I just received a very interesting..well, somewhat alarming phone call from my mom. A lady at my parents church heard of a disease, Leptospirosis, in dogs that is becoming more prevalent here on the West. Leptospirosis is much more common down in the South, however after Hurricane Katrina, it became necessary to relocate many dogs, who were now homeless, to areas throughout the entire United States. With that relocation has come the spread of Leptospirosis.
After my parents friend heard of this, she immediately called my mom, as she was aware of our recent loss of our Rodney, our beloved Mini Aussie. Rodney got sick while he was being boarded at an area kennel here, as we were on vacation. While Rodney didn't have a fever at all, he did possess many of the symptoms as described. We'll never know for certain what Rodney died of however. The disease can be contacted through a carrier's urine.
Many of you know that the Burket Household recently welcomed two new Mini Aussies into our home, Rodeo and Sammi. While they are current on all of their other standard immunizations, I'm making them immediate appointments to get the Leptospirosis Immunization.
Anyway, I just wanted to share this with all you pet lovers. You may very well live in an area that wouldn't be considered to be "at risk" for Leptospirosis, but again, with the relocation of so many dogs over the past several years, Leptospirosis now has no boundaries.
Please contact your Veterinary care giver to make sure your dogs are safe!
