Debrief: Mysterious New Respiratory Illness In ... Dogs?

It starts out like the common cold - with a cough, maybe a sneeze - but can suddenly turn into a serious illness unaffected by "normal" treatments, that can linger for weeks. Sound familiar? But this illness impacts DOGS! And no, it's not COVID. So what is it? And why have we heard about cases in at least 14 U.S. states, if not more? Veterinarian Dr. Lori Teller, clinical professor at Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, joins us with her take on what to know and why it matters.
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[@Sarahbetterlatethannever]

Worked as a technician/kennel with Dr Teller when she first graduated. Very kind and intelligent. I knew she would go far. Awesome podcast with great information. 🙏🏼❤️

[@bluehose95]

As a former manager for a boarding facility, knowing your kennel's protocols is a best bet. If they don't have a quarantine area, it's helpful to have a local contact (friend, family, neighbor) who could pick your pet up if necessary. Additionally I'd ask that you please kindly remember that we all accept risks with our health by being in public, sending our kids to school, etc. Think of boarding your dog like that or like living in a dorm. Illnesses spread and if they are airborne, you can do all the cleaning that you'd like, but there's not a whole bunch you can do go eradicate any chance of illness. Basically what I'm asking is for each of us to be kind to our service workers. Life, and illness, happens. If your dog should get sick, unless there's a drastic case of malfeasance on their part, it's just something that happens. Let's all agree to just be kind this holiday season?

[@realhavenrealty]

This podcast broke my heart... why? because in October, we lost our beautiful 12-year-old (otherwise healthy) Australian Shepherd to, what was then, not identified as a "mysterious respiratory illness" but to "bronchitis" - If we had known some of the progressive symptoms to watch for with our Sterling, he might still be with us. No one was talking about this illness in Texas - they STILL are not talking about this in Texas, but they should! Because I am 100% certain, had they been taking the "mystery illness" more seriously in Texas, we might have been given better support by our local vet.
For example, when we were told he had bronchitis vs. pneumonia and were given antibiotics for treatment, no one told us what to look out for - they just said, give him the antibiotics and give him plenty of rest. That's it - didn't know what else to look out for... the coughing stopped, so we thought he was getting better. We didn't carefully monitor his food and water intake, and we didn't check his gums for discoloration. By the time we realized he was declining rapidly, it was too late. He was gone within 5 hours of us taking him to the hospital. It was just too late and he was too far gone by lack of oxygen to his organs. I am not sure if we had taken him to the hospital sooner if they could've saved him, but I wish I had known better what signs and symptoms to look for so I would have known he was getting worse, not better.