Leptospirosis killed my dog - Page 6

We were lucky, when I noticed that my Moola just wasn't acting like herself I called my vet. It was a Sunday we had just got home from Schutzhund training Moola had done some of the best work I had ever seen her do but she was just too calm Not caring what the other dogs were doing just hanging by me. My vet who had spent his first 11 yrs as an ER vet trusted my instincts told me to meet him at the clinic NOW. Moola was in kidney failure he did the tests for Lepto but at that time 12 yrs ago the tests had to be sent to Cornell and it would take a week to get results.  My vet told me he thought it was Lepto but Moola just didn't look like most dogs did at that stage of the disease, she was still Alive.  Jason wanted to treat her for Lepto even without diagnosis, I agreed  so we started IV antibiotics and fluids.  Jason was honest with me told me Moo needed a miracle and a lot of prayers , My helper a part time minister started the prayer circles and I headed for the U of I vet school clinic. A week later while I was driving back home with a live dog Jason called me and told me he had gotten the tests back and she had Lepto one of the strains that at that time they didn't have a vaccine for (they do now)  So all my dogs and all my family got to take antibiotics. 

Lepto outbreaks around here seemed to follow heavy rains in the summer when water runoff would be contaminated by rodent waste and then the dogs playing in water are exposed,  definitely seasonal and something that could be vaccinated for and possibly avoided somewhat depending on your environment.

Lepto  is curable if caught early enough and if you have a dog with an indomitable spirit  Moola lived another 8 yrs and was a force to be reckoned with every day
Trudy

A successful treatment of and recovery from leptospirosis infection is dependent upon many things, not the least of them being what level of veterinary resources are available to the patient--and that is quite variable, depending on where in the world the patient is being treated.  In the US, Canada, and most of Western Europe, for sure, general practice veterinary clinics typically have medications & supplies necessary on hand and immediately available; that isn't always the case in other parts of the world, where a fully-stocked general practice could be a days' travel or more from the patient's home.