Rainy Day Blues

Rainy Day Blues

Here in Northwest Indiana, it’s rained nearly every day for over a month. It’s the wettest weather in over a hundred years, and there’s been a lot of flooding, from spongy back yards to submerged expressways. When the ground is saturated like that, especially in the summer, we have to worry more about lepto.

Leptospirosis is a disease affecting dogs and humans that spreads well in wet, warm weather. It enters the body through inner surfaces of the mouth and nose, as well as through any minor skin abrasions, when they are exposed to moist earth, puddles, and ponds. The major trouble with lepto is that it’s very difficult to diagnose. Pets with this disease may suffer from a lengthy list of maladies including fatigue, jaundice, back pain, eye troubles, spontaneous bleeding, coughing… the list goes on and on (and on) in apparently random fashion, making lepto extremely difficult to recognize. Only one of the symptoms on the list might appear. Perhaps, instead, the pet will experience a bizarre and confusing combination of unrelated symptoms or a combination that points to a different disease. Lepto is not terribly difficult to treat, but the source of the trouble must be identified first. It’s far better not to get this disease in the first place. There is a vaccine to prevent it, and the vet will help you decide whether that’s appropriate for your climate zone.

Pet owners often—every day—tell me that their dog is not at risk for catching diseases because he does not go anywhere “special”, such as dog parks, forested areas, or Africa. Many believe that pets cannot contract illness while they are being supervised! If you only learn one thing from our blog, let it be that illness spreads right under your nose. All the time. Lepto comes from the urine of wild, nocturnal animals. As you know, this type of animal urinates wherever it pleases and does so under the cover of darkness. You won’t know where or when that has occurred, and the infectious organism can last for months. Furthermore, two major players in spreading lepto are the raccoon and rat, animals that share a remarkable ability to hide in plain sight. Both species actually prefer to be close to people (it’s because of our delicious garbage, not their fondness for us) and can live their entire lives without ever being seen. These factors have promoted lepto to a significantly higher risk category, even in the places that we’d consider the least “wild”—areas where there is no forest, where wild animals are not commonly observed, even where dogs are kept entirely on a leash. Lepto comes from harmless-looking puddles. Any puddles where you live?

It’s very important to understand that the areas where your pet will catch leptospirosis, or Lyme disease, or parvovirus—or a host of other dangerous illnesses—are never marked with CAUTION tape. You’ll need to work with your pet’s health care provider to find out which disease conditions are a threat and how best to address them.

Dr M.S. Regan