KENNEBUNKPORT — Pooch Parade — a chance for furry friends to celebrate Christmas Prelude — did not take place this year. The event was scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 10, in Kennebunkport.
Prelude organizers canceled the annual Pooch Parade, citing the “mystery” respiratory illness that has sickened canines in parts of North America this year. Cynthia Fitzmorris file photo
Prelude organizers canceled the event citing what has been called a “mystery” respiratory illness that has sickened canines in parts of North America this year.
“We hope Santa Paws is good to all of our furry friends and that we can gather together in 2024!,” they wrote.
The Richard P. Riney Canine Health Center at Cornell University, which is investigating the syndrome, recommends avoiding situations such as kennels, dog parks, and day care centers, “if you are unsure about the health status of others in those environments” – an endorsement of the decision to cancel the parade.
The illness comes with symptoms including cough, fever, lethargy and decreased appetite. While it presents similarly to the more common “kennel cough,” it can last longer and is more resistant to antimicrobial treatment.
What makes the illness mysterious is that vets aren’t yet sure whether it’s a more pernicious version of a known bacterial or viral infection or a new pathogen. “A common etiology or set of etiologies have not been determined,” according to an explainer page from Cornell’s Riney Canine Health Center.
In rare cases, dogs have died. A vet in Colorado Springs, Colorado, treated about 35 dogs for the illness between late-October and mid-November, and four of them had to be euthanized or died, according to The New York Times.
Spectrum News reported Nov. 30 that the canine respiratory illness has appeared in Maine, but a vet quoted in the story said pet owners should not panic. That’s advice experts are giving other outlets as well.
On his blog, Worms and Germs Blog, Dr. Scott Weese, a doctor of veterinary medicine and professor at the University of Guelph, shared preliminary data gathered by a pet insurer that shows a “gradual but pretty impressive increase in respiratory disease claims over the past two years.“
The post is from Dec. 1, and he caveated that the data is imperfect because insured dogs are only a small corner of the entire dog population.
“We see general ups and downs … we’re at a high point now, consistent with recent concerns,” said Weese.
In the same post, Weese wrote that he’s “increasingly convinced that this is a situation of the usual suspects … doing their usual thing (mild disease in most dogs with a small subset that get pneumonia and a small subset that get really sick), but at a higher rate.”
So what should a responsible dog owner do?
Keep dogs up to date with vaccines, and see a vet if a dog is showing symptoms, say experts.
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