Winnie the Dalmatian almost didn’t make it. Photo: Canberra Veterinary Emergency Service.
A four-month-old puppy had a narrow escape after swallowing blue-green algae in Lake Ginninderra, prompting calls to watch out for your dogs.
It was a normal day by the lake for Winnie the Dalmatian, but after drinking some water, she began to develop strange symptoms, prompting a call to the Canberra Veterinary Emergency Service.
This was the start of an overnight ordeal as her owners rushed her to the clinic.
“Initially, she was tremoring, shaking, she had quite a wobbly gait,” said Dr Jacob Motha, one of the emergency vets on call that night.
“She had vomited and also had a bout of diarrhea; those are the normal symptoms that we see when blue-green algae poisoning is present.”
Within 15 minutes of arriving at the vet’s, Winnie had collapsed with muscle tremors, vomiting, and seizures.
After a call to the animal poisons hotline, she was diagnosed with blue-green algae poisoning.
The emergency vets had to act quickly; it’s a condition that is so fatal that many pets never make it to help in time.
“There’s very little data on these patients that get the neurotoxin, because they often don’t make it to the clinic, and they often die very quickly, often lakeside,” Dr Motha said.
Winnie the Dalmatian. Photo: Canberra Veterinary Emergency Service.
When pets ingest blue-green algae, it sometimes only takes hours before the liver shuts down. But she was fortunate to have been rushed straight to the clinic.
After collapsing, Winnie went into full respiratory arrest and had to go into intensive care.
“We were able to intervene by giving her anti-seizure medications and manually ventilating for her to keep her oxygen saturation up.
“We continued throughout the night until she was able to breathe again on her own.”
Blue-green algae is a notorious cyanobacterium that often blooms in Canberra’s lakes.
Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, tremors, seizures, and difficulty breathing.
When ingested, it is almost always fatal. Dogs can get it from grooming themselves after swimming or from drinking contaminated water.
Fortunately for Winnie, she got help just in time.
“Within about six hours, she was up and about and looking around, although she was still oxygen dependent.
“Throughout the course of the weekend, she improved remarkably. We were actually impressed, considering the side effects.”
Dr Motha thinks her age might have made her more resilient to the effects of the bacteria, but that she survived thanks to the quick action of her owner.
Winnie the Dalmatian. Photo: Canberra Veterinary Emergency Service.
He encourages owners to always be vigilant with their pets, especially at the moment, as the territory moves into the warmer months and algal blooms become more common.
Winnie’s case came as a surprise to Dr Motha, as algal blooms usually occur later in the year in Canberra.
However, he said it serves as a reminder to keep a close eye on your pets and to actively monitor water quality.
Reports on the ACT’s waterways, including on algal blooms, are regularly published by the government online at Waterwatch.
Dr Motha said that now is a busy time for vets.
With the weather warming up, Canberra and surrounding regions enter a danger period not just for algal blooms, but also for snakes and ticks.
“The more common presentations that we see where we’re intubating that quickly and manually ventilating for dogs is snake envenomation,” Dr Motha said.
“That’s probably the most common, and then second, with that would be tick paralysis.”
And it’s not just Canberra that has to be careful.
Algae blooms have been spotted in stagnant bodies of water along the coast, prompting health concerns.
The Bermagui Veterinary Clinic recently sent out a warning to its community about algal blooms in the town’s iconic coastal Blue Pool, which has raised health concerns.
The clinic has warned pet owners that ingesting certain algae can lead to liver failure in a matter of hours.
It’s a warning that Winnie’s owners are sure not to forget soon.
After her terrifying ordeal, she did return to her family, where she is continuing to recover well.
For more information about blue-green algae, visit Environment ACT.
The government also publishes regularly data on water monitoring at sites around Canberra.
