BALTIMORE COUNTY — Animal hospitals in Baltimore County are seeing a shortage of dog flu vaccines as summer kicks off and more pet owners want to protect their furry friends.
"Basically, it causes a really bad respiratory issue, coughing, sneezing and fever. Drainage from the eyes and nose and some redness in the eyes,” said Doctor Rachael Gore who is a Veterinarian at Hunt Valley Animal Hospital.
She says they have a waitlist for the flu vaccine. Stating the demand is too high and supply too low.
"For us because boarding facilities have required it and that's increased the need for it and they can't keep up,” said Gore.
According to Dr. Gore, the flu is in all species but dogs catching the flu goes back to 2004.
"It was with greyhounds in Florida, there was a strain that started to infect dogs, that was the H3N2 strain," said Gore.
Dr. Gore said although she's not seen any cases in Cockeysville, the flu vaccine is important if your dog is social or you plan to travel with your dog.
"The highest risks are show dogs in particular cause they are traveling the country and dogs that are in boarding facilities, heavy grooming facilities, doggie day cares that kind of a thing,” said Gore.
Dog owners Catey and Susan Zacur brought their two labradoodle retrievers to get updated on vaccines. They said their dogs have the flu vaccine because like humans, dogs need to be protected. And it'll prevent the spread to other dogs.
"We have a lot of dogs in our neighborhood, we go for a couple of mile walk every day, and they interact with other dogs,” Zacur said. “So I think if your dog is never out of the house I can understand why you would say why worry, but our dogs are exposed to other dogs so that's the major reason.”
While dog owners wait for the flu vaccines to come in, Dr. Gore said it’s important to keep all other vaccines up to date with boosters.
