Today I will continue with my diseases you can vaccinate against series, we will cover leptospirosis …
Veterinary advice from Scott Nimmo – Vetblog UK
Today I will continue with my diseases you can vaccinate against series, we will cover leptospirosis. This is in my experience quite an uncommon disease in the South East of England, however the cases I have seen in my career have been quite serious and death did occur in some of them. There is another slant with leptospirosis in so much as it is a zoonotic disease, which means it can be transmitted to humans who come into contact with infected animals or contaminated water. [ The word zoonosis means a disease which is transmissible from animals to people ] The human form of leptospirosis is known as Weil’s disease, in the UK rats seem to be on the increase in both rural and urban areas and rats are one of the ways this infection spreads. Once contracted,Weil’s disease has serious health consequences, leading to kidney and liver failure and can affect the blood’s ability to clot.
Cause : This disease is caused by a bacterium called an aquatic spirochete, in the UK the main culprits are Leptospira canicola and Leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae. Leptospira canicola is the dog form, this disease primarily affects the kidneys and kidney failure or sudden death may follow. Should a dog escape death, it can become a carrier of the disease and shed the bacterium into the environment through their urine. Infected dogs may continue to excrete organisms leading to repeated contamination of the environment and in damp conditions, the bacterium may survive weeks or even months. Leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae is spread by rodents and dogs catch it either directly via contact with infected urine, or indirectly via contact with contaminated water, such as drinking from ditches or swimming in canals and rivers inhabited by infected rats so working dogs are more at risk. Dogs that have been infected may go on to become carriers of the disease, shedding the bacterium into the environment via their urine. These animals may be a long term risk both to other dogs and to humans.
Clinical Signs : You might expect to see a high temperature, severe thirst, depression, lethargy, abdominal pain, vomiting, bloody diarrhoea and jaundice. It is possible to confirm the diagnosis via blood tests.
Treatment : Unlike distemper and parvo virus which are viral in origin there is effective treatment for this disease is you can act fast and get it at an early stage. Antibiotics such as penicillin,tetracyclines and enrofloxacillin have been used to successfully treat leptospirosis infection. This however is a severe disease so you would normally put the dog in an intensive care situation with fluid therapy and a high standard of nursing care as well as antibiotic therapy. In a small number of caseshaemodialysis has been used as a temporary measure where the kidneys have been affected.
Prevention : Vaccination, vaccination and more vaccination, avoiding dogs known to have been affected and avoiding areas of known rodent contamination especially connected with waterways etc.
Well there is my leptospirosis story based on my experience in practice over many years, it looks like I am a strong proponent of vaccination and I make no apology for that, there is nothing more depressing for a vet than treating an animal with a disease which could have been prevented with a simple vaccination, again ” errors ” come into the equation, I remember one case where the owner of a number of working dogs he used to retrieve ducks etc. on the local marshland brought me his favourite dog which obviously hadleptospirosis . At the initial examination he informed me that the animal was not vaccinated as he did not believe in vaccination, I was too busy treating the animal to discus my views on vaccination with him. Anyway the dog died after a day or two and lesson went home because from then on I saw him each year as regular as clockwork to have the rest of his animals comprehensively vaccinated. An expression which includes horses, bolted and stable doors comes to mind ……..
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As a caring and responsible owner I have always believed that vaccination was the first line of defense – having recently come across the CHC (Canine Health Care) site – I now have to wonder.
I recently lost my very much loved Airedale to kidney failure – I had to make the decision to take his life. I find it unforgivable that vets had prescribed a drug that was contra-indicated for him, particularly as I was not made aware of the facts. I also find it unforgivable that my concerns were disregarded over a very long period. Equally I can ‘understand’.
It’s clear from the info provided on the CHC site, that vaccination – as a routine – is questionable and may cause more problems than it prevents.
With respect – I think your profession (particularly as it is ‘private’) needs to move away from the ‘one size fits all’ mentality and concentrate more on accurate diagnosis, subsequent, individually targeted treatment.
Forgive my criticism. I have owned dogs, in particular, but also cats/rabbits/guinea pigs/horses for the past 40 years. I have become increasingly less impressed with veterinary treatment.
Hello Sue,
Thanks for dropping by …
Sorry to hear about your Airedale.
I agree with you that all is not well with animal vaccinations in the UK and the world in general, I think it likely that us vets do indeed vaccinate too much. With some of the shots like distemper for example there is a school of thought that one shot will give protection for life. Others like parvo might need to be given each second year or so.
What is needed is that a serious scientific study on the subject should be made and vaccinations could then be tailored to the precise needs of dogs in general. I think there would be resistance though as vaccines are big business to both drug manufacturers and vets alike.
However I know that some vaccination must be carried out. When I was a young vet I practiced in a poor area of Glasgow and every day we saw wretched cases of pups with distemper and parvo and cats with cat flu. The owners in those days could not afford to vaccinate and many animals died. This affected me deeply at the time and I was evangelical about vaccination to anyone who would listen. I left the UK in April 2008 and now live abroad in a third world country and the clock has been set right back, no one vaccinates here either and diseases like parvo are rife.
By contrast I had my practice in an affluent area of the South East of England for twenty eight years where everyone vaccinated and in my area these preventable diseases were almost completely absent and I cannot convince myself I saw very many problems related to vaccination either, there were a few of course.
What we need with this issue is some degree of balance, yes vaccination is a good thing and does save lives but the vaccination programs need to studied carefully and revised so the the dogs and cats are getting the protection they need with the minimum exposure to vaccination.
I have to agree with you as well about being less than impressed about the way the veterinary profession is going. Sure we got scanners and high tech equipment but we also have vets who will not offer an out of hours service because of bleatings such as ” work / life balance ” We also have statements from vets such as that if the client cannot pay we will not offer treatment and suggest euthanasia instead. How caring …
Anyway I will get of my soap box for tonight
Regards,
Scott