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Pooches can get flu, too

Symptoms include coughing, runny nose and fever

Western Hills Veterinary clinic owner and veterinarian Stephanie Burk injects her chocolate lab, Jasper, with the canine influenza vaccine at the clinic Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009, in Madison Twp. The clinic is now offering the canine flu vaccine.

Staff photo by Jessica Heffner Western Hills Veterinary clinic owner and veterinarian Stephanie Burk injects her chocolate lab, Jasper, with the canine influenza vaccine at the clinic Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009, in Madison Twp. The clinic is now offering the canine flu vaccine.

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By Jessica Heffner, Staff Writer Updated 6:35 AM Thursday, November 12, 2009

MIDDLETOWN — While parents and children may be crowding into doctors offices across the nation waiting for their flu vaccine, at least one clinic in town had no waiting.

The first to receive a shot from the newly-delivered vaccines, 5-month-old Jasper didn’t shed a tear from the prick of the needle. While technicians had to hold him down, in the end he received a pat and a “good boy” exclamation before being taken off the table and back on his leash.

Jasper is the first of many dogs to receive a new vaccine for a relatively new epidemid- canine flu.

It’s the first such vaccine to be carried by Western Hills Vetinary Clinic in Madison Twp. Owner and vet Stepanie Burk said she has seen more cases of dogs getting flu-like symptoms and with the current H1N1 pandemic, she felt it would be prudent to offer it to her clients.

“The flu is a virus and viruses are tricky things and they will occasionally mutate and infect a different species,” she said. “That is why we are worried about what was specifically the swine flu.”

Similar to the human flu, canine flu is believed to have first infected dogs in 2004 as a mutation from a virus that was sickening horses. Symptoms include coughing, runny nose and fever. Some animals will contract a more serious and deadly form, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Burk said she likens the virus to parvovirus, which killed many pets in the 1970s before a vaccine was doled out to control it.

“It’s been a long time since we had an epidemic (like that) and I don’t want this to be that new epidemic. I feel like we can prevent it ahead of time and then we are ahead of the game, both financially and health-wise.”

Vaccines will be available for $20 with a booster needed about two to four weeks later. Clients who have been to Western Hills in the last year will not be charged and examination fee and can be given a $5 discount if they pay for the booster in advance. For more information, contact the clinic at (513) 422-4181.

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