Leptospirosis is a contagious disease that can affect animals as well as humans. The disease can be quite debilitating for dogs, and contact with the urine of an infected pet is in fact one of the most common ways by which it is transmitted to humans. The bacteria responsible for the disease is called Leptospira, and it can cause chronic liver and kidney disease and eventual death in an untreated dog.

Over the past three decades, a number of vaccinations have been developed to prevent the occurrence of the more common strains of the disease, which are Leptospires, L. canicola and L. icterohaemorrhagiae. These vaccinations have effectively managed to reduce the incidences of this disease in areas where they have traditionally been diagnosed.

Although many veterinarians and medical experts agree that there is a fair degree of risk associated with vaccination for leptospirosis, the potential ill-results of the disease once far outweighed the vaccination side effects. More recently however, more incidences of the disease appear to have been caused by the once less common strains of Leptospires, for which current vaccines don’t offer protection. As a result, the practice of vaccinating dogs against leptospirosis has been called into question, especially given the possible side-effects.

A number of symptoms have been associated with leptospirosis, with their occurrences dependent on the stage of the disease. During the first 4 to 12 days of infection, your dog may have a high fever, and exhibit signs of vomiting, reduced appetite, pain, conjunctivitis, lethargy and depression. About 2 days after noticing these symptoms, you may notice a sudden drop in your dog’s body temperature, and he may seem unusually thirsty.

Most pet owners will also notice that the dog’s urine is more yellow than usual, and this is in fact often the only sign that there is anything wrong with the animal. The intensity of the color of the urine can range from a light yellow to a deep orange. With the eventual invasion of the kidney by the leptospirosa bacteria, your dog may also experience increase excessive urination, and dehydration may result.

If the disease is left untreated, a number of serious complications may arise, including depression, breathing difficulties, muscle tremors, and blood in the vomit and feces. These complications occur when the infection affects the liver, the gastrointestinal system and the kidney.

Deaths arising from leptospirosis occur in less than 10% of diagnosed cases, and they usually happen 5 to 10 days after infection. Complications of the disease may give rise to more deaths, and this is in fact a more common occurrence, although it may not happen until several months afterwards. Such deaths are typically associated with progressive kidney and liver disease.