Do dogs get colds?

[Debi]

I just read the thread on 'runny nose' by bogolove. Do dogs catch colds?? Dave and I have both had colds for over a week....today Addie is coughing. She also threw up this afternoon (as soon as I brought her in. ) She is still playing, but sort of seems more sluggish than usual just the same. Her appetite is good, and she is drinking lots of water..as per usual. I've never thought about dogs and colds before. She doesn't cough all the time.....just sometimes. THANKS!

 

[bogolove]

You know, I think I have heard that they can catch colds, but I am not sure if the information was reliable and I can not actually recall where I heard it, so maybe some other members will give us more input. They can get allergies so why not colds? It would make sense.

 

[Renee750il]

As far as I've ever known, they can catch canine versions of colds. The ones we get are not zootropic, or communicable to our dogs or cats, but they do get their own viruses. My Mom even had a little Terrier once who got some kind of doggie bronchitis in the winter. The vet had Mom give her children's Creomulsion for the cough.

A friend of mine had a sure-cure for a cold. It really worked; I've seen it time after time. She'd crush up a clove of garlic in a tablespoon of raw honey with a couple of teaspoons of lemon juice. The cold would start getting better and would be gone in a couple of days. Of course, the cure may have been worse than the disease . . . I just stick with ginger; ginger tea, candied ginger, ginger capsules. All the congestion goes away. It seems to help the dogs when they get runny noses, too.

 

[bogolove]

Like the kind of ginger they put on your plate when you order sushi? Or is it more like an herb?

 

[Renee750il]

That's the same ginger, only when you get it with sushi it's pickled. I doubt most dogs would voluntarily eat pickled ginger, but you never know. Mickey, the Toy Fox Terrier I had when I was a kid, loved sauerkraut, and Shiva will also eat it happily, so you never know . . .

By the way, the ginger's also great for nausea - yours, the dog's, kids'. I use the candied ginger for that.