Despite appearing in national headlines, some San Luis Obispo County veterinarians say the mysterious respiratory illness in dogs is not cause for major concern.
Dr. Ofer Cherbinksy of the Atascadero Pet Hospital says they have had no confirmed cases largely because experts aren’t sure what this mystery illness is yet. He explained that other respiratory illnesses, like kennel cough, are often diagnosed without any testing.
“Even when you run all the tests, sometimes you don’t get a diagnosis,” Dr. Cherbinsky said.
He worries the public’s misconception of this illness may lead to unnecessary panic.
“From my standpoint, it’s a big freakout through social media and media,” Dr. Cherbinsky said. “There is no real proof that this disease even exists.”
However, some viewers like Paul Clemmensen said he believes his dog had this mystery illness.
“When it first happened, I thought it was kennel cough, but then it was just when he started throwing up, [that was the] thing that did it. That wasn’t kennel cough. I really didn’t know what it was, and then when I saw the news, it scared me,” Clemmensen said.
Seeing his normally healthy dog with intense flu-like symptoms worried him.
“He just kept getting sicker and sicker. He had green discharge out of his eyes and his nasal...[he] was hacking and dry hacking and vomiting, stomach bile and anything he could eat,” Clemmensen said.
He says his veterinarian in Arroyo Grande couldn’t make heads or tails of his dog’s illness either.
“All they knew was it was some type of respiratory disease. They hadn’t seen any other cases in there as of that date which was about a week and a half ago. And she did tell me that she had talked to some of her colleagues and they were all kind of puzzled as to what was really going on," Clemmensen said.
The vet recommended putting his pup on antibiotics, which has helped him improve.
“Each day it gets better,” Clemmensen said. “I’m hoping that it doesn’t affect him long-term.”
