Owner issues sickness bug alert for pet dogs
AMYSTERY illness has arrived in Merseyside as a dog became mysteriously ill after an evening walk. Jennie Smith-Dennis, 42, took her fourlegged friend Conwy, on an evening stroll to Formby beach. However, when they returned, the three-year-old collie became ill overnight.
The black and white dog started throwing up and suffering from diarrhoea, which went on for two days, taking another two days for him to perk up again.
The mum-of-four said: “It was quite bizarre because I read the story about this sickness bug the night before and kind of just brushed it off. I go to the beach quite a lot and I went to the beach the following day.
“We came home and he started throwing up. It was so unusual for my dog as well, he’s a three-year-old collie who came from a farm so it takes a lot for him to be ill.
“He just started throwing up and had diarrhoea, he was throwing up everywhere. He was really poorly. He was like that for over two days and then he stopped and it took another two days after that to get anywhere near right.
“He’s absolutely fine now but it was definitely nasty whatever it was. I read about it the night before and then it happened.”
The PhD student spoke about how frightening it was for her but also said that if it had been a more vulnerable dog she doesn’t think it would have survived.
She said: “I was worried in case it was going to carry on and he was going to get particularly bad. I was more worried about other people with more fragile dogs because I had a really old boy who died last year and thought if he’d had it it would definitely have finished him off.
“It was other dogs to be honest because he’s such a strong dog. I was more concerned about more vulnerable dogs and older dogs. Obviously, it wasn’t nice seeing him poorly, we do kind of worry.”
It has been reported recently that dogs up and down the country have been left ill with a mystery sickness bug, and it is now believed to have hit Merseyside.
After being reported in Leeds, it was also reported yesterday that a high number of dogs in the Midlands were suffering from a violent gastroenteritis bug.
Jennie said had Conwy been ill any longer she would have taken him to the vets but trusted he would recover.
One vet surgery, Churchcroft, has confirmed experts “are seeing a higher than usual occurrence of gastroenteritis in dogs”.
The rise in cases in the Midlands “is fitting with a wider phenomenon as reported by The Small Animal Veterinary Surveillance Network (SAVSNET),” the surgery added.
“So far we have found that the cases we have seen – whilst clearly being poorly have responded well to treatment.
“The British Veterinary Association (BVA) advise that with prompt veterinary treatment almost all dogs make a full recovery from this uncommonly violent gastric bug.”
Dog owners are urged to watch out for prolific vomiting of five or more episodes in a 12 hour period which can stop for a period (such as overnight) and then starts again. Dogs are often unable to keep water down at peak vomiting stage and most dogs have ‘gravy-like’ diarrhoea.