Peterborough dog walkers warned after number of pets become ill

There have been reports of a number of dogs in the Ortons suffering from hemorrhagic gastroenteritis - which results in sickness and bloody diarrhoea.

Helen Harris, whose dog, Ripley, a six month old Hungarian Vizsla, is currently in hospital in Cambridge after suffering sepsis after falling ill last week, warned fellow pet owners of the risk.

Helen said Ripley had fallen ill after being taken for a walk along the path along Oundle Road near the Harvester. She said; "We have been walking him along there for some time, but last Wednesday he came home and vomited. This was not a concern at that point, but then he did the same again.

"We gave him a very plain meal of rice and scrambled eggs, but he threw it up immediately.

"We took him to the vets, and he gave him an anti-nausea injection.

"He was still bright at the time, but that evening, he wasn't into his food and water. He became restless, and was just drooling. We took him to the vets, but his temperature was fine, his heart rate was fine. He was just uncomfortable.

"On Friday morning we woke up early and he wanted to go out urgently, and then did bloody diarrhoea.

"We took him to the vets, but his condition deteriorated, and he developed sepsis."

Ripley is now stabalising at a pet hospital in Cambridge - although Helen has not been told when he will be able to come home.

Helen also said she had heard of a number of other dogs in the Ortons suffering similar problems.

She said: "I put a post on Facebook about it, and I know a few other people have reported their dogs have had similar symptoms.

"The vet said there was a nasty bug going around, but it is impossible to say where it was picked up from.

"It is important for dogs to get checked out if they show symptoms. Ripley was very ill, and I understand at least one other dog was too."

A spokesman at Nene Park said: “We have recently been made aware of reports that hemorrhagic gastroenteritis has affected a number of dogs in the local area to the Park.

“This condition, resulting in sickness and bloody diarrhoea, may be due to a waterborne bug, so owners may wish to take care that their dogs avoid playing in and drinking from puddles, rivers and lakes for the time being.”