Dog owners urged to be on alert for fatal disease

COCKER SPANIEL MILLIE DIED WITHIN DAYS OF CATCHING ALABAMA ROT

DOG owners who lost their pet to a horrific illness caught during a muddy walk are urging people to know the symptoms to spot.

James and Rebecca Fox, from Leicestershire, were visiting Delamere Forest, in Cheshire, in May last year when Millie, pictured, their cocker spaniel, developed symptoms of Alabama rot.

Symptoms of the flesh-eating disease include sores or swelling of the skin and vomiting. But the first thing James and Rebecca noticed was that Millie was limping and licking her paw a lot.

The disease, cutaneous and renal glomerular vasculopathy (CRGV), damages the blood vessels in the skin and kidneys in dogs.

The exact cause of Alabama rot is unknown, but it has been linked with animals that have spent time in mud.

Within just a few days, Millie became “very lethargic” which the couple initially put down to their pet being tired as she was on holiday.

Rebecca said: “We walked round and in the forest. It was a very wet week and it was awful weather, so it was very muddy everywhere.”

She said on the Friday Millie “started frantically licking her front paw so we thought it had got a bit infected”.

“It came on really suddenly. On the Saturday, we went to a Pets at Home nearby and we got her some antiseptic spray, Rebecca said.

“By Sunday night she was very lethargic and we thought she was a bit tired. She was a bit of a drama queen in general. We didn’t really think much of it and she was very quiet coming home.”

Rebecca and her husband took Millie to their vet as her paw was infected. The couple were initially given a antiseptic bathing treatment.

After more visits to the vet, the couple were told Millie’s kidneys were failing and Rebecca and James sent Millie to specialists in Solihull, as they suspected Millie had Alabama rot.

Millie deteriorated further. Rebecca said: “We had to do the kindest thing unfortunately and put her to sleep.

“She was only six years old, a happy active spaniel. It was just how it took her, from finding the paw to her dying was just seven days.

“She was a well and happy dog and this is why we want to raise awareness of this disease because of how quickly it takes dogs when it gets hold of their kidneys.”

She warned dog owners if they see their pet with an unexplained sore to take it to the vet.

“We want help other people recognise the signs,” Rebecca said.

“The disease at the minute is not very well-researched they don’t have a lot about it at the moment unfortunately.

“We don’t want people to go through what we went through.”

Alabama rot was first identified in the US state in the 1980s and is usually fatal. On average in the past decade there have been about 28 cases per year in the UK.