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A Cautionary Tale |
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We have received the following email;
My mum has a couple of my older cairns, one in particular, Kelly (Doonrae Vivacious) had the particularly nasty habit of eating rotting and smelly items which she found whilst out walking (which incidentally my parents do a lot of). One week just before our wedding we were walking around Holmfirth and again she was happily hunting for anything vaguely edible, if it wasn’t edible then she rolled in it!!
A few days after the walk Kelly developed a cough, which although similar to kennel cough, didn’t seem to be contagious, she also seemed to be having trouble eating her food. She was taken to the vet and he agreed it could be a mild form of kennel cough and also told my parents to rest her, as she seemed to have a slight heart problem. Three days later, on the Sunday after our wedding, when my parents returned home they let the dogs into the garden but on trying to get up the step into the house Kelly collapsed and my mum could not get her to stand. She was immediately taken to the vet who was quite mystified as to the cause of her condition. She was left in the care of the Veterinary Surgery but her condition continued to deteriorate, our vet called upon other vets for their opinion and they concluded that she had Botulism poisoning, probably picked up whilst scavenging.
She was euthanased on the Thursday on the advise of the vet, as she was paralysed and was starting with Pneumonia.
It was very sad news for us to come home from our honeymoon to, but thought that maybe other Cairn owners should be made aware of the danger.
Julie Petts (nee Sharp)
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