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.

Dog Rescued 1 Year Ago Still Continues To Hug His New Mom Every Day She Comes Back Home

Meet Kylo, the rescue doggie who feels so grateful for being saved from a shelter, he just wants to snuggle and hug his human mom the moment she steps into their house. “As soon as I sit down to take off my shoes he climbs into my lap to be held,” Meghan Sweers, Kylo’s new owner, told The Dodo. “If I don’t sit down for our cuddle time he follows me around with the saddest most pathetic look on his face until I give in and hold him.”

But it wasn’t always like that – when he was just 10 months old, Kylo was surrendered to the shelter, and, once pulled away from it, spent ages at a foster home with no one showing interest in the goofy dog – until Sweers and her husband showed up.

Kylo’s first night at their home went absolutely perfect. “He crawled into my lap, tucked his head under my chin, and started snoring like a chainsaw,” Sweers said. “From that moment my husband and I knew he was staying with us!”

Kylo the hugging dog is so grateful for finding a loving forever home, he gives love to everyone he meets now. “He wins people over a bit forcibly… by climbing into their lap and falling asleep.”

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