Alabama Rot

[Tatie3]

I've just heard that a dog in my village has sadly died and although all the results are no back yet it looks like Alabama Rot. The local council have had heavy machinery in thinning out trees in the woods which has churned up lots of mud (I posted a couple of weeks ago about needing some better boots because if it).

I'm just feeling a bit worried about it, apart from cleaning Teddy's paws does anyone know how we could prevent the spread of it?

It wasn't proved ,but my dog died of that...to have it proved I would of had to of sent him to a specialist vet ,when it was obvious he was diying.i refused, and he died 2 days later,he had a week at the vets with them trying everything...

Clean paws ,check for cuts to the pads.dont walk in woodland ..or at least woodland where it has been reported

Its also been confirmed locally to me with 2 dogs dying recently. I've stopped walking my dogs in the forest. I walk them around the town now. Once the weather warms up and theres less mud it will be ok to walk them in woodland again.

The problem is that it isn't really known what causes it or how to fix it. Even if you wash your dogs after every walk they can still develop alabama rot because its easy for dogs paws to be punctured and possibly infect them.

My vets advice is to avoid muddy forest areas where known cases have been reported.

I'm sorry Help, that must have been heartbreaking. Yes I'll be avoiding the woods which is a shame as it's right on our doorstep.

It was only last month that we lost our cat to antifreeze poisoning, I'm terrified of something happening to the dog too and he does have a cut aw from skidding in the snow last week. Like you said it's more prevalent at this time of year, hurry up Spring!

Op, would you mind telling us the general area this has occurred?

You can check confirmed cases in your area here: www.vets4pets.com/stop-alabama-rot/

There is also some great info at alabamarot.co.uk/. Looking through stories of survivors it seems like early detection is absolutely key and so owners should press hard for a diagnosis of anything they think might be AR.

A dog in our village got this. There’s no woods in a ten mile radius....there’s barely a single tree in a 3 mile radius! Owners swore the dog hadn’t been anywhere apart from the paths on the arable fields surrounding our village. Dog survived but was taken 200 miles to London to some sort of RVS college/uni teaching place.

Worried me as I always thought it was a woodland issue.

I think they call it Alabama rot ,when every conceivable other possible reason has been ruled out..so by the time we got to that conclusion,he wasn't going to recover ,the vet agreed to let him come home to die x very sad ...we've just had our first Xmas without him ☹️

Helpadvicepls I just reread my post and really hope you didn't take me to mean I think YOU should have pressed for a diagnosis. What happened to your dog is a tragedy and you clearly made a loving decision that was right for him and you. My heart goes out to you - they break your hearts when they go.

I was merely trying to spread the info I had.

All the best xx

The suspected case I was referring to is in Durham, it was almost unheard of around here until this although there is lots of woodland in the area.