There is nothing better than finding a spot where you and your dog/dogs can spend the afternoon swimming. Away from all the crowds; you know of a place where there is a great little pond. But that pond may hold a toxic substance dangers to humans but even more so for your dog.
I remember several years back hearing of a couple of canine deaths caused by algae. Being that it is mid summer and the temperatures are rising I felt that I should give everyone a heads up. We use to run our dogs in a creek not too far from our house. It would go from deep and raging for months after the rainy season to a mere trickle at dryer times. After hearing about the algae deaths we stopped allowing them to run in the water all together.
Not all algae is bad but the blue green type can become toxic in the warmer weather. As the water levels drop and the temperatures rise a toxic potion can result. Many people who commonly swim their dogs in fresh water need to be aware of the dangers. Not all blue green algae is blue or green, it can be shades of brown, red or orange as well. Sitting water or stagnant ponds are the worst. Below are several articles on the subject; please take care.
Pet connection
VT Vet
Algae
The news guard
I swear I just sat down from our visit to the vet and read this. A few week-ends ago, my 2 spoos, yorkie, kids and I played in a river in WV. It was soooo hot and I figured it would be good to cool the dogs down a bit. Although the river was flowing, algae was everywhere and, for some reason, I thought nothing of it. Two weeks later, my 2 kids and two spoos are fine, but our yorkie started showing
ReplyDeletesigns of dehydration and a UTI. Sure enough, she had a major infection. I'm praying the antiobiotics will help and her pain shot eases things. Thankfully, the vet didn't think she had Leptospirosis which is something I'd never heard of. Silly me, we're staying in the air conditioner from now on to cool off!! It's serious stuff.
Hi Y'all,
ReplyDeleteYep, if we're at the shore in the summer, it isn't just the alligators that keep me out of the water. In the deep south the rivers are warm and my Human doesn't trust the water.
Just spent a few minutes catching up on missed reading from this week. Missed your gorgeous birthday post. So glad I had time to read it today. Congrats on your book proof. Shame on that lady who wasn't reading her dog. Poor dog. Guess I won't complain when my Human drags me off to the vet every time I shake my head or scratch my butt. Shhhh...don't tell...she's even dragged me off to a different vet if she wasn't satisfied with my treatment...more than once.
Y'all come by now,
Hawk aka BrownDog