It’s National Dog Day, and for dog owners there is a lot to celebrate. Dogs can bring a lot to a person’s life — companionship, comfort and more.
But on this day of celebrating all things canine, dog owners should be careful to ensure their pets maintain good health.
Along with the usual summer worries of Lyme disease and heartworm, there’s a new health concern that has risen in some parts of New England — pneumonia.
Dr. Taylor Driscoll of the Veterinary Emergency Center in Manchester, N.H., told Channel 25 in Boston that it could be spreading.
“We suspect it started here in Southern New Hampshire,” he said. “I got reports that it seems to have spread down to Massachusetts and I have reports from a clinic in Maine that has started to see it as well.”
But area veterinary clinics say they have yet to see a rise in cases.
“We might get a handful of cases, but no increase,” said Lisa Criscione, a certified technician at Foxboro Animal Hospital.
Dr. Robert Massucco, owner of Countryside Veterinary Clinic in Wrentham, agreed.
“I would be surprised if we see an increase in pneumonia,” he said.
A rise in the illness would require a new pathogen or strain of illness, which though possible, is unlikely.
But, he said, that as a result of the report, the clinic has definitely increased the number of X-rays and screenings it normally does for pneumonia.
He added that while reports of increases in pneumonia, like the one from Southern New Hampshire, can serve as helpful wake-up calls for dog owners, they sometimes suffer from a lack of information.
“The same principles in human epidemiology should apply with animals, and they often don’t,” he said, referring to the lack of specific data in the report.
Though Massucco has yet to see any recent increase in pneumonia cases, he did say that the amount of respiratory illnesses in dogs over the past three years has risen significantly.
He pointed to the overcrowding of clinics and doggie daycares during the COVID pandemic as the source of the rise.
“The daycares are riddled with it,” he said.
Fortunately, it can be easy for dog owners to spot the signs of pneumonia in dogs.
“Normal vigilance is fine with pneumonia,” Massuco said, adding that it is unusual for a dog to be suffering from the condition without their owner becoming aware of it.
Criscione said symptoms such as increased respiratory effort, coughing, lethargy and loss of appetite could all be considered signs of possible pneumonia.
“If a dog is coughing, go to the vet,” Massucco said.