Alabama rot kills beloved dog in Stanford Dingley

Dog owners in West Berkshire are urged to remain vigilant after a second fatal case of Alabama rot in just six weeks.

The disease – also known as CRGV – is extremely rare, but kills more than 90 per cent of infected dogs.

The case follows on from the death of a three-year-old Labrador in Lambourn.

"Unfortunately, we have to confirm a second case of Alabama rot in Berkshire," said Josh Walker, of Anderson Moores Veterinary Specialists. This case took place in Stanford Dingley.

"There were 11 cases recorded across the UK in 2022, so to report two deaths in Berkshire in a six-week period is unusual," he added.

"I must emphasise this is a very rare disease and we're advising dog owners to remain calm and seek advice from their vet if their dog develops unexplained skin lesions."

Sabina Richardson, owner of six-year-old Hungarian vizsla Marnie, explained how dramatically she deteriorated after developing sores on her paws.

"Marnie's first symptoms were sores on her paws, which then began to spread onto her legs," she said. "She also stopped eating and started to vomit.

"We took her to local vets who gave her antibiotics but she couldn't keep the tablets down and continued to deteriorate.

"By this point, we were very concerned and visited another vets, who said they feared it was Alabama rot.

"They gave Marnie an injection of antibiotics and took blood tests which confirmed her kidneys were failing.

"That was such a shock and it was really tough when we finally had to make the heart-breaking decision to put her to sleep."

Her partner's two-year-old whippet had shown similar symptoms, but survived.

"It's so hard to understand," she added. "We keep going over it all and trying to identify where they could have come in touch with such a rare disease. We have re-traced our walks and can't think of anywhere we went that was unusual.

"Everyone in the village tends to walk their dogs in the same spots so it's baffling how there haven't been more cases."

Mr Walker added: "Our nationwide map allows anyone to see the location of confirmed cases. Although an environmental trigger has not been definitively proven, the seasonality of the disease makes it possible."

Visit www.alabama-rot.co.uk/ to view Anderson Moores' dedicated CRGV website.