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.

Pulmonary edema is the accumulation of fluids in the interstitium and alveoli of the lung. There are two main basic mechanisms for edema development: increased hydrostatic pressure in the lung capillaries (high-pressure edema) and increase vascular permeability (low-pressure edema).

Cough is one of the body's defense mechanisms to prevent the entry of noxious materials into the respiratory system, and to clear potentially harmful debris from the lungs and respiratory tract.

Dyspnea is the sensation of having difficult or laborious breathing. It is a subjective phenomenon that needs to be inferred by the clinician in companion animals. Dyspnea, tachypnea (rapid breathing), and hyperpnea (increased ventilation) are not synonymous but are frequently grouped together in veterinary patients.

This virus is transmitted directly dog-to-dog. In fact, it is the first time that influenza has demonstrated efficient horizontal dog-to-dog transmission.