When involved in working dog training outside, dog owners should be aware that Alabama Rot – a disease that can cause skin sores and sudden kidney failure in pets – is now being seen in the UK.
To encourage greater awareness among owners this spring and summer
, Vets4Pets has launched a campaign to make sure that people take extra precautions when walking their dogs and have come up with an interactive guide with all sorts of relevant information for owners, including tips on how to reduce the risk of infection and where confirmed locations of the disease have been spotted.
You can follow the campaign on social media using the hashtag #StopAlabamaRot. There’s also a helpful facility on the Vets4Pets site where you can search the UK by postcode so you can find out if there have been any cases in your local area.
The cause of the disease is still unknown, so as yet there is no way of preventing your dog from contracting it, except by being particularly careful when out and about walking your pet. It’s thought it’s contracted via the legs and paws on muddy walks so make sure you always wash off woodland mud and check for signs regularly.
Watch out for skin lesions that appear as a distinct swelling, a patch of red skin or an open ulcer. If you spot any of these signs, make sure you take your pet to the vet as soon as you can and you can also call us here at Total K9 if you’d like any further advice.