Diseases among pets at home are on the rise
Dr L. J. Lowrance attends to a sick pet dog brought to the Vithura Jersey Farm in Thiruvananthapuram.
Thiruvananthapuram: Amid much hue and cry over dog culling, vets see a rise in new diseases among pets, some of which are deadly. A leading veterinary doctor said, even if we get rid of all stray dogs, rabies will stay as long as the stray cats roam around.
Certain diseases like canine distemper (contagious viral illness), babesiosis (tick-borne disease), parvoviral infection (highly contagious viral infection) and ehrlichiosis (a tick-borne bacterial infection) have become more rampant and deadly among pets.
Due to the decline of the nuclear family in Kerala, children work in cities or abroad leaving their aged parents to fend for themselves. Fortunately, most of them have realised the value of pets which enable them to bond easily.
If having a pet at apartments was a distant dream earlier, most of them allow residents to keep pets with them. But pet owners complain of not having a well-equipped veterinary hospitals around.
They say chances of the animals contracting contagious diseases from ill-equipped hospitals are high. When a vet says leptospirosis has become rampant among pets, it shows the gravity.
The symptoms of canine distemper are high fever, nasal and ocular discharges, lack of muscular coordination and involuntary movements eventually leading to progressive paralysis and then death.
Similarly, the symptoms of babesiosis are high fever, anaemia and the presence of bilirubin in urine which will eventually lead to progressive anaemia and death.
Dr. L. J. Lowrance, a veterinary surgeon attached to the Vithura Jersey Farm and a leading pet specialist on the outskirts of the capital city, told DC that canine distemper, which was 70 percent curable a decade ago, had since become deadly. He reveals only 10 percent recovery from the disease is possible now and it has caught the pet lovers and vets unawares.
Canine distemper, which used to normally affect the puppies earlier, has since been affecting even adult dogs.
“If vaccination is being taken correctly,” said the vet credited with making Thiruvananthapuram the “puppy capital” of the country, “the canine distemper can be controlled”.
“The dangerous aspect of this contagious viral illness is that since it is airborne, the virus stays active up to two years.”
His home near Kannampuzha School at Thirumala on the city outskirts is daily sieged by owners of exotic breeds like Rottweiler, Labrador, Doberman and Great Dane seeking treatment.
Though the 47-year-old has been in the government service for the last 17 years, his tryst with dogs began early 2002 when he started working with Animal Rescue Kerala run by British lady Avis Lyons at Kovalam.
There are nights when Dr Lowrance hardly sleeps as pet lovers come to him with various kinds of diseases like skin lesions, filarial problems and parasites-caused illnesses.
He revealed that leptospirosis, an infectious bacterial disease mostly occurring in rodents, have since been seen in dogs and other mammals, which can be transmitted to humans.
“The symptoms of leptospirosis are high fever, urine dark in colour which would lead to jaundice and finally death. I often keep getting lots of such cases which are really alarming. If a human being walks barefoot and touches the faeces of the pet dog, then chances of he getting hold of leptospirosis are high,” he said.
Dr E. K. Easwaran, state president of Indian Veterinary Association, attributes the rise in diseases among pets to pet lovers not taking proper advice from vets.
He says that immunity among dogs is decreasing due to inbreeding as there is no proper control among the breeders.
“Unfortunately, people are not buying pedigree dogs. They are also not taking proper vaccination. Proper de-worming is not being done which actually enhances the immunity level among pets,” Dr Easwaran told DC.
He said there was a dearth of facilities to treat contagious diseases as well as general health care when it comes to veterinary hospitals in the state.
This year, animal husbandry department had inaugurated a super specialty veterinary hospital at Kudappanakunnu here which is now lying idle. Though a few types of equipment have been set up, the staff are yet to be appointed.
“Unfortunately staff pattern is yet to be created as only specialist veterinary doctors can be appointed there. The government is yet to take a policy decision which has prevented them from making appointments,” he added.
He also raised the Kudappanakunnu farmland being given to other departments like Doordarshan, Coir Board and Kudumbashree, with just 20 acres remaining now. Dr Easwaran wants inpatient wards at the super specialty veterinary hospital to be isolated so that other pets there should not catch any illnesses.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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