Helio Autran de Morais, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (internal medicine and cardiology)

Infectious tracheobronchitis is a contagious respiratory disease of dogs caused primarily by Bordetella bronchiseptica, associated or not with other bacterial and viral agents.

Empiric antibiotic therapy is the appropriate use of antibiotics without knowing the agent, or before its susceptibility is known.

Tick-transmitted disease caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi.

Spirochete with more than 200 serovars. The pathogenic serovars do not replicate outside animal hosts.

Many clinical signs compatible with left-sided heart failure also may occur in respiratory diseases, making the distinction difficult in some cases.

A large number of immunocompromised persons live with dogs and cats. This situation is not without risks, but pets are part of their life and provide many long-term benefits, offering non-judgmental support, decreasing morbidity and improving survival-time.