Fever in Dogs: Signs, Symptoms, and Treatment
Sergii Kolesnikov/iStock / Getty Images Plus via Getty Images
As a pet parent, you may also be asking yourself, “Can dogs get fevers?”
Or, perhaps, you’re wondering how to tell if a dog has a fever.
Fever in dogs is defined by having a higher-than-normal body temperature, and there are several causes.
Let’s look at everything you need to know about fever in dogs—including dog fever symptoms and how to take a dog’s temperature.
Key Takeaways
- Anything above 102.5 F is considered a fever or hyperthermia in dogs.
- The only way of accurately knowing if your dog has a fever is to take their rectal temperature with a digital thermometer.
- Never give your dog over-the-counter medications, such as ibuprofen or Tylenol, to reduce their fever.
How to Tell If a Dog Has a Fever
Fevers in dogs can be difficult to detect at home on your own, and are often discovered at the veterinary office.
This is because a dog’s temperature is naturally higher than a human’s temperature—it’s impossible to detect a fever by touching a dog’s skin.
Dog Fever Symptoms
Dog fever symptoms can vary from mild to severe depending on how high the temperature is and what disease is causing it.
Symptoms of fever in dogs can include:
Dog Fever Temperature
The normal range for a dog’s body temperature is between 100 F and 102.5 F.
Anything above 102.5 F is considered a fever or hyperthermia.
A true fever is the body’s response to a disease process, whereas hyperthermia is caused by exposure to excessive heat or overheating from overexertion.
How Do You Take a Dog’s Temperature?
The only way of accurately knowing if your dog has a fever is to take their rectal temperature with a digital thermometer.
This is done by lubricating the tip of the thermometer and inserting it into the rectum approximately 1 inch.
It’s important to have another person holding your dog’s head while you do this, as some dogs may not be tolerant of this at home. It's best done at your veterinary office.
If a dog does not seem ill, there’s no benefit to taking your dog’s temperature at home on a regular basis, because it can also go up with overactivity, stress, anxiety or if your dog has been outside in a warm environment.
Health Tools
Get quick answers with our vet-created Symptom Checker
What Causes Dog Fevers?
There can be several different causes of fever in dogs, but they generally fall into one of these categories:
-
Inflammation
-
Infection
In some cases, despite extensive diagnostics, a cause is not found. This is called fever of unknown origin.
Anything that can stimulate the immune system can cause a fever.
For example, it’s not uncommon for pets to get a low-grade fever after being vaccinated. This is because the immune system is being stimulated to protect the body against different diseases.
Bacterial infections, fungal infections, or viral infections can all stimulate an immune response and cause a fever as well.
Cancer is another disease process that usually stimulates the immune system, resulting in a fever. Additionally, autoimmune diseases are a group of diseases that can stimulate the immune system to attack a part of the body with no underlying cause.
What To Do If Your Dog Has a Fever
If you think that your dog may be ill, taking his temperature at home is a good start. If your dog has a fever above 102.5 F, that warrants a visit to the veterinarian.
It’s considered an emergency if your dog is extremely lethargic, has blood in their stool or vomit, stops eating, or has a fever above 104.5 F.
It’s extremely important to never give your dog over-the-counter medications, such as ibuprofen or Tylenol, to reduce their fever. These medications are toxic to pets and can result in serious harm or death.
Getting a diagnosis for your dog’s fever as soon as possible and beginning treatment will usually result in more favorable outcomes.
Most causes of fever can be treated if caught early.
As fever is an innate cause and not due to the surrounding environmental temperatures, your dog needs to be examined by a veterinarian to determine the underlying cause.
Unfortunately, there isn’t an at-home treatment for dogs or a way to reduce your dog’s fever at home.
Dog Fever Treatment
Treatment of a fever in dogs is largely dependent on the cause of the fever.
Typically, several diagnostics—such as blood work, X-rays, and ultrasound—are necessary to determine the cause.
In some cases, a cause can’t be identified.
In dogs who have infections, the treatment is usually a course of antibiotics such as Clavamox or doxycycline or antifungal medications like itraconazole or fluconazole.
Sometimes, if the cause of fever is not found, a course of antibiotics may be prescribed for a few days to determine if there is a response.
In other diseases, there isn’t one anecdotal treatment, and medications are given to alleviate the symptoms until the inflammation subsides.
This can take days to weeks and will depend on the level of severity.
Cancer is treated with either chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy depending on the type of cancer that is diagnosed. Some types of cancer respond well to these treatments, where others may not respond as well or at all.
Autoimmune diseases require drugs that suppress the immune system so that it stops attacking different areas of the body.
Most of these diseases are manageable but not usually curable.
Fever in Dogs FAQs
Can dogs recover from fever on their own?
It can be possible for dogs to recover from fevers without medical intervention especially if no additional symptoms are present.
However, as many causes of fever in dogs can become quite serious if left untreated and are potentially life-threatening, you should have your dog examined right away.
Can dogs get fever from humans?
No, fever is not contagious.
However, there are certain zoonotic infections (infections which can be spread from animals to humans) that can cause fevers in dogs such as leptospirosis and rabies.
