Dogs can catch colds just like people. Help keep your dog healthy by learning how to spot signs of a respiratory infection and how to treat it before the illness has a chance to develop into something serious.

 

At its simplest, a cold is an upper respiratory infection, and it produces the following symptoms:

• Nasal congestion and discharge
• A little difficulty breathing through the nose
• Occasional coughing
• Mild fever
• Runny eyes
• Sneezing
• General lethargy
• Loss of appetite

While these symptoms can make your dog relatively uncomfortable, they’re not severe. Most dogs will get over a simple cold within about a week without any treatment as long as they are kept warm and hydrated.

How to Treat a Cold at Home

Whether you’re dealing with dogs or people, there’s still no cure for the common cold. However, you can provide some supportive measures to make your dog feel more comfortable during the duration of his or her cold.

• Keep your dog warm and dry.
• Limit time spent outside during cold weather. Cold air tends to make the bronchial tubes constrict; this makes it more difficult for your dog to breathe.
• Provide extra nutrition like boiled chicken and brown rice to coax your dog to eat. This will keep his or her strength up and provide immune system support.
• Run a cool mist vaporizer near your dog’s sleeping area to help keep the bronchial tubes moistened.
• Encourage your dog to drink liquids, even if you have to tempt your pet with low sodium chicken broth. This will help keep nasal secretions thin and less likely to clog your dog’s nose.

You can administer children’s cold medicine as long as the type and dosage are approved by your veterinarian. This won’t cure your dog’s cold, but it may help ease the symptoms and make him or her more comfortable.

When to Seek Veterinary Care

The first step in deciding whether your dog needs medical care lies in recognizing his or her symptoms. Once you’ve determined that your dog may have a cold, you must decide whether or not it’s worth a trip to the vet. Although some respiratory infections do get better without medical intervention, as a layperson, it’s difficult to judge just how severe your dog’s illness really is.

The general rule of thumb is that puppies and senior dogs should both be examined by a vet any time they have cold-like symptoms. This is because their immune systems are usually weaker than those of healthy adult pets, and a cold is more likely to progress into pneumonia. With that said, many owners prefer to err on the side of caution and take all sick dogs to the vet for a professional opinion. Seek veterinary care if:

• The symptoms become more intense.
• The dog develops a rattle in its chest.
• The dog is in obvious discomfort.
• The dog stops drinking liquid.