Dog owners take note: Two common canine diseases are on the rise this year, and they may be lurking closer than you think. But there is good news. Both diseases are preventable, if you take the proper precautions now.
Animal Control officers have noted an unusually high amount of diseased wildlife lately, particularly within the Columbus city limits. Nearly every day, Animal Control Officer Robert Davis picks up a dead fox or raccoon, and at least twice a week, he is called to pick up a fox or raccoon that is behaving oddly and appears to be sick.
“Someone will say there’s a fox sick in their yard, or there’s a coon in the daylight just walking around,” Davis said. “Or foxes, they’re having seizures or are more or less disoriented. Normally, we don’t even see a sick coon or fox, but in the last six to eight months, there’s been a lot of them.”
The sick animals are often easy to spot, Davis said. Usually, they shy away from human interaction and are rarely seen in the daytime, but he has seen some so sick he can walk right up to them.
Some people may assume the animal has rabies, but that’s not always the case, said Dr. Steven Guist, a veterinarian at Animal Health Services in Columbus.
Distemper outbreak
Guist, and other veterinarians, say a particularly virulent strain of distemper is being spread by wildlife, endangering unvaccinated pets. Because both rabies and distemper targets the nerves and neurological system, the behavior of animals infected by either may be similar.
“If a fox is sitting there and isn’t scared of you, it could indicate rabies or distemper,” Guist said. “If an animal is acting peculiar from what you expect, if it looks like it’s in a stupor, having seizures, has drainage from the nose or matted, encrusted eyes, if it’s thin or weak, (it is probably sick).”
Monday afternoon, Guist had already given more than 20 distemper vaccinations, which are recommended annually for adult dogs. Puppies receive the vaccination with their six-week, nine-week, 12-week and 15-week puppy shots.
Guist has seen around eight to 10 cases of distemper within the past few weeks. There is no cure for the disease, and it is fatal around 40 percent of the time, he said. The only hope, once a dog contracts distemper, is for its immune system to be strong enough to fight the virus.
But if it’s “a real hot bug” going around, like what seems to be happening now, fatalities may be even higher, he said.
The disease is highly contagious, primarily spread through the air, but also spread via body secretions of infected animals. The virus can live outside the body for one to two weeks.
All unvaccinated dogs are at risk. Guist said he realizes people can’t put their pets in a protective bubble, but a quick walk in the backyard, if an infected animal has walked through it recently, could carry a high risk.
Unvaccinated puppies, and those who are malnourished or already in poor health, have an even higher risk of contracting the disease.
Distemper tends to affect the respiratory system first, so it may be mistaken as a cold. Symptoms begin showing up within six to nine days and may begin with a fever, along with loss of appetite, listlessness and watery discharge from the nose or eyes.
The discharge may then become yellow, thick and sticky, sometimes crusting around the eyes or nose. Coughing, vomiting and diarrhea are common, as is dehydration.
Within two to three weeks, the brain may become affected, with symptoms ranging from slobbering, head-shaking, confusion, seizures or other signs of neurological involvement, although these also could be symptoms of other ailments.
While there is no cure for distemper, supportive treatment in the form of intravenous fluids, anti-convulsants or medicines to stop vomiting or diarrhea may be used to assist the dog as it fights the disease.
Dogs which have received distemper vaccinations are generally safe.
Heartworm risk ‘extremely high’
Likewise, another canine killer is heartworms, which Guist said also seems to be on the rise.
The Companion Animal Parasite Council, a Maryland-based nonprofit organization, said studies indicate one in 26 dogs in Lowndes County tests positive for heartworms, and one out of three dogs in Oktibbeha County tests positive.
The CAPC has predicted a higher than normal incidence of heartworms expected this year, with Southern states’ risk listed as “extremely high.”
Guist noted the disease is carried by mosquitoes, which are thriving thanks to a warm winter and early spring.
He said some studies now suggest heartworms may be becoming more resistant to drugs, with more cases of dogs on preventative medicine still contracting heartworms.
It works like this: A mosquito bites a dog with heartworms, then bites a susceptible dog. The larvae lies dormant for 30 days, and if the dog is taking heartworm prevention, most of the time it will never contract the disease, Guist said. It takes roughly six months to develop into a full adult heartworm, which can be 10 to 12 inches long.
As the worms multiply, they begin to clog the heart, and the dog may cough, retain fluid, lose weight, fail to thrive or have a dull coat and look unhealthy.
At end stages of heartworm disease, dogs may even cough up blood or worms.
There is now a pill which can be given once a month as a preventative measure, but the dog must be tested for the disease, which Guist said involves a quick blood test.
If the dog tests positive for heartworms and it is caught in an early stage, it may still be treated, he said. But the problem is only one drug, Immiticide, is FDA-approved for treatment, and it’s becoming hard to obtain in the United States. Guist said he is now ordering the drug from France.
Cats can also contract distemper and heartworms.
The CAPC recommends all pet owners have their pets examined by a veterinarian and vaccinated yearly.
“The animals don’t have a voice, so we have to be the voice for them,” Davis said.
Anyone who sees a wild animal behaving strangely should call Animal Control at (662) 327-4080 and leave a message for one of the officers. If it is an emergency, please call 911.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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