhurst Animal Hospital in Pennsylvania. “As vets, our main responsibility is to make sure that animal diseases don’t get passed to people. We may educate owners about human diseases and make sure that if they have them, they can’t be passed to their animals.” If you have been diagnosed with ringworm, keep the affected area of skin covered to avoid transmitting the condition to your dog. While is often associated with food poisoning, it can also be passed to humans through contact with infected animals, and vice versa. In both humans and dogs, Salmonella can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, headaches, and abdominal cramps. Young children and the elderly are more at risk for complications from Salmonella infection.
Coates says that, “dogs are more resistant to Salmonella than are people, so the chances of you making your dog sick are slim. That said, taking common sense precautions only makes sense.” Avoiding passing Salmonella to your dog is simply a matter of good hygiene. For example, if your dog is prone to drinking from the toilet, then it’s certainly prudent to keep him or her from this activity while an infected person might be using it, and people with Salmonella should be extra vigilant about washing their hands after using the restroom.
Also, if the disease is food-borne, you should obviously keep infected foods away from dogs, and even out of the trash if they’re prone to going through it. Giardia infection, or giardiasis, is one of the most common waterborne infections in the U.S. According to Denish, ” that appears in dogs, and can be seen in cats and even in exotic animals. It is spread through contact with feces and contaminated water.
Symptoms include diarrhea and weight loss; we see it in a lot of pet store and breeder dogs coming from the south with hotter weather conditions.” A person can get Giardia from a dog’s feces, and this disease can be passed from human to dogs, though a dog is far more likely to get it from another animal, especially in a pet store or puppy mill setting where many animals are kept in close quarters.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the most common mode of Giardia transmission is water, which can include drinking water, well water, lake and stream water, and swimming pool and spa water. Coates says that the main symptom of Giardia in dogs is diarrhea.
- Your vet can often confirm this diagnosis through fecal analysis.
- Once diagnosed, Giardia is usually treated with fenbendazole and/or metronidazole,” she says.
- Is caused by Staphylococcus aureus bacteria that have developed resistance to several types of antibiotics.
- The condition is especially prevalent in health care settings where a patient’s immune system may already be compromised by other illnesses, but it can be contracted in the general community as well.
MRSA usually causes skin infections, but pneumonia, surgical site infections, sepsis (infection of the bloodstream), and other conditions are also possible. As for the treatment of MRSA, Dr. Katie Grzyb says, “MRSA treatment is dependent on culture and sensitivity.
- A culture is taken by the human physician and many antibiotics are tested against this pathogen to see which resolves the infection best.
- Once determined, the patient is then put on this antibiotic usually for upwards of 6-8 weeks and then recultured after finishing the antibiotics to ensure the MRSA has cleared.” According to Denish, pet owners who work in a health care setting have a very low chance of passing this infection to their dogs and would most likely need to be actively infected to pose a risk to their animals.
, is a bacterial disease spread through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks ( Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus ). The initial symptoms in people include a growing patch of redness on the skin, lethargy, swollen lymph nodes, and fever, though 20-25% of those affected will not develop a rash.
- A diagnosis can be confirmed through blood tests to detect antibodies against the bacteria, but these are not always reliable and can have false positive results.
- Lyme disease can lead to very serious complications, including partial facial paralysis, joint pain, severe headaches, memory loss, and heart palpitations.
Even with medical treatment, those affected with Lyme disease may experience these debilitating symptoms for six months or more. Lyme disease can also be serious in dogs, and can lead to swollen lymph nodes, fever, lack of appetite, kidney issues, and potential lameness due to inflammation of the joints, according to Coates.
The treatment for both humans and dogs often includes the antibiotic doxycycline, although other medications may be used depending on the specifics of the case. As with humans, there is always the possibility that several courses of antibiotics and medication may be needed, and that symptoms may return despite appropriate treatment.
Luckily for both pets and their owners, the tick itself is the conduit for Lyme disease. The disease can’t be passed from person to person or from person to dog. While humans and animals are both capable of developing symptoms that are typically associated with the, the good news is that the likelihood of a person transmitting the illness to a dog is extremely low.
Coates says, “in almost every case, the viruses that cause cold-like symptoms in people and dogs are species-specific.” Colds in both dogs and people generally resolve on their own, but if symptoms worsen or fail to improve, it’s best to see your doctor (or vet). As far as transmission goes, the same can’t necessarily be said for,
While most of the medical community has long believed that the flu cannot be passed from human to animal, recent cases have shown that the adaptable nature of the flu may very well mean that some strains can indeed be passed from humans to other animals, including dogs.
In truth though, the risk of this occurring is still extremely small (though who’s to say what the future holds!). While some pet owners might swear that their dog came down with the sniffles shortly after they did, this is most likely a coincidence. The good news is that while your family should keep their distance from you while you’re suffering with the latest cold or flu bug, you can still curl up with your dog for comfort and emotional support—and the same goes for when your dog is feeling under the weather.
Keeping your pets safe from illnesses is no different than keeping yourself and your family healthy. “You should always practice cleanliness when it comes to your pet,” says Denish. Even if the likelihood of passing a disease between you and your dog is low, take simple precautions like washing hands and avoiding being licked around the face.
Denish adds “be educated, and don’t strictly rely on the internet for information. Talk with your physician as well as your veterinarian whenever you’re sick about the potential risks to others in your family, as well as your pets.” The risk for infection both from owners to their pets, as well as in the other direction, is always increased for humans and animals with compromised immune systems.
For owners and pets afflicted with immune disorders caused by infections, chemotherapy, steroid use, diabetes, etc., every care needs to be taken to avoid cross-infection. Developing a good rapport with both your veterinarian and your family doctor will help maintain your health and that of your pets.