It’s not just humans getting hit hard by a flu epidemic, it’s dogs, too. Dog flu is highly contagious and spreading across the nation, so here’s how to prepare and protect your pets.
Unlike the human flu shot, the doggy flu shot offers some protection against dog flu. It won’t stop them from getting it, but it will reduce symptoms, and that’s key. Dog flu can be miserable enough, especially for older dogs, but the big risk is that severe symptoms could lead to a secondary infection like pneumonia.
Dog flu symptoms are similar to human flu symptoms, but can be harder to identify in dogs. Coughing, lack of energy, mucus coming out of their eyes and nose, not eating like normal, and fever, although that’s hard for owners to catch.
There are a couple strains of dog flu circulating, including H3N8 and H3N2. For now, they have not mutated so that humans can catch them easily, but they’re close. It maybe possible for other animals to catch dog flu, which is also sometimes known as seal flu or horse flu. In areas with bird flu, there’s a higher risk of that airborne to humans transmission taking place. It’s important to follow basic precautions. Hand-washing will help prevent you bringing flu home to your pet, and you should always wash your hands after handling sick animals.
In addition to hand-washing, changing your clothes when you get home can also help transmission (at least if you want doggy cuddles). And the same basics apply as other flu strains: keep your home humid to reduce transmission, and consider a few drops of colloidal silver in the water bowl to support your pet’s immune system. For now, keep dogs away from other dogs by avoiding kennels, dog parks, and doggy daycare.
If your dog is acting funny, take them to your vet. Keep sick dogs separated from healthy dogs, with separate food and water, and clean shared bedding. If one pet is sick, immune support from something like colloidal silver is even more important.
Make sure you and your pets stay healthy this flu season with immune support from colloidal silver.
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