Veterinarians warn of rising cases of mystery dog illness

Veterinarians are sounding the alarm as they see a growing number of coughing dogs.

Wendy Brown’s three golden retrievers — Bridge, Dooley and Lulu — are among the dogs who started showing symptoms earlier this November.

“Dooley started doing kind of this huffing and also seemed to feel quite lethargic,” Brown recalled to “Good Morning America.” “Not too long after, Bridge began to exhibit the symptoms. But his were louder, more boisterous. I thought it was his stomach because he made like a retching sound.”

Initially, Brown thought her pets had a typical kennel cough but when their symptoms didn’t subside, she knew it was something more serious.

“The vet started him on a 10-day cycle of doxycycline. Today was day 10 and he is not a lot better,” Brown said.

Brown, an Idaho resident, said she’s still not sure what could have caused her dogs’ illness in the first place.

While research is underway, veterinarians say the mystery illness is highly contagious and can be fatal. Reported symptoms so far have also been typical of a kennel cough and they include coughing, sneezing, nasal and/or eye discharge and lethargy.

“Instead of that dry cough where the dog felt good, it was now this wet cough where the dog felt sick,” Amanda Cavanagh, the section head of the urgent care service at Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital, told “GMA.”

Experts like Cavanagh said any dogs showing signs of consistent coughing should be brought to a vet to be examined.

“We can ultrasound the lungs to see if there is a problem that is related to pneumonia or the contagious pneumonia that seems to be going around,” Cavanagh said.

Cavanagh also recommends keeping any coughing dogs away from other dogs and for two weeks after the cough goes away.

Thankfully, a puppy who had been brutally crated in a trash bag and left to die next to a riverbank was saved in time.

Every now and then there’s an animal ʀᴇsᴄᴜᴇ story that takes my ʙʀᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴀᴡᴀʏ. Oliviero’s is one such story.

Two women were strolling across the rivers of Messina in Southern Italy, when the ᴍᴜꜰꜰʟᴇᴅ ᴡʜɪᴍᴘᴇʀs of an animal caught their attention. They began to investigate the location of the noise and they discovered something in a garbage bag lying along the banks of the River Terme Vigliatore. What they found sʜᴏᴄᴋᴇᴅ and appalled them.

When the woman tore open the plastic bag, she found a dog in ᴘᴏᴏʀ condition. The scene was more ʜᴏʀʀɪꜰʏɪɴɢ when not far away, there was a ᴅᴇᴀᴅ calf lying Rᴏᴛᴛɪɴɢ nearby. The dog was ᴛʜʀᴏᴡɴ ᴀᴡᴀʏ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛʀᴀsʜ, ᴛɪᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ by electrical wires while vermin and ꜰʟʏ ʟᴀʀᴠᴀᴇ settled on the dog’s ʀᴀᴡ ᴍᴇᴀᴛ. He was so ᴇxʜᴀᴜsᴛᴇᴅ that he couldn’t stand up on his own.

The first thing the woman did was give the dog water to give him a boost. Then, they called the animal ʀᴇsᴄᴜᴇ staff to get help. Linda Li, an animal ʀᴇsᴄᴜᴇ volunteer, came and took the dog to the ᴠᴇᴛ. He seemed to know he was sᴀᴠᴇᴅ and it wagged its tail repeatedly.

They named the dog Oliviero. After ᴇxᴀᴍɪɴᴀᴛɪᴏɴ, they determined that he was ᴘᴀʀᴀʟʏᴢᴇᴅ in his hind legs due to an ᴜɴᴋɴᴏᴡɴ ɪɴᴊᴜʀʏ. Oliviero is cleaned of ticks and cleaned. He gets better every day thanks to the dedicated care of the ʀᴇsᴄᴜᴇ volunteers. Finally, Oliviero is adopted by a kind woman who will give him the love and family he deserves. Thank you to the ʟɪꜰᴇɢᴜᴀʀᴅs who helped change his life.

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