coon dog sickness

62bmw

New member
I was at some folks house shoeing some horses and they were telling me about a dog they were rehabing that had been bit by a coon and something in the saliva caused parallyisis in the dog . That the vet had told them that it would take a week to 6 weeks of messing around with this dog laying flat out to come around . They said worst case was the gut gets parallised and the dog is done .

I guess I've been in a cave 'cause I've had hounds for more than a week and I had never heard of this . Any body have any enlightenment . Later Bruce
 
Yeah, unfortunately I DO know about it.

I have had 3 dogs, one each winter, for the last 3 years get CHP (Coon Hound Paralysis). It is a nasty unpreventable, untreatable illness they get from infected coons. The first 2 dogs died from it, and the last one I still have but retired from hunting at 8 years old. Had other dogs involved on each of the coon hunts that they got it from and the other dogs never got it. Some dogs get it, some don't. The last dog that got it had been hunted for 8 years on them until he got it.

Some try to treat the symptoms with Prednisone, although all the vets I have ever talked to about it says it will suppress their immune systems and make them weaker. Other hunters say it's the only reason the dogs survived. I have never used it.

It is usually onset within 7-10 days after contact with an infected coon. Give your dogs a comfortable bed, plenty of water, handfeed soft food if necessary (I only had to do this once), take them out to empty often, and passively (manually) move their legs and head to keep blood flow moving. If the dog can lay with their head up and just not move their legs, you are probably good. If they can't lift their head, you may not be in for good (although my second dog couldn't and made it 6 months before actually passing). He died from heat complications after recovery, while not fully recovered, couldn't tolerate the heat (85 degrees, shade, water, food, found dead)

Many (most) dogs recover, but will likely re-contract the disease if continually hunted on coons after initial onset.

Wish you luck with the dog, hope they recover.

Nate
 
Back
Top