Researchers in Riverside have pinpointed the reason for an sickness in dogs in recent weeks and are warning pet homeowners to watch out for a specific location in Southern California.
Alder Dillman, a former professor on the University of California Riverside-turned-pet detective, mentioned he researched a mysterious sickness that sickened dogs. First, he decided one thing all of the in poor health dogs had in frequent.
“Been swimming in Blythe within two months of being diagnosed with this parasite,” Dillman mentioned.
Blythe, a Riverside County metropolis positioned about 220 miles east of Los Angeles, has a portion of the Colorado River flowing via the city. After discovering the frequent issue within the sickened dogs, Dillman and his researchers headed to Blythe seeking a trigger.
On the shore of river, the crew discovered hundreds of tiny snails and picked up them for analysis. After learning them for a while, the crew decided they had been the reason for the pets’ sickness.
“We were jumping up and down in the lab when we were able to definitively say it is this parasite and it is here in the Colorado (River),” Dillman mentioned.
With that in thoughts, pet mother and father are warned to take additional precautions when letting their animal companions close to the Colorado River.
“If you do take your dog into these waters and a month or two later, it begins to have some of the symptoms — it becomes lethargic, fever, diarrhea, it loses its appetite, starts to lose weight — you need to get that dog tested for this parasite,” Dillman suggested.
Further cautioning, Dillman mentioned the snails that carry the parasite are sometimes eaten by raccoons, which can additionally pose a risk to dogs if the encounter them.
“That’s the next important question that we need to determine, is how far have these snails spread and what other fresh waters are they residing in,” Dillman mentioned.
