Leptospirosis - Deadly Disease Rains Down in the Fall

Fall through December is the prime season for leptospirosis, a
disease spread by wild and domestic animals. This disease can attack
a dog's kidneys, liver or blood vessels with serious and even fatal
consequences.

The problem is that this is the rainy season and rains wash the
spiral-shaped leptospires into ponds and other bodies of water
while the water temperature encourages the bacteria to survive.

Dogs can contact the disease directly from other animals or by contact
with soil or water containing the bacteria thanks to contaminated
urine or poop.

Getting outdoors with your dog can be a great experience but it exposes
your dog to this bacterial disease. "Outdoors" especially includes dog
parks which I hate. Many owners do not have their dogs vaccinated and
many, many owners are irresponsible about picking up dog poop.

Contacting the disease isn't necessarily fatal. Common symptoms include
fever, loss of appetites, lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration and
reddening of the eye area. Some dogs manage to clear the infection
through their systems with minimal problems.

Other dogs, however, can suffer kidney or liver failure if the
disease goes untreated. Tufts Veterinary School reports that about
one in five dogs die from the disease.

There is a vaccination for leptospirosis although it covers only four
strains of the disease. Recently, veterinarians are seeing increasing
incidences of the disease as well as new strains of the disease that
vaccines don't protect against. It's estimated that more than 200
strains exist worldwide.

Be aware that humans can contact leptospirosis so it is important to
protect your dog as well as yourself. In addition to talking to your
vet about vaccinating your dog, here are a few tips to prevent disease.

1. Avoid high risk areas such as dog parks.

2. Don't let your dog drink from ponds, lakes and other public water
areas. Give him tap water and take containers with you for him when
you do on hikes.

3. Clean up your own yard, both of your dog's poop and any leavings
from other animals that might wander into your yard. Remember animals
includes rodents, raccoons, skunks, moles as well as other domestic animals.

4. Wash your dogs after handling your dog and anything that might have
his urine or poop on it.

5. Clean potentially infected surfaces with an antibacterial solution
or a homemade mixture of bleach and water.

6. Most important - if you suspect your dog may be sick or infected,
get him to a vet as quickly as possible. The earlier the treatment,
the better the outcome.

Fido Isn’t As Popular As You Might Think!

Despite the increased press coverage of dogs and other pets in the U.S.,
the number of dog owners is remaining fairly static and in some areas
even declining.

The American Kennel Club has experienced a significant drop in the
number of purebred registrations over the past decade. The AKC reported
that each of the last five years has averaged about 51,000 fewer dogs
registered.

Keep that in mind when you read articles about how many more homes own
pets. Our population keeps growing each year so the number of homes with
pets may be growing in absolute terms but as a proportion of the total
population, the number of pet owners are remaining relatively stable.

In fact, this year a British marketing research company reported that
dog and other pet ownership in Britain is plummeting. Forty-eight
percent of British households now own a fish, bird or other pet,
compared to 55 percent in 1999 according to this 2005 survey.

There are several reasons for the decline:
1. Increased popularity of electronic entertainment among children
in lieu of pets;

2. Changes in family life including two-earner families and single
households;

3. Time-starved families that don’t want high maintenance additions
to their family; and

4. Increasing expense of pet ownership. This includes the cost of
maintenance, skyrocketing veterinary fees and increasing insurance
premiums when insurance is even available. The American Kennel Club
this year reported that the “average” responsible dog owner spends
about $2,500 (!) a year on a dog.

We read more articles about dogs and luxury pet businesses, such as
doggy day care and spas, because the people who own dogs are tending
to spend more money on them.

The age group with the highest degree of dog ownership are the 45 to
54 year-olds. In other words, people whose children are grown and have
the time and money to spend on their canine children. The Pet Products
Association reported that sales of pet products has grown in double
digits each of the last five years.

Couple these trends in lifestyle with the animal rights groups
campaigns and lobbying against pet ownership and we may be facing
a future where pet ownership is rare and prohibitively expensive.
New anti-breeder and anti-dog laws pop upevery single day.

Enjoy your dog today and support the groups like American Dog Owners
Association at http://www.adoa.org or the National Animal Interest
Alliance at http://www.naiaonline.org that lobby for our rights to
have pets.