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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Pet owners are being advised to keep their dogs from socializing with other dogs as a spring bout of kennel cough is affecting Yellowknife's canine population.

Dr. Tom Pisz greets Nicolas, a friendly husky/lab mix in need of a home, on Saturday. Pisz said he is seeing about five cases of kennel cough a day among his clients at the Great Slave Animal Hospital. - Kevin Allerston/NNSL photo

"The dog park is not a very good place to go now because of the kennel cough, anywhere where people walk lots of dogs," said Dr. Tom Pisz, owner of the Great Slave Animal Hospital.

Pisz said he has been seeing about five cases of kennel cough a day and that the ailment is common when seasons change.

"When the weather changes from cold to warm the virus starts spreading, and also in the fall when the weather gets cooler, the virus starts spreading," said Pisz.

He said the ailment is caused by a combination of a bacteria called bordetella bronchiseptica and the canine influenza virus.

While it is most commonly spread from dog to dog through the air, much like the human flu, it can also be spread from urine and feces from other dogs.

"If a dog is doing their business and then another dog goes up and smells it, they can get the kennel cough," said Pisz.

He said aside from keeping dogs away from other dogs who are sick, a dog's chances of getting sick can be limited with vaccinations.

The vaccine can be administered through a shot or nasally. Like the human flu, however, he said getting the vaccine doesn't always mean a dog won't get sick.

"The virus is changing all the time, like the human flu virus, so the vaccine is not 100 per cent effective," said Pisz.

Things to look out for, he said, is whether the dog is coughing, sneezing, low on energy or trying to eat foreign objects such as grass or wood.

"Very often they start chewing foreign objects because of the throat's inflammation - they will go chew wood or eat grass just because of the discomfort in the throat, so they do it to scratch the throat," said Pisz. "Very often if it is a very mild case, the dogs aren't recommended any treatment, we just let it go through. If the dog is healthy and not very old, not very young, you might just let it run its course."

But there are things dog owners can do if they believe their pet is suffering from kennel cough, such as treating it with cough syrup, preferably with codeine, to help control the cough.

"With the more intense cases we give them antibiotic and anti-inflammatory. This is more for the secondary infection to make the symptoms less severe," said Pisz.

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