Around the New Forest and other areas !!

Alabama Rot ?

"Signs are to be put up in the New Forest warning dog owners about a mysterious disease that has killed 13 dogs across Britain in recent months.

The Forestry Commission notices tell owners to take their pet to a vet should it develop lesions on its legs, paws or face."

Wasn't this seen in dogs around Thetford Forest some while back - or was that something different?   Worrying if it's now here in Cornwall but not surprising given how many holidaymakers bring their dogs down here on the N.Cornwall coast.   Shudder.

But rather than panicking, perhaps we should wait for more information?

I've always said the human race will go not with a bang, but with some previously unknown virus.   Same with our dogs/pets?

This issue in new forest has been under investigation for some time, dogs develop acute renal failure.
This is NOT the same issue as seen in thetford, sandringham, and clumber park regions which is known as seasonal canine illness 

http://www.lynwoodvets.co.uk/news/acute-kidney-injury-in-dogs-in-the-new-forest.shtml

K

There was an item about it on beeb 1 lunch time main news, so it may well be on again in the 6pm news.

> But rather than panicking, perhaps we should wait for more information

!! They stressed that it was very important to seek immediate vet attention if symptoms found. I am just trying to bring this to people's attention, it was obviously considered important enough to make the main BBC News today. It is not the same as that in Thetford etc

> but with some previously unknown virus

It's called Alabama Rot because it has previously been seen in the US. The cause is unknown, but not the virus but it is relatively new in the UK.

I don't 'do' panicking - but if this is your definition of panicking then so be it !

> There was an item about it on beeb 1 lunch time main news

Was also on BBC Breakfast this morning.

I live right in the heart of the new forest and only a couple of weeks ago two dogs are reported to have died from this illness in the next village . It is worrying but you have to remember there are hundreds of dogs that get walked everyday around here without issues. you just have to be vigilant on checking your dogs over so it can be caught early I guess.
People in the new forest are very aware of the problem and the new forest dog groups keep us updated.

My Vizsla has a scab on her ear and has had for about a month (not been near New Forest) I assumed this was as a result of her being a working shooting dog. I am treating it with Camrosa and it is slowly getting better. She gets regular minor scrapes and scratches. She is in exceptionally good health other than that... vets or not?

The signs are cuts or sores below the elbows and on feet. This is what the vet said on our local news tonight.

I don't know about the rest of you but I always hose off my dogs feet/lower legs when returning from a walk. I include the belly too if they have got particularly dirty. It might not be of any advantage with this 'new problem' but I can't see it doing any harm. At least until they know exactly what they are dealing with.

I only do that, hose/wash feet, if I have puppies at home, to hopefully avoid walking in infection.    But before doing anything like this now, I need to find out what we are dealing with - bacteria, or virus, for instance.

Thanks for that (not seasonal canine illness).   It doesn't sound the same for sure.

If the affected dog develops acute renal failure, it doesn't sound as if there's much to stop this from happening, whether caught early, or not???   Which is scarey.

A couple of years ago in this area, South Lanarkshire, two dogs out of four belonging to the same person died of acute renal failure after running off on a walk and coming back with apparently very minor cuts and lesions on their legs. A third out of the four also had a very small graze on one leg but he didn't develop further symptoms, though it took ages to heal, and even now there is no hair on it. The vets were mystified at the time and no one knew if there was a link with the cuts, or indeed what was going on. This sounds terribly similar. I find it worrying that this thing, whatever it is, could maybe be much more widespread than we think. If there had only been one of these dogs died of acute kidney failure it would have been reasonable to put it down to bad luck-- occassionally otherwise healthy dogs do suddenly get renal failure for various reasons, or just bad luck. All local vets were contacted and none had seen anything similar, so if it is just popping up in isolated cases they are maybe not being reported.

Been watching this carefully , Anderson moores  vet specialists seem to be the main or only vets researching this, sorry don't know how to do links , but have a look at what they have to say about it .Needs to be nipped in the bud and sorted asap  x

Idiopathic Cutaneous and Renal Glomerular Vasculopathy

There doesn't seem to be much scholarly work on it, but I did find this:
http://vet.sagepub.com/content/25/6/401
http://vet.sagepub.com/content/25/6/401.full.pdf

It has also been previously recorded in a Great Dane but I can't access the full articles.

There also seems to be a similar disease found in pigs, first recorded in the UK in 1993.
http://www.aasv.org/shap/issues/v7n6/v7n6p283.html
Just wondering if the areas the dogs have been walked in have been where pigs are pannaged, or if there are wild boar there?

The disease affecting the dogs on the New Forest is very quick. The dogs develop the lesions on feet, legs or FACES and within 2 to 7 days the dogs die, with or without treatment. Only 2 have survived as far as I am aware. This is very worrying for those of us who have little choice but to walk there. I hose mine after each walk but one local vet practice suggests shampooing them each time which is the ideal if you don't have 5 dogs and a bad back.  It is difficult enough walking here at the moment with the wet and mud and Anderson Moores have implicated that it may again be the high water table causing the problem as it was this time last year that the disease started.
If only the vets could come up with a definite and a cure . It has been suggested that it is e-coli bacteria causing toxins but the dogs p.m. have not apparently shown this.

Off to the vets this morning as Bog has some sores that have appeared on his neck he is also drinking abit more than normal and is very lean at the moment hopefully nothing related to this all being well

Hope Bog is ok :)

I am sure it is nothing but wet eczema but best to get it checked out as we were at the firest of Dean at new year and he is being walked by our dog walker in woods rather than fields which I what we do

Diagnosis wet eczema and a severe dose of hyperactivity !  

Whew !

Very sad another death

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2571381/Mystery-deadly-toxin-FOURTEENTH-dog-dies-agony-walking-New-Forest.html

How ghastly.   Unless this can be traced back to a military source what we clearly need is some good hard frosts.  I hate a mild Winter for that very reason, and heaven knows what all this flooding is doing to humans and animals alike.

Just a warning this lady has lost one of her Labs and another seriously ill at the vets. Based in Runcorn

http://www.homealabrador.net/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=20077

Oh heavens, this is still around eh.   Again we do need some good hard frosts!!!!

I'm afraid that hard frosts will have no affect on this "disease". Much research has been done by David Walker at Anderson Moores and NFDog has raised over £13000 for their research but so far there has been no known cause ( just a few eliminations) therefore no known treatments guaranteed to save the dogs. 45 dogs nationwide have succumbed to this "disease" and only 5 survived though there does not seem to be a common denominator in their treatment which would indicate why they were the lucky ones.  We have been told to wash legs, paws and tummies after a walk which may or may not help. This does not pass from one dog to another and if two in a household do get it, they have always been genetically related. Therefore I would hope that the lady's other dogs will not get it. For more info, check the Anderson Moores website which is frequently updated. Look under "referring vets" then "acute renal failure."