Warning for dog owners - 'Alabama Rot' like disease in the UK

Wyre · 21 January 2014 at 3:09PM

I saw this on the news today and thought it best to let folks know in case they missed it. While most of the cases have been centred on the New Forest, it has been found in Surrey, Cornwall, Worcestershire and County Durham. Symptoms are lesions on legs, paws or face and the animals that did the best were ones that were taken to the vets at the earliest opportunity.

Hope it helps!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25820926

notakid · 22 January 2014 at 2:04PM

My 8 year old Lab died recently, the vet had no idea what caused the problem.
He had a lesion on his leg which wasn't getting any better and he was scratching all the time, we took him to the vet who said it was a mite allergy and he was given steroids and antibio. A week into the treatment he vomited and pooed so badly we took him back to the vets. He was vomiting a black goo. He lost his appetite and nodded and shivered all the time. Everytime we took him back to the vet he would improve and then relapse, every test the vet did came back negative. The leg wound just wouldn't heal.
He died after round six weeks I dont think his body could take anymore.
He was a healthy boy before hand, a little overweight as he was very greedy and would eat anything. I thought that he had been poisoned as he would scavenge at every opportunity but the vet said he didn't have those symptoms and was baffled what caused his death.
Im wondering now if this was the cause? We was always walked in parks not woods tho. We live in the West Mids and there have been no reported cases here.

System · 22 January 2014 at 2:36PM

Notakid theres been a case reported in Worcester.

minimad1970 · 22 January 2014 at 6:30PM

It's horrible isn't it. Sorry to hear about your dog notakid. I walk my dog in the New Forest most days but not near the areas where it seems to have been occurring.