I'm so sorry you are going through this. I just said a prayer for him.


About Lepto....I don't give my dogs the vaccine because of what I've read on YT. I didn't know that people were now saying it is better to give. I'm going to look into it and do some more research. Thanks for bringing attention to it by sharing your situation.

Pleasevkeepnus posted and give a smooch to Teddy from us.

I'm so sorry you are going through this. I just said a prayer for him.


About Lepto....I don't give my dogs the vaccine because of what I've read on YT. I didn't know that people were now saying it is better to give. I'm going to look into it and do some more research. Thanks for bringing attention to it by sharing your situation.

Pleasevkeepnus posted and give a smooch to Teddy from us.

This was exactly why I stopped giving it - my dogs are mostly indoors or in our yard. We do the occasional walk on sidewalks and in recent years don't do anything in the woods or anything. I live in an urban area but we do have racoons and other carriers of the disease. I see racoons all the time so I always think about whether they have come into my yard and peed infectious urine out there. I would see my dogs sniffing around and think about it.

This is exactly why I keep saying that people should take what they read and discuss it with their vet. Just because someone says something on the Internet....no matter how bright and well informed they may appear to be...does not mean they are correct!

He said everything would be back in about 5 days. I told him to just call me once both results were in and also Teddy had a urinalysis so that too.

A skunk just sprayed outside my house and as I was sitting here listening to Barney get angry and the smell seeping in (lovely!) I made the mistake of googling about skunks.

They too carry leptospirosis. :eek:

I did discuss it with my vet. I've read about it here on this site quite a bit. My conversations were similar to what 107barneys were.

For example, my vet would give the rabies now, but I've read on here to wait until they are 6 months old.

We have raccoons and rodents around us....there are woods nearby. I'm going to call my vet tomorrow to have an in depth talk about the risks.

Again, I'm so sorry you are going through this. By sharing you are bringing attention to something that very well may save a pets life.

I need to do the same with my vet, but not tomorrow. Tomorrow I am talking to her about testing the others. I am still hopeful that Barney's changes on his imaging do not turn out to be lepto, and I would be surprised if he did have lepto. But I am worried, much of this disease can be subclinical with no symptoms. Squirrels are also carriers as are coyotes and we've got plenty of those. Now I am understanding the urban cases more than I did before but I still would like to look at more data with my vets and my own research as well before figuring out what do do. I am really not liking any of this and I would like the day to start over and end with "Barney's ultrasound was perfect, no need to come back or do more" :(

My heart goes out to you. I am right there with you on the vaccine...same worries and hesitations.

My Yorkies are inside only with the exception of car rides and the occasional walk. Recently we had a few field mice in our house. :eek: The first thing I thought of was Lepto. I don't expose my pups to the outdoors too much, but here was the "outdoors" coming indoors!! When we do go on walks it is in my mind. Rodents and raccoons are everywhere. It seems like everyone would be at risk?

So scary. I really pray Teddy is okay.

Oh Cathy Im so sorry Barney isnt well. I will say big prayers for him and that whatever it is, it gets better. I vacinated half of mine with Lepto, and they had reactions, so they rest have not had that vacine, nor have I gotten boosters of lepto. Im nervous now myself as our neighbor just trapped a big raccoon and we live in the city. Well what little grey hair I dont have (from raising teens), the yorks are turning grey! lol
Seriously, well wishes, prayers and hugs are flying your way.

Cathy I am so sorry you have to go through this. I have read how much you love and care for your furbuts... I know you have always done everything in your power to do what is best for them. No one knows the future...
so you did what was right at the time.


I hope the results of the test are in your favor.. and all works out well. I don't know too much about the infection, all I remember is the vet here said it is rare :confused: and dog get it from drinking dirty water outside. I kind of remember something about rats .. maybe peeing in standing water? But now I will certainly check more. See, your post may save many people from having the same worries.

I have you and Barney in my thoughts and prayers.

Shinja

Thinking of you and Barney, Cathy. How's he feeling?

Was he showing any outward symptoms when you took him in for testing?

We don't live far from a river, and there are all kinds of critters that I'm sure can get into my "safely" enclosed back yard. I've never seen rats in my yard, but I have seen one scurrying around vegetation in a greenbelt area, and our neighbor found on drowned in their pool. We also have deer around the development, and the occasional wild hog. Raccoons and skunks aren't uncommon, either. I wouldn't be surprised to see any of these in my back yard (except for the deer and the skunk), and I have to assume they all get there from time to time. Furthermore, my dogs go on walks where any of these creatures might be found only a short time earlier. I have to assume that my dogs are getting exposed to lepto. Mine get the vaccine, but I get nervous about it.

My cousin caught lepto 2-3 years ago. He's a large animal vet, so he's around a lot of herd animals out in the pasture. It was nasty, nasty, nasty. He was lucky to come out of it without major organ damage. It's nothing to fool around with.

Barney is feeling good. No, he was not showing any symptoms. He really just had one liver enzyme that has been elevated for about a year (mild elevation). We were watching it because my vet figured it was left over from pancreatitis which can smolder for a long time and the liver lives next door to the pancreas so when one is acting up the other can also be.... Then on a recheck of his blood, one kidney value (creatinine) was elevated slightly. I had to take Daisy back to the internal medicine specialist so I took Barney also just to see what he thought. That is when we talked about checking the liver - ultrasound first and possible biopsy if the #s worsened.

