Lucy very unwell

joansgirl

zaksmum wrote: »

I suppose the sea is the only safe outdoors water for the dogs to cool off in.

Just been to our local park where the Giants were and was horrified to see several dogs in the lake that's closed due to the presence of the algae.

Signs everywhere saying it can be fatal to dogs and nobody's taking a blind bit of notice!

Sorry, don't want to keep bumping this thread but I've just had a run in with some other dog owners by our lake. The council have put notices up now and you can actually see the algae in some places and these 3 women were stood in front of the notice throwing sticks in the water for their dogs.

When I mentioned about the health risks and pointed out the notice I got a mouthful of abuse.

Some people haven't got the sense they were born with. Poor dogs

zaksmum

joansgirl wrote: »

Sorry, don't want to keep bumping this thread but I've just had a run in with some other dog owners by our lake. The council have put notices up now and you can actually see the algae in some places and these 3 women were stood in front of the notice throwing sticks in the water for their dogs.

When I mentioned about the health risks and pointed out the notice I got a mouthful of abuse.

Some people haven't got the sense they were born with. Poor dogs

Don't apologise joansgirl. You're absolutely right. How can people be so stupid? I wouldn't want any dog to go through what poor Lucy did last week - she must've felt dreadful.

If the dogs you saw get ill, it will be the owners who are to blame, not that that's any consolation for the dogs though.

You did all you could to point out the dangers - I'd have thought the owners would be grateful to you rather than abusive.

Some people shouldn't be trusted to be in charge of a dog!:(

Feral_Moon

joansgirl wrote: »

Sorry, don't want to keep bumping this thread but I've just had a run in with some other dog owners by our lake. The council have put notices up now and you can actually see the algae in some places and these 3 women were stood in front of the notice throwing sticks in the water for their dogs.

When I mentioned about the health risks and pointed out the notice I got a mouthful of abuse.

Some people haven't got the sense they were born with. Poor dogs

I've just had a similar experience whilst walking my puppy. I kept her on lead to make sure she would go into the water but another couple were letting their dog in. This was a bright green covering so not sure whether it was the toxic algae bloom but nevertheless, I wouldn't let my dog in any water that wasn't running clear anyway. Some people don't deserve dogs

Which reminds me, I've read several local reports today of people shutting dogs in cars!!!! WHY!!!! It can KILL them!!! Three cars had their windows smashed but what would have happened otherwise? A dead dog?

zaksmum

Feral_Moon wrote: »

I've just had a similar experience whilst walking my puppy. I kept her on lead to make sure she would go into the water but another couple were letting their dog in. This was a bright green covering so not sure whether it was the toxic algae bloom but nevertheless, I wouldn't let my dog in any water that wasn't running clear anyway. Some people don't deserve dogs

Which reminds me, I've read several local reports today of people shutting dogs in cars!!!! WHY!!!! It can KILL them!!! Three cars had their windows smashed but what would have happened otherwise? A dead dog?

I despair sometimes. What is wrong with some people?

Our dogs are precious to us and if we are forewarned of danger we have a duty to keep them safe from it, surely?

joansgirl

Oh dear, major disaster today Bailie pulled the lead out of my hand and went straight in the lake :eek:

She drank a fair bit of the water. I phoned the vet when I got in and was told to watch her closely and if she shows any signs of illness to take her in straight away.

It's been 4 hours now and she seems fine. I hope she'll be ok.

Not even going to take her near the lake from now on.

tea_lover

Will keep my fingers crossed for her.... I'm sure they know the one thing we really don't want them to do!

zaksmum

joansgirl wrote: »

Oh dear, major disaster today Bailie pulled the lead out of my hand and went straight in the lake :eek:

She drank a fair bit of the water. I phoned the vet when I got in and was told to watch her closely and if she shows any signs of illness to take her in straight away.

It's been 4 hours now and she seems fine. I hope she'll be ok.

Not even going to take her near the lake from now on.

Oh no! Oh, I do hope she will be ok. Perhaps it doesn't affect all dogs - yours is still a young dog if memory serves me right.

Lucy's nearly 12 so maybe that's why it hit her so hard. But it wasn't till the next day that she became so ill very suddenly.

Hoping for the best for you and your girl.

zaksmum

Joansgirl....How is Bailie tonight? Really hoping she got away with it and she's doing ok

joansgirl

Well, I think she got away with it! Absolutely no illness at all.

According to our council they are testing the lake water to see if it's toxic or not but haven't had the results back yet. There are now more signs up warning people to keep their animals out.

I did some research online and from what I can tell not all strains are toxic. The ones that are affect either the nervous system or the organs. The nervous system one is pretty devastating, symptoms can start after about 15 minutes and include fits and neurological symptoms.

The other one usually takes a bit longer to manifest, any time from about 2 hours to a couple of days. That one affects the organs with the liver particularly affected. It is particularly devastating to very young and older dogs.

There is no antidote and all you can do is keep the animal hydrated and hope for the best One tip is to wash the dog immediately to rid the coat of any residue as some dogs are fine with the initial swallowing but become ill after licking it off their coats later on.

It really is a nasty, nasty thing. We have been very lucky this time. Either our algae is not toxic or she didn't ingest any of the affected water.

Thank you all for your good wishes. The little moo will not be allowed another chance to slip the lead. Please, keep your animals out of the water if there's the remotest chance that it's infested. I think that it's been the most worrisome 36 hours of my life.

zaksmum

joansgirl wrote: »

Well, I think she got away with it! Absolutely no illness at all.

According to our council they are testing the lake water to see if it's toxic or not but haven't had the results back yet. There are now more signs up warning people to keep their animals out.

I did some research online and from what I can tell not all strains are toxic. The ones that are affect either the nervous system or the organs. The nervous system one is pretty devastating, symptoms can start after about 15 minutes and include fits and neurological symptoms.

The other one usually takes a bit longer to manifest, any time from about 2 hours to a couple of days. That one affects the organs with the liver particularly affected. It is particularly devastating to very young and older dogs.

There is no antidote and all you can do is keep the animal hydrated and hope for the best One tip is to wash the dog immediately to rid the coat of any residue as some dogs are fine with the initial swallowing but become ill after licking it off their coats later on.

It really is a nasty, nasty thing. We have been very lucky this time. Either our algae is not toxic or she didn't ingest any of the affected water.

Thank you all for your good wishes. The little moo will not be allowed another chance to slip the lead. Please, keep your animals out of the water if there's the remotest chance that it's infested. I think that it's been the most worrisome 36 hours of my life.

Really so pleased about that. As you say, your lake may not be as toxic as some so your girl was lucky.

In our park lake (not the one my Lucy went into) they've had signs up for a while warning of the blue-green algae. This algae isn't visible and many dog owners are just ignoring it.

But in the last week or so, the ducks have all been dying and we now hear there is botulism in the water. The signs have been amended to reflect this and the added danger to dogs...and owners are STILL ignoring it! What more can be done?

Great news that your Bailie is well, though!