Local veterinarians have advised people to vaccinate their dogs against a contagious respiratory disease when they are puppies.

Andrew Madeiros, from Ettrick Animal Hospital, and Rocio Chicon, from Bermuda Veterinary Services, said this as several dogs on the island are believed to have contracted kennel cough within the past two weeks.

Also known as canine infectious respiratory disease, kennel cough is usually mild, but can be deadly, especially for puppies and older dogs.

About five dogs attended Dr Madeiros’s Warwick office with signs of the condition within the past week.

Symptoms include a constant dry cough, regurgitating white foam, tracheal sensitivity and, in severe cases, lethargy and a loss of appetite.

Dr Madeiros explained: “Most dogs recover on their own without treatment, but if you have a dog that is younger, unwell or unvaccinated, they could develop more significant and uncomfortable signs.

“If the dogs continued coughing and producing discharge, then we would recommend treating.”

Treatment, he said, normally means giving the dogs antibiotics for ten days.

Dr Madeiros recalled an outbreak of kennel cough on the island years ago, saying: “We had dogs in our own practice who were boarding, who had all been vaccinated, get it.

“I don’t know if it was kennel cough, it may have been something else, but we treated between 30 and 50 dogs over a one month period.”

Dr Chicon believed the dog that came to her Paget office with the condition contracted it in Bermuda, despite arriving on the island from Britain in within the past two weeks.

She said: “I don’t think that would have let him on the plane if he was coughing like crazy, so he most likely caught it here.

“[His owners] cannot think of any close contacts, maybe just one dog they were aware of, so kennel cough could still be on the island.”

According to Dr Chicon, there were two smaller outbreaks last year, where three or four dogs at the centre contracted the ailment.

She said: “All our clients are vaccinated, so if they came to doggy daycare, we recognised the symptoms.”