Some good news on Bessie's visit to the Vet today.

If you live in the United States you may have read in the news about a nasty outbreak of Canine Influenza that has been spreading throughout the mid-west.

Update on Canine Influenza Outbreak
College of Veterinary Medicine,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Update, April 15: Laboratory scientists at Cornell University and the University of Wisconsin have determined that the current outbreak of canine influenza virus, which has sickened more than 1,000 dogs in the Chicago area, is caused by a virus related to Asian strains of influenza A H3N2 viruses. This strain has also caused infection and respiratory illness in cats in Asia, though no cases of cats being infected in the U.S. have been reported. - See more at: http://vetmed.illinois.edu/veterinary-respiratory-expert-explains-kennel-cough-causes/#sthash.3IXGAN4P.dpuf

I was sent the following link to a story about a vaccine from Sam in Cornell University. The article at this link (from the American Veterinary Medical Association) describes the disease in detail and also mentions a vaccine:

https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/Reference/Pages/Canine-Influenza-Backgrounder.aspx

Canine influenza (CI), or dog flu, is a highly contagious infection caused by an influenza A virus. The causative canine influenza virus (CIV) strains have been classified as H3N8 and H3N2.

H3N2 canine influenza appeared limited to Korea, China and Thailand until 2015, when an outbreak in the Chicago area was determined to be due to an H3N2 strain.

The gist of the 6-page article is that the only available vaccine for Canine Influenza is for the H3N8 strain and not for the H3N2 strain that is currently spreading and it is not known if it would be effective on the H3N2 strain. The chances of effectiveness are increased when used along with Bordatella Vaccine for Kennel Cough. So I brought Ruff and Bessie in to see the Vet and get their shots. Since we often visit Petsmart and Pets Supplies Plus it is better to be a little prepared than not at all.

So now to the good news. The good news was that Bessie weighed in on the scale at 81 lbs. A gain of 2 pounds this month. Counting calories and hand-feeding seems to be working.