It’s officially flu season and not just for humans. Veterinarians in the San Francisco area are warning dog guardians about a highly contagious dog flu that is sweeping the country.
In a warning to all dog caretakers, animal lover Taureen Joshua shared a video the above video on Facebook of a friend’s dog violently shaking their head because of the flu. “ATTENTION dog owners! This video is from yesterday… a friend noticed this randomly happening and went to the vet immediately,” Taureen shared. Other symptoms of the dog flu include nasal discharge, lethargy, sneezing, fever, and coughing.
Luckily, the flu can be treated and current regiments include a cough suppressant and antibiotics.
“Over the past two weeks, we’ve seen maybe 50 cases,” said Shadi Ireifej, a veterinarian at United Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Hospital in Campbell. In addition, Willow Glen Pet Hospital said they have treated 12 cases of the dog flu just since January 3, 2018. Boarding kennels are also closing to ensure facilities are disinfected.
The dog flu cannot be transmitted from dog-to-person, veterinarians say, but the virus can be spread via leashes and human clothing. It’s believed this flu is caused by two strains, H3N2 and H3N8. H3N8 showed up in 2004 in Florida racing greyhounds and H3N2 showed up in the Midwest region in 2015.
Thankfully, no deaths have been reported, but of course, it’s still vitally important to protect your dog. If your dog starts to display any flu-like symptoms, don’t hesitate to take them to the vet immediately! And PLEASE share this important video with all of the dog lovers you know. As pet guardians, we are responsible for keeping our companion animals happy and healthy!
The dog flu is nothing but total BULLSHIT! These damn allopathic vets, news media & of course, BigPharma Mafia Industry, wants you to get the damn vaccine they made for this so -called flu! I teach people that if you stop over vaccinating your pets(especially dogs as they seem to get more vaccines than our cats) or stop vaccinating at all!! including rabies(another scam)– then you\’d stop destroying their immune system!! AND if you\’d start feeding the way they were fed for thousands of years, complete raw diet instead of GARBAGE CRAP dry kibble & most canned foods, stop giving toxic poisons of HW pills! chemcial flea tick & mosquito products; chemical wormer; over use of antibiotics/steroids/NSAID\’s then you\’d have not only a much healthier animal but one that would live its NORMAL life span w/o needing a vet(other than emergencies)! Yes your pets use to live very long lives – small breed dogs & cats- mid to late 20\’s! medium to large breeds late teens(many medium lived to early 20\’s); X-large breeds early to mid teens! I have studied wolves & almost every wild cat you can think of for 35yrs now(maybe even a little more actually LOL) and domestic animals I\’m a behaviorist & dog trainer 35yrs as well(actually trained first dog 45yrs ago at very young age) – Pet Nutritionist as well – and yes, your vets have you all fooled/brain washed into believing your pets need all these damn vaccines – I ahve Naturally Reared the Elite bloodlines of German Shepherds from Germany now just like wolves(and all wild animals) – and have made the same mistakes too many people continue to make and took years off my poor animals lives! NO MORE! STOP THE INSANITY. I also am a homeopath and treat animals and am learning for humans as well and yes, homeopathy does work – I use on myself for a major back injury and have helped other people with their animals even treated my own when I did small experiments with the other fools teaching incorrect PROPER complete raw diets
Okay, so if (by the comments) this article is lacking… and it\’s not flu… and meds wont\’ help… etc etc… then WHAT is it?? For any pet owner, that looks distressing. I don\’t have dogs, but would like to know, as the involuntary shaking seems either nerve-related, or stress related or even a form of epilepsy?? I don\’t know, that\’s just my layman\’s guess. Is there not a vet (who\’s seen this before) who could comment from a professional point of view?
It\’s Idiopathic Head Tremors, very common. It is not distressing to the animal. My male boxer had them, usually upon waking up. You just need a distraction to \’snap them out of it\’. Our recommendation was a spoon full of pnut butter to lick, or a favorite toy to play with.
Helen French Thornton Branch