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 We all know you vaccinate a puppy with “puppy shots”, or in the breeder world, called 5 in 1 puppy shots, but when it comes to vaccinating for Lepto it gets a bit confusing. I was always of the “old school” thought that unless you had a pond or other form of standing water near where you lived, and your dog might have access to it, you should have your dog vaccinated for Lepto. If you didn’t have standing water nearby you could skip this shot. Well… after a frightful few weeks with one of the puppies from my last litter I have come away with a whole new respect for this vaccination.
I received a call from the “mom” of Louis, (one my puppies from my last litter). Claire had just gone through 48 hours of agony with her then 12 week old puppy “Louis”. Louis started throwing up around 48 hours earlier, at first Claire just thought it was something simple, maybe the heat, he ate something that didn't agree with him, the usual thought, but things developed steadily that didn't seem right to Claire. Louis started having the dry heaves, became lethargic, whereas he was always robust and upbeat. He just seemed under the weather. Claire called her vet, discussed different possibilities; the vet didn't seem too excited or concerned, told Claire they would be open till noon if she wanted to bring him in. Well, as it turns out Claire just knew something wasn't right, he wasn't drinking water, started to get even more lethargic, etc. She called the emergency animal ER and they told her a puppy couldn't go very long without water intake and would become dehydrated quickly (which can kill a puppy). Claire brought him into the ER vet, they immediately checked his heart, his heart rate was twice what it should have been. He was dehydrated and if she had waited much longer bringing him in he might not be alive today. After much discussion about what he could have eaten, and many tests later, it was determined his one kidney was beginning to shut down. A number of things were discussed and “ruled out”, Lepto was what the vets were leaning towards as a real possibility, the test was run, but it would be another few days before the test results would be back. Lepto is a disease that puppies can get by drinking urine from a wild animal. Puppies can get Lepto by eating a leaf or even licking grass where a raccoon or rabbit or other wild life has urinated, or by drinking standing water where wild animals have urinated in, like a pond or other place where water can collect. This is just to remind you that whenever you see your puppy eating ANYTHING outside, stop what you're doing and remove it from his mouth. It sometimes just takes a small nibble of something poisonous for something fatal to happen. Always remember to go with your gut...Claire just felt Louis was getting worse, bypassing her vet and taking him to the ER may have saved his life. Don't wait when you KNOW something just isn't right. After 3 nights at the emergency ER Louis’ test results came back and were positive for Lepto. Louis is a rare case, rare because he was brought to the emergency ER in time to save his little life because Claire recognized something was terribly wrong and moved on it quickly! Please discuss whether or not you should have your puppy vaccinated for Lepto with your vet. Depending on your location, different areas of the country are seeing Lepto on the rise and are recommending more often than not to get your puppy vaccinated for Lepto. Claire shared this adorable picture of "little Louis" after his 3 night stay in the ER; he was so happy to be back home with his toys!
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