Home Remedies for Dogs with a Cold

The common cold is a viral disease; it is caused by the presence of viruses from the parainfluenza family, although it can also be caused by the canine adenovirus. These viruses primarily affect the upper respiratory tracts (nasal cavity, pharynx and larynx), causing inflammation, irritation and damage to their lining.

The symptoms of the common cold in dogs, just like in humans, include regular sneezing, an irritating cough and a frequently running nose. These symptoms may be accompanied by a slight temperature, which results in the animal showing a certain apathy or general discomfort.

If these symptoms worsen or complications arise, you should immediately go to the vet.

First of all, you have to let your dog rest, as it needs to sleep much more than it usually does. Loss of appetite is usually observed, with the animal eating less or not eating altogether.

It is important that your dog drinks lots of water, so the water bowl should always be readily available with clean and fresh water. Water will help thin the mucus and slightly reduce the dog's body temperature.

Since a dog with a cold often stops eating, you can encourage your pet to eat dog food moistened with warm water (37° C / 100º F), or even a light beef stock (unsalted), also at body temperature. This remedy usually works well. Keep in mind that your dog's metabolism speeds up when it has fever, so its calorie intake will increase. It is not recommended to change the animal's diet, because sudden dietary changes usually result in diarrhea.

To help your dog's breathing, it's good to moisten the environment. This can be done with vaporizers or by simply boiling water, to which you can add a scent, like eucalyptus or similar.

Similar to the advice given above, try limiting your dog's physical exercise, as this will increase coughing. Furthermore, dogs that get very anxious when out in the street pull on the lead a lot, which causes lots of pressure on their throat. This needs to be avoided, which you can do by either getting it a wider collar or by using an anti-pull harness.

These tips can help improve the overall condition of your dog, but you should remember that all viral infections evolve, and healing is mainly down to the response of the dog's immune system. The better you care for the dog, the quicker it will recover.

This article is purely informative. AnimalWised does not have the authority to prescribe any veterinary treatment or create a diagnosis. We invite you to take your pet to the veterinarian if they are suffering from any condition or pain.

If you want to read similar articles to Home Remedies for Dogs with a Cold, we recommend you visit our Viral diseases category.