It took me about a month to schedule it because it was nothing urgent. So the consideration of infection or specifically leptospirosis infection took me by surprise. I did not know until yesterday that this illness can be subclinical and show no signs until very advanced. That's why the two findings on the ultrasound raised the question. So I am glad we learned this, because if he has it, we can treat him before it destroys his organs.

I don't really think he has it, but if he does, all I can do is get him through it.

I just got home from my vet with my Charlie, He went in for his 4th vaccination series shot. He is 16 weeks old. He got a lepto this time. My vet does not give the lepto until they are older. I have never had any reaction to the lepto when given to pups 16 weeks or older. I have been going to my vet for 30+ years. He does not recommend bypassing the lepto, just wait until the pup is older.
Heres a good site on Lepto.
Leptospirosis in Dogs

That is interesting that the reactions seem to lessen in your pups when over 16 weeks. I did do puppy shots of DHLPP on my two older ones (and that was the "old" vaccine) but did the DHPP without lepto on Teddy and so did his breeder. This information makes me feel better and I am going to ask my vet about this too. I am also thinking of just running the lepto series on the other two. The test is expensive ($100). Uggh...

I am so sorry to hear Barney isn't well. I hope all the tests come back good and that he doesn't have lepto. I am glad to hear he is feeling alright, poor little guy, give him a hug for me!!


How is the new lepto vaccine different from the old one?
Does it cover more strands?

Last I was told, lepto has several strands of the virus and the current vaccine only protected against one of those. So even if you got the shot you could still end up with lepto with the strands that weren't covered plus you still had the added worry of a reaction to the shot.

The local vets here don't give the lepto vaccine in toy breeds because of the dangers of a reaction to it.

Thank you Tracey for your kind words and I will be happy to pass along a big hug to Barney which he will just love :)

The older vaccine for lepto only covered two of strains of bacteria. The newer vaccines from both pfizer and fort dodge/wyeth cover 4 strains. Two of the four strains now covered are those emerging in dogs in the United States currently. The older vaccine had a higher incidence of reactions but newer technology makes a cleaner vaccine so I'm finding info that says about 1% of dogs have reactions. The vets here all routinely administer the 4-strain vaccines. If your dog has had the DHLPP vaccine, the lepto portion in these combos is usually the 4-strain vaccine.

Even if Barney had been vaccinated, which he hasn't been in quite a few years, we would have to do this blood test anyway since there are other strains of the bacteria that also could cause disease.

Cathy, I'm keeping you and Barney in my thoughts and prayers.

I've been reading that there are at least 6 strains of bacteria and that even the latest vaccines may not be good for more than 6 - 8 months. :confused: Such a tough call whether to vaccinate or not. When I discussed it with my vet last year, he said he was more than willing to hold the vaccine and that he only pushes it for outdoor dogs, mainly working dogs who are consistently in the fields and woods. I understand the many means of transmission of Lepto and that everyone here is exposed to one carrier or another. I'll be grappling with this when we go for our annuals this spring.

Praying for good news about Barney, and I send *big hugs* to your little guy too. :)

I talked about this with my vet and little dogs as my Abbey is 4 1/2 lbs. and she gave it to her in 2 separate doses because of her size. Has anyone else had this? I am rethinking this too as I have opted out of it for my girls for 3 years hmmmm...

Yes, my vet will only give the vacc to a small dog in 2 separate doses and Tibbe, thank God, has never had a reaction since I've had him. As scared as I am of vaccine reactions - and oh, I am - I am more afraid of the possibility of the disease itself as it seems the data suggests that the vacc reaction still produces less morbidity than the disease itself. But every time Tibbe starts his series of yearly vaccinations I go weak in the knees! I wish Barney and mom all the best and you're in my prayers.

Cathy just reading this, I was on vacation last week. Sending hugs and prayers to you and Barney.

oh Cathy i'm so sorry to hear about this. i hope you get some concrete answers and soon. you have kinda helped us out with this whole thread because now i'm reconsidering giving the lepto that my vet just recently started to suggest. i think i may take my kids in and get them both through their rounds of it just to be safe. Sadie does fine with anything but the giardia ones. and i'm sure Bentley can handle it as well. might just be a safe idea.

I'm very sad to hear Barney isn't well. This might be cold comfort, but by discussing this here, you may have helped many other owners make better decisions about this particular vaccine.

I wish you and Barney the best.

Its great that your vet recommended two doses- it shows that she is considering the risks to small dogs. :thumbup:
As far as whether to give a vaccine or not, its really something you need to discuss with your vet because the risks vary so much by area and individual dog. I would explain your concerns to your vet and see what they say.
I had considered stopping all vaccines and then got worried that my dog would get a disease that could be easily prevented with a vaccine, so now I am just doing titers- Chloe's recent titers came back and she is good on everything but distemper- so she just got that shot yesterday.

I hope everything is okay with Barney! I am sending prayers and good vibes for him- keep us updated!

I'm so sorry to hear Barney is ill... just curious... were his BATs done recently? Sending prayers for both of you....

Yes they were.

I hope he gets better real fast!

I am sorry to hear about Barney. I hope he will be OK and it isn't Lepto.

We shopped around for a new vet who didn't recommend the Lepto shot. After a lot of searching we finally found one who didn't recommend it. This was last June when TeddyBear got his shots. When we took Daisy in for her shots in Nov, the vet had changed her mind and recommended that we get the Lepto vaccine due to an upsurge in Lepto cases in the area. So we brought Teddy back in and they both got the Lepto shot. I was worried about getting it but have decided to go with the vet's recommendation.