It really depends. As was discussed on the call, 'kennel cough' or canine infectious respiratory disease syndrome (CIRDS) is a complex. Many times it is not known what pathogen(s) are involved. For some of the pathogens, for example distemper, if the dog recovers, they are unlikely to get distemper again. However, even if vaccinated for all of the pathogens that there are vaccines for, the dog could still be exposed to some that we don't and thus get sick. Additionally, it depends on how sick the dog was and it there are any long term impacts after their recovery. All this is to say, we can't and don't know for sure, so the best that we can do is have good husbandry and biosecurity practices and policies in our shelters (and in our homes) to keep animals as healthy and low risk as possible. These practices include (but are not limited to) vaccination on intake with DHPP and a three way intranasal (bordetella, parainfluenza, adeno), double compartment housing, daily (or more) monitoring for clinical signs of illness, isolating sick animals as soon as clinical signs are noted, keeping LOS as short as possible and keeping the population within the organization's capacity for care.
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Cynthia Karsten, DVM DABVP (Shelter Medicine Practice)
Director of Outreach
UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program
Sacramento, CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-11-2023 01:21 PM
From: Anonymous Member
Subject: Community Conversations - 12/11/23 - Canine Infectious Respiratory Disease Complex
This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous
Unanswered question from the chat:
"If a dog has had - and recovered from - a respiratory issue... is that dog more susceptible for another respiratory issue? Even if the dog is current on vaccines?"