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Could This Year’s Flu Have An Effect On Your Pets


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Since there has been a major epidemic on the flu this past year in America people are starting to worry not just about themselves but their pets. There have been around 50 children that have passed away and the total number of deaths is around 120 stated by Time.1 This does not look good for anyone or any animal that has a weak immune system.

Now that we can see that this flu could take the lives of humans, pet owners are starting to worry about their pets and are looking for way to help protect them from getting sick. Can pets get sick from the same flu as humans? Pets can get sick from the same flu which is unfortunate this is seen mostly in dogs. Some people may be confused between the pet having a human flu or a pet influenza, if you can distinguish the two, this could save your pets life.

Different Pet Flues

When it comes to cats and dogs they have more of a chance to catch human flues because of this you have to keep an eye on your pet if the flu is going around in your area. With cats and dogs they easy can get Influenza Type A which is also known as H3N8, this is the most common and could be passed down from humans. To tell if your pet is sick you have to find symptoms that are quite different from humans luckily there have been studies to help find if your pet is really sick.

Dog flu symptoms are not too hard to handle if it is not a serious matter. Dogs will usually be sick for about 10 to 30 days when this happens they are usually a little off and don’t really eat much. When it is something serious and they are coughing up blood or not breathing right than it is important to taken them to a veterinarian.

Here are some usually symptoms that are associated with your dog being sick according to PetMD2: coughing, sneezing, temperature hot, and lack of appetite

Luckily for cat owners, there have not been many cases that have been serious when it comes to cats being sick but it is important to be able to look for symptoms that could lead to sickness. Be sure to look for a rise in their temperature, sneezing, drooling, and lack of eating and mouth ulcers. With any of these sings make sure to take your cat straight to the veterinarian, it is also smart to take your cat in for examinations because influenza symptoms could last even though they are not showing.

Protecting Your Pet

The best ways to protect your pet is keeping an eye on your pet and making sure they are not noticing any of the symptoms listed above. Veterinarians offer vaccines or your pets that will help prevent your pet rom getting sick, this is a big plus as there have been a lot of pets that have been getting sick this year.

Even though other pets may seem to be fine in appearance, they may be carrying the flu which could potentially infected your pet. Make sure that you keep your pets and your hygiene up so that you could prevent any type of flu entering both of your systems. Your hygiene is just as important as your pets with this simple step you could eliminate any potential threat.

What to do if your Pet Gets Sick

According to Fortune3, they stated that pets that are in contact with pet influenza have around an 80% chance of getting the illness. By taking the steps above seriously you will be able to prevent this from ever happening to your pet.

If your pet happens to catch the flu, there are medicines and shots that will help your pet overcome the illness. Another important factor to your pets health would be rest, if you see that your pet is not resting properly make sure to contact your vet to see what you could do. The veterinarian will prescribe certain antibiotics to help your pet overcome its illness, luckily now with the new technology in animal medicine you are able to get high quality drugs that work fast.

When it comes to cats getting the illness it is a bit trickier because there are no antiviral medicines for cats that have been invented. This is due to the limited knowledge of cat illness since there are not too many cases of cats getting sick, vets have not found a cure for the ones that have caught the flu. So if your cat ends up ever getting sick make sure to isolate the cat in a comfortable environment, contact your local vet and make sure has all the rest that it needs.

Luckily the chance of your cat or dog getting sick from you or someone else is quite slim but it is better to know what to look for than not know anything at all. Whenever you are sick make sure that you stay away from your pet and clean up around your house, this will prevent your pets from getting sick. Make sure that you keep your pet comfortable and healthy and you should have no problem with pet influenza.

Make sure to follow these tips and keep your pet safe.  


Sources:

1 http://time.com/5115410/dog-flu-outbreak/

2 https://www.petmd.com/dog/dog-symptom-checker

3 http://fortune.com/2018/01/24/dog-flu/ 

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Kevin Charles

Associate Writer

Kevin is the newest member of the Wavez writing staff. He lives in Los Angeles and got his start as a screenplay writer. He still loves writing scripts in his free time and hopes to one day have a play on Broadway!