Mystery dog illness, while rarely fatal, rattles pet owners

A difficult-to-track canine respiratory illness that has been spreading across the country has some dog owners thinking twice about taking their pets to dog parks and doggy day care, but dog centers in the Cedar Rapids area say fear of the illness hasn’t caused them to lose much business yet.

Cases of the still-unnamed respiratory disease started popping up in Oregon a couple of months ago, and have spread around the country. It’s difficult to track exactly where the disease has been spotted, however, because researchers haven’t yet identified what pathogen is causing it.

The illness has symptoms similar to “kennel cough,” a known canine respiratory illness, but it seems to last longer and doesn’t respond well to antibiotics, according to Dr. Ryan Steen, a veterinarian with the Frey Pet Hospital in Cedar Rapids.

Steen said he has seen a couple of suspicious cases in Cedar Rapids, but it’s hard to confirm whether it’s the same respiratory illness that started in Oregon.

Illness sticks around

“We can’t confirm something that we don’t know what it is yet, if that makes sense. Coughing dogs, respiratory disease in dogs, is a very common thing. Seeing coughing dogs is not unusual at all. What makes this newer disease, or this most recent outbreak, different is that it seems to be not very responsive to antibiotics, or not at all, and it sticks around a lot longer,” Steen said.

Treating an illness that doesn’t respond to antibiotics often means managing symptoms — like using cough medicine — and hoping it eventually goes away on its own. That’s not an entirely new situation, Steen said — there are a lot of viral infections that don’t respond to antibiotics and have minimal treatment options.

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“What’s unique about this one is, where more typical coughing conditions resolve after seven to 10 days, this one seems to linger for several weeks,” Steen said. “We’re working with the Iowa State Veterinary Diagnostic Lab, sending them samples, so it’s not like nobody’s working on it. Iowa State’s not the only one; there are multiple states doing the same thing, so hopefully we’ll get answers to these questions.”

In the meantime, Steen said concerned owners should make sure their dogs stay healthy in other ways, like making sure their vaccinations are all up to date and limiting exposure to large groups of unknown dogs.

People whose dogs are very old or very young, or are immunocompromised in other ways, should be extra cautious with their dogs’ exposure to other animals. Short-nosed breeds, like bulldogs, are also at increased risk. Most canines shouldn’t have too much to worry about, however, Steen said.

“The overwhelming majority of dogs who catch this illness do not have serious disease. Though it sticks around a little bit, they get better and it’s only a tiny percentage that get more gravely ill,” Steen said.

Business ‘knocking on wood’

Sonia Brandley is the owner of Cedar Run Company in Hiawatha, which offers doggy day care services as well as boarding services for vacations. Brandley said Cedar Run is completely booked for boarding this year over Christmas, but there have been fewer dogs coming in for day care recently.

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“It’s definitely slower, but this is also our slow time of year,” Brandley said. “Christmas through New Year’s we’re full, which is standard. I don’t think people are going to not go see their family in another state.”

Brandley said she’s been in constant contact with Cedar Run’s clients about the illness. She reached out when the disease was first being reported a few months ago to let dog owners know what to watch out for and ask them to keep their dogs at home if they are sick. A few people have called to ask whether the day care has had any known cases, but as far as Brandley knows, none of the dogs she serves have caught the illness.

The day care also has been diligent in making sure to keep things as clean and safe as possible in the building.

“With the season changes, this is when we normally would see regular kennel cough. Our filtration systems are made for our industry. We leave our doors open a lot because of day care, so fresh air, recycling the air seems to help us out a lot,” Brandley said.

Marissa Meier, manager at Dog Zone in Cedar Rapids, said the business also has been doing whatever possible to keep disease out of their facility. Dog Zone doesn’t offer boarding services, just doggy day care.

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“We are just … cleaning everything. We haven’t had any cases here, so we are knocking on wood and keeping our fingers crossed,” Meier said.

Meier said a few of Dog Zone’s clients kept their dogs out of day care for a few weeks after news of the illness first started to spread, but most of them have returned now.

“It’s just a risk that you run when you bring your dog to socialize, but they can also get it at the groomer and things. Just keep your dogs vaccinated and make sure you’re going to clean facilities,” Meier said.

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