News Article

IMPORTANT LEPTOSPIROSIS UPDATE

Tuesday, 16 June 2015 - 11:11am

Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease spread in urine of infected animals such as rats and dogs. Over the past few months there has been a significant increase in reported cases of canine leptospirosis in the South West.

Worryingly several of these cases have occurred in vaccinated dogs. The disease is often contracted from infected water courses causing kidney and liver failure which can be difficult to treat and can result in death. The disease is zoonotic, so may be contracted by humans. We don't want to be alarmist, but we do want to make sure our pet owners are informed of the risks and the methods of prevention.

St Boniface Vets are responding to these worrying developments by updating our vaccination regime.  Our new vaccine covers 4 strains of Leptospirosis instead of the 2 strains covered by the previous vaccine that is commonly used. This increases your dogs immunological protection against leptospirosis.

Your vet will talk you through the changes when your dog comes in for their annual vaccination and health check. However if you have any questions or would like to discuss updating your dogs protection sooner then please give our team a call. We will be happy to talk you through the changes and rest assured there will be no additional cost 01363 772860.