Salmon poisoning

We have a winter run of salmon each year, as you may know they are running now.  In the last week, we have seen four dogs with salmon poising.  Salmon poisoning is a potentially fatal disease.

Salmon poisoning is a disease that dogs get from eating raw salmon and other similar fish.  Salmon have a parasite called Nanophytes salmincola that lives in their gastrointestinal tract.  This parasite can be infected with an organism called Neorickettsia helminthoeca.  It is the Neorickettsia that causes the disease.  Only animals in the dog family are affected.  It may take 1-2 weeks after eating the disease before signs are noticed.
Most common clinical signs are: vomiting, diarrhea, fever, lack of appetite, weakness and dehydration.  If untreated these can lead to death very quickly.  Even after only a few days of not eating with diarrhea and vomiting, an animal can be in a very dire condition.
Surprisingly, once an animal is started on treatment there can be a drastic improvement with in 24-48 hours.  Sometimes, your pet will have to stay at the hospital with IV fluids if they are sick enough.  Other times, we are able to treat your pet and they can go home the same day.
Please remember not to feed your pet raw fish, and be courteous about where you leave the fish guts after they have been cleaned, because it may be your neighbor's dog who gets into it instead.