Possible Lepto threat...
 

My MIL's dog, Bear, is in the hospital tonight being tested for Leptosporosis.

I saw a rat at the end of my yard in December, and decided then to keep my dogs in the house, except for leash walks which include being carried out of the yard. The rats seem to be targeting the trash cans, and one neighbor put out Rat Poison (without telling us). I haven't seen one for a while, but was told they just moved locations. My SS saw one tonight while moving the cans to the road for pick-up.

Bear started vomiting yesterday, became lethargic and refused food and water. He was in the habit of going outside and licking rain puddles off the grandkids' tricycles' seats. I don't know how long he has been doing this.
He vomited again this morning, so MIL decided to have him seen by the vet. Xrays revealed nothing, bloodwork showed increased WBCs. The vet started him on antibiotics and decided to test him for Lepto, and wanted to keep him overnight. Waiting on results. Bear may come home tomorrow morning.

I'm worried too about my dogs and cats getting this, and the gkids and my MIL too. We're in separate households, but I am still very nervous.

Prayers appreciated.

Praying for Bear that this isn't Lepto and that he will recover quickly.

I'll also pray, Kathy! I hope it turns out to be just a scare and he recovers quickly from whatever he has!

I will be praying for Bear, hopefully he will recover soon :)

Sending up prayers for Bear and for everyone else. Lepto is so scary and it is very bad here. We lost a lot of cattle in the past because of it so now we vaccinate for it annually. My two also get the vaccine because I am so afraid that they would get it too.

many prayers for bear and a solution so your babies are safe...so scary.

Prayers for bear. I hope all turns out well for him. Will be looking for an update.

Poor Bear....maybe it is just a stomach bug. My vet and I talked about the new Lepto shot which Teeka will get when she is 1 yr. It doesn't have the side effects like the original ones does. He told me he has seen 3 cases of it in our area this spring! I would rather take chances on the shot instead of the Lepto. We live in a rural area with lots of wild animals.....rabbits, rats, mice, etc. :( I sure hope Bear is going to be ok!

Keeping Bear in my prayers.

oh I hope Bear is ok. Waiting for an update

Prayers for all of you.

My dogs are walked regularly about the neighborhood, so they get exposed to anything that wonders around the area. We aren't rural, but we aren't far from a river with dense trees and vegetation around it, so we see all types of critters -- hogs, deer, raccoon, skunks, rats, possums ... I even saw a bobcat at dusk about a month ago. All are potential lepto carriers. My vet does see cases of lepto, and my pups do get vaccinated and have never had a reaction.

You are right to worry about the gkids and MIL, too. My cousin is a large animal vet and he came down with lepto. Very nasty, very dangerous. At least they are aware, so if they start to get symptoms they will know to warn the doctor that it could be lepto. If an unsuspecting person came down with it, the symptoms could be so many different things I wonder if it might be easy to pass it off as something else and slow to diagnose.

Bear is home now. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.

He didn't look much different than when he went in! Still depressed, although happy to be home. The BW pointed to some kind of liver/kidney involvement, but nothing specific. They put him on Amoxicillin and Doxycycline, and stuff for his tummy, Famotidine (Pepcid), and IV fluids. Nothing showed on xrays either.

I am unclear on whether he was tested for Lepto... so I put a call in to the vet. It wasn't listed on the invoice, and the Tech said they never put him in Isolation, so I guess the vet might have ruled it out. Not comfortable with this, he'll call tomorrow morning about it. They were treating him for possible Enteritis, Pancreatitis, or contagious gastroenteritis (?).

The only other thing I can think of is my MIL had been feeding him Beneful, and there was about 1/2 bag left. I had told her yesterday to throw it away bc of things I've been hearing on FB and some emails. I made sure she told the vet tech, but their reaction was that that was okay. So we don't really know anything.

He is home, but still isn't keen on eating. Bear is a Sheltie Teapot... or a tri colored collie.... I posted here more for the concern of my own dogs, and just as a heads-up.

My MIL has 3 bruise-like marks on her arms, very similar to a pic of a person's arm with Lepto. She's due to see her doctor tomorrow.

Thanks again for your comments and prayers.

I hope your MIL doesnt have lepto and i hope Bear continues to recover. Lepto is prevalent here so mmy vet reccomends the vaccine mine have never had any issues with getting it

Praying for Bear and your MIL.

Very scary! I'm glad your babies do well with the vaccine.

Wow, hope Bear and your MIL will be fine. I know many or even most yorkie breeders say not to get this vaccine but I always have. Living on a lake and having a family of raccoons in one of our trees, the risk is to great. I just get a shot of Benadryl for my pup first and then the vaccine on it's own. In reading this thread I guess I found out something new, I had no idea that humans could get it as well, do they get it just from handling a pet that has it, I doubt most humans are drinking puddles of contaminated water