Lethargic dog after swimming in Nehalem River

[Pokie34]

A couple weeks after camping at spruce run our dog got sick. She's lethargic, won't eat and just wants to lay around all day. We're taking her to the vet but wanted to know if anyone else had this problem after your dog swam either in Lost lake or the Nehalem river?

By the way, we trolled in Lost Lake with worms and pulled out a dozen trout of which we kept 5.

 

[RunWithSasquatch]

I'd get goin to the vet. No personal experience, but have read articicles in the paper of dog fatalities after contracting water born illness. Also, those are symptoms of salmon poisoning, which I do have experience with. Also fatal.

 

[Pokie34]

We will be taking her to the vet. I was hoping to be armed with some ideas to present to the vet since I had another dog get sick after returning from spruce run, same symptoms, almost died, vet never came up with a solution. This dog eventually pulled through but at one point I was almost going to put him down. Also, there was no salmon, and she didn't eat any other fish.

 

[usmc-recon]

If it happens to be salmon you want to give it rediculous amounts of electrolytes (gatorade) and high amounts vitamin k this helps to dilute harmful toxins. And may have a chance. (Wife works in vet office) as allways consult a vet to be sue good luck !

 

[RunWithSasquatch]

Salmon poisoning is not necessarily from salmon. But yes there are salmon/steelhead in the Nehalem. Spawning dying fish up stream can release the parasite in the water, that can then be drank. Also, have experienced dogs eating things that I didn't know about. Just my 2 cents.

 

[usmc-recon]

We had a basset hound one day got sick was walking sideways throughing up and generally a mess well come find out she ate some trash that had bad toxins in it I would keep that in mind ours seemed to have neuraligical symptoms with being sic. Hope it helps!

 

[Pokie34]

Thanks, that's good to know, never thought about that. My other dog that got sick, I'm sure the vet was more interested in running my bill up to the customary $400 - $600 range to make the bills than they were to finding a cure for my dog. I finally ran out of money hand took my chances. He slowly pulled through. Know of any good, experienced vets with good reputation in Washington county?

 

[fish4life]

I know some algea blooms in lakes can be toxic also.

 

[usmc-recon]

It seems like I herd once there was one in a river that several days later dogs became sick.

 

[RunWithSasquatch]

Sick as in Dead, it was by Elkton I think.

 

[Finneus Polebender]

That is correct blue green alage can be very toxic if ingested in sufficient quantity "why humans dont generally have a problem with it " but can be fatal to all sorts of animals keep a close eye .

 

[Thuggin4Life]

I would guess salmon poisoning. better get in there. my og played in whitacker creek and got even though i didn't see her eat a salmon. if there are fish around then its always a possibility. yeah elkton was killing dogs right and left not tot long ago.

 

[sherman]

yea we had a case here in Myrtle Creek a couple of weeks ago with a guys dog dying from blue green algae in the river.

 

[GungasUncle]

Another for salmon poisoning. I had a black lab that drank some water out of Commonwealth when he was a pup - damn near died from it. Expensive vet visit, but worth it. Salmon poisoning is a generic term for the condition. They can get it from eating ANY fresh water fish (it's a parasite, and that parasite inhabits anything that swims, it seems). They can also pick up the parasite from ingesting untreated fresh water. Moral of the story I learned? Don't let the dog drink any lake/pond/river water. Not worth the risks. We took extra water for the dog whenever we went someplace after that.

 

[Drew9870]

These parasites can also be picked up from birds, they ingest the parasite and it is very much capable of surviving throughout digestion, and it's bombs away back into the water sometimes. Personally, I am disgusted by, and don't really like Ducks and Seagulls, probably also because I fish for Carp a lot, caught enough of them to feed families.

I wish you the best on the situation.

 

[Pokie34]

To follow-up on my original post;
We researched our dogs' symptoms online, together with the responses we received here and it seemed that Salmon poison was the most likely suspect. So we took her to the vet and asked for treatment for that (avoiding the costly diagnostic tests) and she gradually improved. Now she's all bouncy and back to normal! Thanks to all of you for your input.

We won't be taking our dogs with us to Lost lake or Spruce run anymore. This is the second time (2 different dogs) that this sort of sickness has happened. While it may not even be something they got there, we don't want to take the chance anymore.

 

[Thuggin4Life]

This is open to debate but there is a good chance that the dog will never get it again.

 

[RunWithSasquatch]

As T4L says, theres two sides to the story, and I have actually received both sides from two different vets in Corvallis.

Regardless;
I live on property that has salmon and steelhead spawn in the creek that flows along the property. Both of my dogs contracted salmon poisoning the first year we lived here from getting into the dead fish along the bank. 5 years later, neither have gotten the illness again, and I know they run off down to the creek from time to time when the fish are in.

 

[Thuggin4Life]

if my dog soesn't get sick this seson thens its a done deal shes immune. with a dog in a boat that is catching fish you know its bound to happen. so if it doesn't then thats that. i lean towards rws on this one. i still watch my dog if she acts weird in days after fishing but it ussually just her pouting when she doesn't get to go.

 

[JeannaJigs]

ugh. freakin' salmon poisoning. my pup was licking up water from where people were cleaning trout the last few days and she had a chunk of gut in her mouth before i yanked it out...so i'm paranoid. It's inevitable, she's gonna get it someday, I just watch her like a hawk after looking for the very first symptoms. Of course she's naturally lazy and lethargic, so, it's difficult to gauge sometimes.