Salmon poisoning for dogs?

[First Bite]

Way back on our old DB (remember that one?) someone posted some really good information about salmon poisoning for dogs. It can be very serious to dogs and since I have a year old lab that eats, licks, chews anything, I'd like to know a little more information about it. I do remember that once they get it, they are immuned from getting it again. One poster even claimed to have purposely fed his dog salmon just so he would not have to worry about his dog getting sick in the future. Anyway, does anyone have the lowdown on this?
Also, my wife sometimes gets a reaction from eating salmon that is so bad she refuses to eat any fish that I bring home. Her throat feels like a big cotton ball is in there and it is very uncomfortable for her to swallow...not a good thing. Has anyone experienced this kind of reaction?
Mark

[DanS]

Mark,

Click the link below for info on Salmon poisoning.
http://www.metpet.com/nmerc/Dogs/sal...ng_in_dogs.htm

[Fishhead]

When my cocker was a pup she got that from just touching her nose to the salmons head. She got very sick and we thought we were going to lose her. The parasite that eventually comes out in the dogs stool (after giving medicine) Looks like a flat worm. Nasty looking thing. [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] Anyway thats my two lincolns worth. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] Fishhead Vic

[First Bite]

Thanks for the link Dan.
Mark

[Jennie@ifish]

Mark,
Dee Dee had never had salmon poisoning, so when we moved here we knew it would happen, with all the carcasses on the river during spawn.
So we took her to the vet before hand. He gave us some antibiotics to give her the minute we suspected her illness.
One night, she was called for dinner, and didn't get up off the couch. Now, Dee Dee is a lab, and dinner time is always the highlight of her day.
I went over to her, and she was very warm and listless. We knew.
So we gave her the pills pronto, called the vet, and took her in. We had done the right thing. It was salmon poisoning.
Because we had acted so fast, she was not as ill as they can become.
I have lost a dog to this when I was young, and Hershey, my lab, got very sick when he got it. (Almost lost him) But after he got well, he delighted in pulling large salmon carcasses into the yard to roll in and lick. (YUCK!) Too many tomatoe juice baths to get rid of the odor!
A word of warning though, there seems to be two types of this sickness. I have heard controversy over this, but Hershey did get it twice.
Best thing I can tell you, is to go to the vet and tell him you fish ALOT and perhaps he will give you a prescription to have on hand.
Jen

[CHUMSALMON]

from what my vet told me, a dog can get salmon sickness more than once, but they said it was never as bad as the first. Not sure though, all of my dogs in the past have had salmon sickness (only once) except for the one i have now, he's a Red Heeler, i've seen this dog eat all kinds of fish (no i wasn't letting him eat it) he gets into it every chance he gets and ya know what, this dog dosen't get sick! Really wierd, i've come to the conclusion it's the wild DINGO in him!!

[WildHawg]

stlhdr,
I love my dogs, but lets deal with the wife first. It sounds to me like she is having an anaphylactic reaction, which can be very serious. In essence she may have a food allergy. It is the bodies reaction to a specific antigen present in the salmon. It is no different than being allergic to bee stings or penicillin. My suggestion is to take her to a doctor and have them test her for sensitivity levels in different foods. NEVER allow her to eat anything containing salmon, it could conceivably cost her her life. As the sensitivity level builds, the reactions often become worse. Just in case, keep some ephedrin handy in pill form, and give it to her anytime she feels those respiratory sensations, even if she has not been eating salmon. Your doctor may even provide you with an "epi-stick" (self administered intramuscular shot) to use in case of severe reactions. AGAIN, take her to the doctors office, as this reaction could also be caused by other, as yet unidentified sources as well.

As for your dogs..."salmon poisoning" is not limited to salmon, as so many people think. Trout as well as most warmwater species also carry the fluke which infects the dog. If you know your pup has been gnawing on fish, keep a close eye on them. If they appear listless, and refuse food or water, take 'em to the vet. He will prescribe tetracycline (and give 'em a shot of it in the office) which has always cured the problem for me.
I don't recommend it, but I have always "salmoned" my dogs by letting them chow a couple of pieces when they are around a year old. Living on the Mckenzie River and guiding meant my dogs would invariably be exposed, so I felt it best to do it in a controlled fashion. Some dogs are immune, others will come down with the symptoms. By the time you readily notice they are sick, they will usually have developed an immunity to the disease once they are cured, but this is not always the case. It seems to depend on how sick they become before they get the cure. This is shaky territory, and you may not wish to attempt this yourself, but it has been 100% succesful for me.
Good Luck

[fishuntr2]

One of my labs got sick after eating trout heads/guts. We almost lost her. The vet said it was salmon poisoning and there were 3 types and the dog could get sick again from the other types.
Bob

[DK]

what are the symptons, do they act like they need to throw up,or like they have something stuck in there throat? my yellow lab went through this last week, rushed him to the vet,but the vet wasn't sure,vet did give him some antibotics and something to reduce swelling twice and slowly got better? was down in yachats all last week but never saw him eating anything and he is always with us

[Hottamale1]

Hello,

My Chesapeake got sick last week from Salmon Poisoning....but it wasn't salmon, it was Steelhead. The SAME type of disease and symptons apply...High Fever (105.5), Lethargic, Stiffness in the limbs, unable to walk or run, vomiting, etc.

