Leptospirosis is a potentially deadly disease that can infect dogs and other mammals, including humans. If a person contracts the disease, the consequences can in fact be fatal. For this reason, leptospirosis in your pet should hopefully be diagnosed and treated as soon as possible, and the disease should be considered dangerous and highly infectious.

Dogs usually contract the disease after exposure to bodily fluids from infected animals, which may be another dog or more frequently, a rat. In fact, many of the dogs that contract the disease do so after drinking water that has been contaminated with the urine of an infected rat. Dogs may also pick up the disease from infected rats and other small mammals that they kill and eat. For their part, humans that get the disease usually do so after contact with the urine of an infected dog.

Dogs that suffer from leptospirosis will typically exhibit a number of symptoms, including weight loss, loss of appetite, reduced activity, lethargy, vomiting, and pain. Your dog may also show signs of unusual thirst, and the urine may be colored more yellowish than usual.

One of the key aspects to the prevention of leptospirosis is controlling the rodent population in the area. Once you reduce the number of rats in your home, you greatly reduce the risk of your dog contracting the disease.

Of course there is almost no way to make sure that every single rodent is eliminated, so the next best thing you can do to prevent the disease is to have your dog vaccinated for leptospirosis. This vaccine isn’t always prescribed, although your vet may recommend it if you live in an area where leptospirosis has been commonly diagnosed.

Keep in mind that vaccination may not protect your dog against every single strain of the disease, although it does provide protection against several major strains. In any case, vaccination will provide some level of protection, and this may be enough to reduce the severity of the symptoms if your dog does contract leptospirosis.

Because leptospirosis can be passed on to humans from infected animals, it is also a good idea to take necessary precautions. If you suspect that your pet is suffering from the disease, make sure to wear gloves when cleaning up bodily fluids, vomit, feces or urine. Even if you do wear gloves, you should still wash your hands thoroughly after clean up. You should also wear gloves when you are handling an infected pet.

Children are particularly susceptible to leptospirosis infection, given their less developed immune system. For this reason, you should be even more careful with regard to how your children will handle and deal with infected pets, or even those simply suspected of having leptospirosis.