My pregnant dog killed a rat. What should I do for leptospirosis?

Examine your dog for any sign of injury due to the fight with the rat (if any). If any (which is likely, sometimes even inside the mouth) take him to your veterinarian for an examination. Disinfection can eventually be started at home with very diluted hibiscrub or betadine or salted water baths. Buster collar may be useful as well to avoid licking/scratching at the wound. If your dog is not vaccinated for Leptospira, take him to your local vet anyway. Antibiotics may be needed. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

What a pretty girl! No, it's not recommended to give any vaccines during pregnancy in dogs. I would wait until after she's had her puppies and is finished nursing them, then update her vaccines at that time :)

That would depend on the underlying cause of it. If it is due to an upper respiratory tract infection/inflammation antibiotics may be given without problems/side effects for the pups. A clinical examination at your local veterinarian is essential to confirm these clinical suspicions and treat appropriately. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

You are definitely stuck in a pretty difficult situation here. Obviously as a pregnant bitch, Jenny really needs to continue to eat in order to be healthy enough to carry her pregnancy. If she is ill, she might require medications to make her feel better. The main problem with this is that there are very, very few medications that are considered safe and effective for pregnant and nursing animals. There is only one oral antibiotic in America that is readily administered to pregnant dogs, and it is called Clavamox. It is a penicillin based antibiotic. My assumption is that your vet likely gave a penicillin based injection. If this has not helped at all, she should probably be reassessed, placed on some fluids, and have her fetuses' viability checked with ultrasound. An ultrasound should be able to detect fetal heart beat, so if they appear weak or not present at all than this could be an indicator of an infectious process causing abortion. If your current vet does not have an ultrasound, you may want to go to a clinic that has this modality to give your dog the best treatment possible. Hope this helps!

Poor girl. Rats can carry some nasty diseases unfortunately, so it is best to wash this area with betadine diluted 50:50 with warm water for now and then I would go to your local pet store and rinse it also with an oral rinse that contains chlorhexidine. Ask the pet store employee and they should be able to point you in the right direction. This should be washed daily and then I would recommend scheduling an appt with your local vet to have her wounds checked out further. She likely will need a short course of antibiotics and pain meds if needed. I hope that your furry friend Chullie turns out ok. Best wishes and take care.

The disease that rats carry is known as leptospirosis, and unless his 5-in-1 vaccine protected against leptospirosis, he won't be covered for it. Most 5-in-1 vaccines I am familiar with do not protect against lepto, so I would take Brazil into your vet to be safe. The vet can determine if he was bit by a rat, and prescribe treatment for it. I would also recommend getting a lepto vaccine for him if he's not protected for it.

Doxycycline is not a drug of choice used during pregnancy, especially the second and third trimester with the main risks related to abnormal tooth and bone development, with permanent staining of the baby teeth, but if the health of the mother is at risk then the benefits may outweigh the risks. If she is now heavily pregnant I would continue to use as stopping now will not affect outcome, if however you think she is less than 3-4weeks pregnant and she had not been critically ill then it may be worth considering stopping treatment whilst aware that the initial disease symptoms may return or worsen if not fully cured. Blood tests to identify current infection may be helpful in deciding