New Upper Respiratory Illness in Dogs

Dear Holiday Barn Customer,

All of us at Holiday Barn Pet Resorts hope you and your pets are enjoying a happy fall. It is a wonderful time of the year for family vacations and holiday festivities!

Over the last couple of days there have been reports of a new Upper Respiratory Illness (URI) affecting dogs. Fortunately, as of this writing, Holiday Barn has not experienced many cases of URIs in the last several months.

We are optimistic that we will be able to maintain this success, but we need to be proactive in informing you how this new threat is affecting the dog community, primarily in the Western United States, the Northeast, and Florida. Similar to other URIs, the symptoms are coughing, sneezing, goopy eyes, lethargy.

Since symptoms persist for a longer period of time and pneumonia is more likely to occur, this illness is more challenging than the common cold. We encourage you to read this article by Veterinary experts from Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital for more information about this illness.

What can you do? Watch your dog for symptoms. Be selective in where you allow your dog to socialize. Make sure those places your dog visits require up-to-date vaccinations and are actively watching the population for any health challenges. If your dog becomes sick, prevent it from socializing with other dogs and seek veterinary care.

Thank you for respecting this health challenge for our dogs.

Michael W. Hughes
“Head of the Pack”
Holiday Barn Pet Resorts