Seasonal Canine Illness - Oct 13

[JAN]

I'm currently on tentahooks waiting for news of my 16 month old cocker bitch who on a drip with SCI. Fine last night at 10.30pm by 6am this morning wouldn't come out of kennel, had been sick several times, wouldn't eat, drink, could hardly stand up, shaking. At vets by 8am on drip by 8.15 - I'd found a small spot on her chest which was very sore and on further investigation the vet has said her feet/toes are covered in harvest mites which seem to be the common denominator in this illness. Blood tests have shown no dramatic issues re liver & kidney function. pancreatic levels elevated but hopefully just due to vomiting so much. Will stay in overnight on drip, with antibiotics and anti sickness treatment.

PLEASE keep an eye out for symptoms and these blasted mites -we are in Warwickshire so not in any of the hotspots highlighted on the Animal Health trust website http://www.aht.org.uk/sci - although we were training on Tuesday at a location just outside Coventry where two incidents were reported last year..... Fingers crossed for Skye...... at lunch time vet said it was still 50/50 but as we had got her to him so quickly he hopeful.

[JET1955]

Took my 7month cocker pup too the vets Tuesday morning,he had harvest mites on his chest and legs.Taking my vets advice,I sprayed him well with frontline.Hope that will do the job.But i m still concerned about him.I m warwickshire/leics. border.I know of someone whose lab. was on a drip for two days with the same thing.
Does anyone onthe forum know of anything which works at stopping these mites from getting on dogs

[madrags]

Which woods were you training in? A friend has just had a similar trauma with her dog, and she lives near Coventry.

[Rascal]

I hope she's ok Jan.

They seem so invincible don't they and it's scary the speed that can change!

I'm thinking of you with fingers and paws crossed here..

Rascal

[JAN]

Update from overnight is that her stump is wagging which is a HUGE step forward, she won't eat their £4 a tin science diet "special" food(!) is VERY wobbly still and they want to keep her on a drip for fluids and antibiotics.
Vets have sent blood samples, results & mites to AHT in Newmarket.
Apparently only thing that kills the harvest mites is frontline. My lot only had their spot on with advocate on Sunday but this doesn't touch the little beggars. Have been advised to get spray on frontline and work it into the toes, feet and legs of the dogs that we are working on Saturday - we not beating at the same place but wouldn't hurt.
Was worried about her mum who Skye is kennelled with but apparently no evidence of it passing from dog to dog, but I skipped out the bedding and kennels and went over Bliss for best part of an hour to be on the safe side.

[Stacia]

Very pleased to read that there is some improvement and will recover completely very quickly.

It seems strange that harvest mites are now thought to be the cause of SCI as they have been around for years. I wonder if they have undergone some genetic change due to climate warming. I am also interested as to whether SCI is found in any other countries, particularly Northern European and whether these harvest mites are coming over from there?

My previous thoughts on SCI were that it may be due to some fungus which is found in woodlands at this time of year, mushroom type etc this could explain the damage to kidneys and liver.

[JAN]

There was a local incident recently where x2 people were training their dogs. Little cocker went down with SCI very poorly, the other dog was COVERED in the mites but had no adverse effects. Makes you wonder whether it is an allergy thing - I react 100% worse to mozzie bits than my husband does - so could be that some dogs are more sensitive to them.

[vicky payne]

There is no really effective prevention for harvest mites. the best advice is to use FRONTLINE SPRAY monthly if walking dogs in high risk areas. Frontline spray is a prescription product. Harvest mites 'seem' to be implicated in SCI but so far it is not known how. Most SCI dogs have harvest mites but many dogs have harvest mites without SCI. It may be that some are infected with something or it may be a coincidence (ie the mites and the toxic agent live in the same places).

[trekmoor]

I just do not see how a creature that has been around for thousands of years doing little or no damage could suddenly become deadly. Are wild creatures falling victim to this illness too ?
Something is missing from the picture.

Wullie

[vicky payne]

You're right that something is missing! And the AHT are spending much time and money looking for it. The causative agent is still not known, until it is we're groping in the dark. New things can emerge though; lungworm was a really uncommon infection 20years ago but changing climate and possibly changing pest control by farmers mean it's a huge problem in some areas now, and last year dogs were suddenly dying of nephrotoxic ecoli. No easy answers.