seasonal canine illness

chris_n_tj

Please, please be aware of this nasty illness. My friends puppy died in the early hours of this mornng after being walked at Clumber Park.

Her 2 cousins are also fighting for their lives at the Vets this morning. I will let you know how they are doing when we hear anything. I just hope these 2 dont die as well.

The Vet has said its Seasonal Canine illness, and there isnt a "cure" as such.

This poor little dog didnt stand a chance, and she was such a beautiful little thing. So keep your eyes open and should your furkid develope any of the symptoms then please ger to a Vet ASAP.

Also it might be linked to Harvest Mites but that isnt proven as yet. See the link below for the AHT who are trying their best to find a cure ot beat this.

R.I.P little Babe, in your short life you brought joy to everyone that knew you xxxx

http://www.aht.org.uk/cms-display/sci_clinsigns.html


The disease comes on very quickly, usually within 24-72 hours of having walked in a woodland area. The most common clinical signs reported are:

• Vomiting
• Diarrhoea (which can vary from watery to bloody)
• Tummy (abdominal) pain
• Lethargy (or reluctance to move)
• Loss of appetite
• Shaking or trembling
• High temperature (fever)

The most common clinical signs are sickness, diarrhoea and lethargy. If you suspect your dog is showing symptoms of SCI then please contact your vet immediately.

If you have walked your dog in any of our five study sites: Sandringham Estate or Thetford Forest, Norfolk, Sherwood Forest or Clumber Park, Nottinghamshire or Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, please complete our online questionnaire – regardless of whether your dog was taken ill or not.

http://www.aht.org.uk/skins/Default/pdfs/sci_info13.pdf

zaksmum

Oh my God how awful!

Never heard of this condition but surely awareness should be raised? It might be something else entirely - like poisoning - but even so we should all be vigilant.

Well done Chris for pointing it out to us.

Sorry for the loss of your friend's puppy and praying the other two will be ok.

chris_n_tj

zaksmum wrote: »

Oh my God how awful!

Never heard of this condition but surely awareness should be raised? It might be something else entirely - like poisoning - but even so we should all be vigilant.

Well done Chris for pointing it out to us.

Sorry for the loss of your friend's puppy and praying the other two will be ok.

No it is Seasonal Canine illness, (all three dogs had Harvest mite bites and dust on their feet as well.)
Sasha is at the moment responding to the treament but poor little Sam is now on the critical list. poor little things, we are sat here waiting and praying. x

This was also posted on the AHT site today

Animal Health Trust

about an hour ago

We need your help to eliminate Harvest mites as a potential cause of seasonal canine illness (SCI). We are offering dog owners at one of our study sites, Sandringham Estate, vouchers for fipronil spray for their dog. Fiprinol spray, a presc...ription-only treatment, might be effective against Harvest mites and so by taking part in our study you could help us to determine if treating dogs with a preventive treatment against mites has an effect on the prevalence of SCI. For further information and to sign up to our study, please visit: www.aht.org.uk/scipilotstudy.


PS we hadnt heard of this before either. It really needs to be talked about and people need to be warned x

aliasojo

Never heard of this but will be reading up now. Really sorry about the poor pooches, will be hoping they pull through.

any_name_will_suffice

Thanks Chris,

As I live in a similar part of the country to you, I have come across information about this for the last couple of years- I actually had a scare thinking Rocky had it last year, as he had most of the symptoms.

lottie3000

Aw, that's awful. Harvest mites cause lots of allergy problems with cats too!!! I do hope Sasha keeps on responding well and Sam gets off that critical list.

manda1205

I live in Norfolk and had heard of this disease. I've also recently heard that cases have been found linked to Fritton Woods/Waveney Forest areas. Just in case anyone on here is local. There have been signs up in Fritton Woods for a while now to try and raise awareness.
We've decided to just keep away from woods in general until Winter gets here, as it seems cases cease then.

Lincoln_Imp

In our local online paper
http://thelincolnite.co.uk/2013/10/mystery-dog-illness-returns-to-east-midlands-woodland/

lottiesmum10

Our gorgeous dog went down with this SCI a couple of weeks ago, we are very very lucky that we caught her in time and it was a very scary time for all of us. What I feel is confusing for dog owners is that because they are only focusing on the study sites, this can give the impression that other areas are safe to walk in. Lottie had the harvest mites as well and her story is now up on the wall at our local vets to raise awareness. They had seen several dogs with SCI but Lottie was the first one after a break of 2-3 weeks. The after she went back for one of her check ups another had been admitted that morning and then when she had needed the emergency vet yet another poor dog had been brought in after it had been diagnosed with SCI thought to have been contracted from Center Parcs where the family were on holiday at. We are quite near Clumber Park & Sherwood Forest and I wouldnt have dreamed of taking my dog to either site yet she still got the infection. I just want to say how very sorry I am to hear about the loss of your little pup and I will pray for your other 2 who are very poorly. It was one of the worst 24 hours of my life, and my heart goes out to anyone in that situation.

Please check between toes right up to the knee and under the belly. Have a look on line and see what you are supposed to be looking for (it is like an orangey/yellow crusty deposit - you may not see the mites as they are like specks of sand.

rubytuesday

So sorry to hear about poor puppy and hope the others will be ok.

So much to worry about when we love our animals xxx

chris_n_tj

Just a quick update. Sam and Sasha are still in intensive care at the Vets but they are holding their own at the minute.

As lottiesmum has said this is in almost every wooded area in the UK at this time of year. Since this has happened we have been searching and have found amost evey case has been the same IE; Harvest mite dust/bites.

Please please dont take this lightly thinking it wont happen to you. And please pass it on to any of your friends who have dogs.
This is what our Vets posted on their FB today

Arundell Vet Care

6 hours ago

WARNING TO ALL DOG OWNERS
We are seeing a high incidence of a recently recognised condition in dogs called seasonal canine illness. This can be very serious and cause severe sickness and diarrhoea which can kill. We dont know what causes it but it is linked to walking dogs in wooded areas and all cases we have seen have harvest mites on them. Take care and stay away from wooded area's until end of November and if you do walk them in these areas make sure you bath them after.

Aslo mentioned here Mayflower Animal Sanctuary

I just want people to know about this. I just dont want to hear of more dogs dying. x