Pneumonia is inflammation of the lung parenchyma: the small airways, interstitium and alveoli. In dogs it is a common diagnosis, and most bacterial pneumonia is secondary to something else, usually viral respiratory infection in young dogs or aspiration in dogs with esophageal, laryngeal or neurologic disease. Getting the underlying cause right matters as much as choosing the antimicrobial.
Key facts
Pneumonia at a glance- Species and system: dog; respiratory (lower airways and lung).
- Causes: bacteria (often secondary), aspiration, viruses, fungi, parasites, rarely protozoa.
- Classic presentation: cough, rapid breathing and increased effort, lethargy and poor appetite; fever is present in only some dogs.
- Classic radiograph: alveolar pattern with air bronchograms; aspiration favours the ventral lobes, especially the right middle lobe.
- Key test: three-view thoracic radiographs, then an airway sample (tracheal wash or BAL) for cytology and culture.
- Zoonotic or reportable: routine canine bacterial pneumonia is not. Yersinia pestis (plague), a listed primary cause in dogs (ISCAID), is zoonotic: people can be infected by handling infected animals or by inhaling droplets coughed by animals with plague pneumonia (CDC). Fungal pneumonias are acquired from the environment, not from the dog.
What's inside
12 sections in the full guide- Key facts
- How the NAVLE tests this
- Cause and pathophysiology
- Clinical signs
- Diagnosis
- Differential diagnoses
- Treatment and management
- Prevention, control and public health
- Prognosis
- Quick review
- Test yourself
- References
The full guide also has 5 tables, 3 figures, 3 self-test questions and 15 references, available to NAVLE members.
Read the full study guide
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