Comments on: Blue-green algae: Toxic scum can kill your dog

By: Bill Benson

Bill Benson — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:53:13 +0000

We just lost our 4 month old border collie to toxic blue green algae. She drank from a layer of green scum on Caliper Lake in North Western Ontario 140 km. south of Kenora. This is a provincially run camp ground who had never heard of this danger. Ayla died 60 minutes after ingesting the water… loss of coordination was the first symptom followed by loss of bowel control, seizures, and finally her respiration shut down.. Beware!
This was relatively early in the season, lower than normal water temps for this time of year.

By: Colorado Transplant

Colorado Transplant — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:07:43 +0000

I had left some water for my cat outside for a few hours.

Later I looked and the water was blue. My cat got very sick soon after and refused to eat or drink. I thought he was a goner.

However, he recovered after much treatment. I am sure it was the algae that was toxic. I never left water out after that and did not have a repeat incident of that sort.

By: Bev Bergman

Bev Bergman — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 06:44:26 +0000

To those of you who are concerned about blue green algae poisoning of your dogs - so you should be. My husband & I have lived over 60 years of our lives in east central Alberta, Canada and have never heard of such a thing, nor had our neighbors. However this past fall, after a long hot dry spell, we found our two dogs dead in our yard. The dog we found first was over 14 years old and we just thought it was his time. However, after an extensive search we found the second dog, a 6 month old pup, also dead, under a bush close to the house. We took the pup to the local vet to determine the cause of death and he concluded that is was blue green algae poisoning. We had a 5 gal pail catching rain off the house eaves and I had noticed several days before that it had a lot of ‘scuz’ on it and I thought I really should dump it and clean it out with bleach. However, it did not seem like a great priority at the time. We had no idea that the ‘scuz’, which I knew was algae, could be toxic. When we found the dead dogs, we noticed that the pail under the eave trough was tipped over. Becuase of our ignorance, we lost two treasured friends. The one thing that we noticed was that both dogs were still bleeding from their noses long after they were dead. We have since talked to local farmers who have found dead cattle & horses close their water source, who said the only thing they noticed is that the animals were bleeding from their noses some time after their death. Please learn from our sad experience - we do miss our dogs!

By: Julie

Julie — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:59:52 +0000

Interesting reading all postings. I have a question to ask, has anyone ever had an animal with nose bleeds after drinking contaminated water. A 6 month pup I bred has been suffering with fever, drooling and nose bleeds, he had been drinking from a bog garden pond?

Julie

By: Michele

Michele — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:38:31 +0000

My condolences to Kathy and others who have lost their beloved pets. Thank you so much for educating me about this danger. Our dog is in the water quite a bit this fall and its been quite warm here. We’ll definitely be watching out for this.

By: Kathy Craven

Kathy Craven — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:55:59 +0000

Our dog just died of blue green algae poisoning. She became ill on Friday night and was dead by Sunday at 5 p.m. We are not sure where she picked up the bacteria but know that it was this poisoning due to an autopsy done by a vigilent vet in Indiana. We live on a lake and have three other dogs that are not showing symptoms. Be very careful if you are near any stagnant water or hunt your dogs where water lies.

By: JOAN HANKEL

JOAN HANKEL — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 21:13:47 +0000

My 12 Yr. Old Scotty had a drink out of Newman Lake, WA before going on a boat ride. Within 3 days she was extremely ill with vomiting and diarrhea. 6 days after she had died, it was posted to keep humans and animals out of the water. She also tested positive for 3 out of 8 strains of Leptospirosis which is a deadly bacteria that is transmitted through the urine and feces of wild animals that come to the lake to drink. Next time I’ll be smarter and not let my dog near the lake.

By: nicola keane

nicola keane — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 21:10:32 +0000

while taking our two jack russells for a different walk and a paddle in the local marine lake, (in Croby Liverpool) suddenly the younger of the two dogs had uncontrolable bowel movement until only clear slime was being excreted. Walking back to our car we passed a sign warning of the Blue Green algae presence, only when we got home and on the net did we learn of the fatal dangers for our dogs. This DANGER should boldly highlighted.

By: mike zilem

mike zilem — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 02:43:42 +0000

wow, i am 59 years young and i was raised up next to a creek that flowed near my home,there was one deeper spot know as the BLUEHOLE where on hot summer afternoons kids would come some with ther dogs , from near and far to dive wade and swim for hours on end,moss everywhere , filthy? oh heck yeah , i was about 7 and i played in it with my friends till we were at least 14 or 15 ,after that it wasnt to kool to smell like creek water,any how my question is ???how did everyone survive this?or is this something new??

By: Heather Franek

Heather Franek — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 07:57:27 +0000

O.K., I have just found the treatment myself, from a 2005 article in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Online paper. Bring it to your vet if you suspect poisoning:

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Jim Stevenson, co-owner of the Oregon Veterinary Clinic, treated the dog with intravenous fluids and Valium to reduce the seizures.

“Every muscle on the dog was going,” he recalled. “The legs were trying to run.” But Griffin couldn’t stand.

After Mittelsteadt described the thick concentration of blue-green algae in the pond, Stevenson also administered atropine, a poison antidote, and charcoal, to absorb any remaining algae in the dog’s stomach.

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Hopefully we will stop losing pets to this horror!

- Heather Franek