Have you been following the case of Leila the lethargic Golden Retriever? If you missed the original posts, click here:
Congratulations to our winner, Jen! Jen correctly guessed that Leila had leptospirosis.
Leptospirosis is a bacteria that is shed in the urine of some skunks, foxes, badgers or racoons. It does not cause disease in those species, but if a dog ingests the urine (i.e. from drinking from a contaminated puddle) it can cause serious illness.
There are different types (serovars) of leptospirosis. Some types can cause kidney disease, some liver disease and there are others as well. In any case it is a very deadly disease.
There is a vaccine for leptospirosis that covers 4 of the possible serovars. It is not 100% effective but is fairly good protection.
Our first case of Guess the Diagnosis generated a great amount of interest, so we will do it again! If you want to be alerted of the next case click on the orange RSS feed button to subscribe to the Online Veterinary Advice blog. The next case will be posted soon!
Jen, you will be contacted shortly to be informed of how you can ask your free veterinary question on www.askavetquestion.com. Thank you to everyone who contributed!!!
Dr. Marie.
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