It takes a few days to really set in, in our case 5-7 days before she really started being unable to get around. $500.00 later....and a few Horse pills from the Vet, Blood Testing, I.V's for the day, she's much better now...Back to her old, playful self.

Word of advice...She must have Licked the Grass where I cleaned the Fish. That's typically where it comes from...the Slime off the fish. So be sure to wash down any areas that may have the slimy stuff, etc.

Scott www.hottamaleoutdoorshow.com

[HT Buzzo]

DK,
My wife's lab-mix got salmon poisoning from me taking her fishing (wife wasn't too happy). She(the dog) had blood in her stool, a complete loss of appetite, and no energy.
On the second day of this we took her to the vet and they had to give her an iv for hydration because she wasn't drinking. On the second day she came home with a prescription for "tetracycline"- I think.
Jen's idea sounds the best. If you take your dog fishing alot, see if you can get some medication beforehand, and watch out for the blood in the stool. I think that was the first symptom.
Harold [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

[Jennie@ifish]

Blood. Any kind of fish blood.
jen

Jen,

I like the part where you said, "and she didn't get off of the couch."

Nice. So I'm not the only person who lets my Labs (yes, two of them) sleep on the couch. They are just part of the family!

They don't belong to us as much as we belong to them. I love my doggies!

[will_e_fish]

Is the poisoning just from from ingesting fresh fish? I have known about the Salmon Poison affecting dogs. So is it Breed specific or fresh fish?My Rott being the feeding machine knocked over the smoker and has helped herself to the goodies more than once.She has had all her shots and boosters is there a preventative shot I can ask the Vet. for ? Her vet is one in Astoria next trip down I am asking him as well.Nothing seems to phase her she never gets sick from all the incientals she eats, except drinking ocean water. Like all dogs she will eat anything once and some things twice if you know what I mean.
will_e_fish

[will_e_fish]

Just reread this again, ha ha ha "off the couch" reminds me of my Rott and I am not bragging, my Rott has eaten two 19 foot couches. Oh darn I cant post pictures because she ate evidence. Now hold on skeptics she did not do this 1 time. She got a second chance because the first one was so tasty. Think she prefered leather over cloth and was she stuffed (polyfil and cotton batting)after that. Now to get her to stop something we just have to ask her "Is that yours?"
will_e_fish

[garyk]

A few quick points:

1. Symptoms vary, but the patient declines over time. Early intervention with Tetracycline will preclude the need for more intensive therapies. So get a quick start on the treatment as soon as you have a suspicion .

2. You really can't accurately 'salmon a dog' as some have suggested because not all individual salmonids will be carriers of the organism. You may have to feed your dog over and over until they get sick.

3. Cooking destroys the organism (known as a ryketsian (sp?) organism.)

[hawgcatcher]

An Interesting point, I talked to one of the vets several years ago about an inocculation for salmon poisoning and he said that the drug companies could possibly come up with one that would work but won't. It seems as though the northwest is one of the few places this happens and there isn't enough money in it for them to do research. If every state had the problem, then there would be enough pet owners to purchase the shots and thay would make it economical for them to put it on the market. If this is so, then it is another example of big business not caring, unless it brings them money.

[First Bite]

Thanks for the great responses, especially Hawg. Whenever I bring home a fish I purposely clean it away from where my dog runs and also clean up the ground when i'm done. My neighbors dog became very sick due to salmon poisoning and the guy that owns the dog doesn't even fish. They had no idea why the dog was so sick. It turns out the dog licked the drippings on the ground from where a friend had pulled a fish out of the cooler to show him. That is all it takes to make a dog sick.
Mark

[DK]

just got off the phone with the vet, it is most likely to catch the parasite from fish that have intered the rivers or estuaryies where a certain kind of snail lives that carries the parasite not as likely from ocean caught fish, salmon poisoning is found washington oregon and northern califorina

[hustlerrjim]

the salmon must have been in the river to get the bug = save all your salmon heads and guts and throw them out in the woods, works great for coyote control,