What are the symptoms of a dog catching a cold?

Usually, when we say a dog has a cold, we mean it has an upper respiratory infection, not that it's actually cold. The typical symptoms of upper respiratory infections in dogs are the same as in humans, including noticeable sneezing, running nose, fever, and coughing. Most dogs will also experience swelling of the lymph nodes under the jaw, but owners usually don't notice it.

The causes of upper respiratory infections in dogs include parasitic, viral, bacterial, and fungal infections, as well as microorganisms such as mycoplasma and chlamydia.

Viral infections often occur in younger dogs and are mostly contagious, such as the distemper virus. Dogs infected with the distemper virus will not only show typical symptoms of upper respiratory infections, such as sneezing and running nose, but also have increased eye secretions and high fever. Generally, using antiviral drugs along with symptomatic treatment will have some effect, but because the dog is young, the survival rate is lower.

Bacterial infections are the most common type of upper respiratory infection and have relatively typical and simple symptoms, basically just involving the above-mentioned typical symptoms and generally do not pose a threat to the dog's life. Collecting oral and nasal secretions from the dog for microscopic examination can usually determine the cause. Treatment with appropriate antibiotics, usually obtained through blood tests and drug sensitivity tests, can cure the dog in about a week. Fungal upper respiratory infections are very rare, besides the above symptoms, dogs will also exhale gas with a peculiar musty smell. Treatment is more complicated and only anti-fungal drugs can be used, but it is difficult to achieve sufficient drug concentration at the lesion, and the prognosis is usually poor.