A Belfast dog who died after a gruelling 18 day fight for life, has prompted a leading university to expand research into the disease that killed him to help prevent deaths in other pets.
Toby, a long haired Dachshund died on March 30 after contracting a mystery illness, in Belfast. Like many other dogs in Northern Ireland, first signs of sickness were lethargy and a loss of appetite, followed by diarrhoea and vomiting.
Now the researchers at the University of Liverpool are calling on Northern Ireland vets to send them as much data as possible to boost the study whose hashtag is #datasaveslives.
Read more: Toby's fight for life
Owners of many pets who have struggled with this mystery disease have reported serious sickness but ultimately their pet's recovery within two weeks.
And while gastrointestinal sickness is common amongst dogs, the cause of this infectious strain is unknown and for dogs like Toby, treatment was resistant and ultimately failed.
Toby's family, Chris Greenlee and Niamh Gilligan, did all they could to help him to fight the illness and despite constant care, observation and the best efforts of three vet teams Toby died in their aged just one year and one day.
The little dog’s death was added to a grim list of other instances of this unidentified gastrointestinal infection reported by dog lovers in Northern Ireland and as a result, scientists have now expanded a study working to help diagnose, treat and cure the illness.
The group behind the study, SAVSNET, The Small Animal Veterinary Surveillance Network, is now calling on vets across Northern Ireland to send details of all patients who they suspect have suffered this disease.
The SAVSNET team collects data from veterinary practices and laboratories across the UK and makes the information ‘research ready’ so that scientists can use it to investigate disease in companion animals.
And vets Northern Ireland may hold vital information such as individual symptoms, length of sickness and outcome.
Toby’s owner, Niamh said: “A family member shared with me a research project that was looking into the gastro disease and I contacted the university in hopes of getting some more information on the disease.
“Today I couldn’t be prouder to say that Toby’s story has lead to the University of Liverpool spending more time and resources in researching the gastrointestinal disease specifically in Northern Ireland.
“Sharing Toby’s story was hard for Chris and I as we usually like to keep our lives private, but we wanted to share Toby’s story in the hopes that it could raise awareness of this disease and help other dog owners to know the signs and symptoms, to help prevent more family’s from going through the loss we are dealing with now.
“Toby’s death evidently wasn’t in vain and we hope that this research can help save more dogs from this horrible disease.
“We want to thank Dogs Live and Belfast Live for helping us to share Toby’s story, without them this wouldn’t have been possible.
“Chris and I are urging dog owners that if your dog has suffered with the gastro disease either presently, or in the past few years, please get in touch with the university and fill out their questionnaire which I’ll link below.
“The university is also offering free faecal sampling via vets so please ask your vet to send your dogs samples to the university to help their research. This service is free and could really help dog owners with veterinary costs.
“The more samples the university receives, and the more people who fill out the questionnaire, the better chance we have at finding a treatment for this disease. Chris and I are so grateful to everyone who shared Toby’s story as it has resulted in this wonderful news.”
A spokesperson for SAVSNET, said: “We’ve had some reports of gastrointestinal disease in dogs in Northern Ireland so we are keeping our questionnaire open for vet practices and owners of affected dogs.
“The questionnaire is available here. We are also able to test some more faecal samples from Northern Ireland. If you are from a vet practice providing care to an affected dog such as gastrointestinal disease where other causes have been ruled out, please contact us for submission forms. #datasaveslives.”
The team has ruled out a link with parvovirus but SAVSNET and colleagues at University of Lincoln led by Dr Simon Clegg have found canine intestinal coronavirus in many of samples.
A spokesperson for SAVSNET said: “Although the cause is unknown it is likely to be infectious. It therefore makes sense for owners and vets to handle suspect cases carefully, and limit contact between affected and unaffected dogs.
“Early analyses of questionnaires from owners and vets managing cases suggests that thankfully affected dogs usually make a full recovery in seven to 14 days with appropriate care. There is no known risk to people.
“Owners of suspect cases should contact their veterinary practice for advice, and to make them aware of this website.”
