Fluke Dog

When dogs eat raw fish in which the cysts of flukes are present, they become infected, and in a week the flukes are mature and are laying eggs. Salmon poisoning, one of the fluke diseases, is serious in the Pacific Northwest and southwestern Canada.

The symptoms of fluke disease are somewhat like those of distemper,except that the temperature is much higher 106° to 107°. The dog shows great thirst, refuses food, and has an eye discharge. In some dog sit causes a swelling of the face. After a day of high fever the temperature drops and the stools become liquid and bloody. This and the effects on the organs cause emaciation and dehydration. In six to eight days the temperature falls below normal, and the dog soon dies. The mortality is high - 75 percent of untreated dogs die. Study has con - vince researchers that the presence of the flukes themselves is not the cause of the disease, but rather that a bacterium associated with fluke sis the actual agent of infection.

Other fluke diseases, such as heart disease and lung disease, are seri - o us in their localities, but these are prevalent chiefly in Asia and the Philippine Islands. The invasion of the lungs produces coughing and pneumonia symptoms, while the heart is weakened to the point of inefficiency and even death by the presence of the parasites in large numbers.

With one or two exceptions, the avoidance of feeding uncooked fish is the important precaution in the prevention of flukes of most varieties. If dogs can't get raw salmon they are spared salmon poisoning. If they are not fed raw fish of any sort, they will not contract fluke is - eases generally. Among the fluke diseases, only salmon poisoning in dogs can be treated.