“Shush! The Homeowners Association doesn’t want word to get out that a dog died after swimming in the lake. Apparently, the vet said it was poisoned from blue-green algae.” A fellow lakes consultant told me in confidence about a decade ago. ”The association is afraid people will stop visiting their lake and business will drop.”
Feeling torn between work responsibilities as a lakes consultant and wanting to broadcast this concern to fellow dog owners, I figured I’d eventually find a way—which led me to write a blog, of which my first post was about blue-green algae. I often blog on this topic in the summer. See this previous post.
Back in the early 2000s, few cases of blue-green algae poisonings (especially involving dogs) made the news. Now-a-days, blue-green algae toxicity is no longer shoved under the table. Signs are often posted at lakes.
Water looks like Pea Soup or Bright Green Paint
Late summer, when the weather’s hot, and the lake water is warm and stagnant—and your dog is dying to jump into any body of water to cool off—that’s when you need to exercise caution.
When I owned a springer spaniel, she would jump into any body of water, lie down and take a drink—no matter how scummy. I used to think she’d just get a bellyache. But no, she could have died!
Facts to know:
- Blue – green algae (cyanobacteria) can produce toxins that affect dogs, people, and other animals. NOT ALL BLUE GREEN ALGAE PRODUCES TOXINS.
- People often develop a skin rash from the toxins, while dogs, cats, and other animals drink the water or lick their fur and ingest it.
- Wind tends to concentrate the algae since it floats on the surface. It is usually thickest near the shore – just where your pet wants to play. The lake may be safe upwind of the area or in the deep water sections of the lake.
- Some toxins (Microcystin) affect the liver, while others (Anatoxin) affect the nervous system.
- Not all pets are affected the same. You’ll hear stories of multiple dogs playing in the water and only one is affected. It depends on how much water he drank and how much toxin he ingested.
Symptoms of blue-green algae toxicity
- Seizures
- Difficulty breathing
- Excessive drooling
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea,
- Blood in stool
- Pale mucous membranes
- Disorientation
- Muscle tremors, rigidity, paralysis
- Coma
- Death
If any of these symptoms occur, take your dog to the vet immediately. Most dogs die within days or even only a few hours after drinking contaminated water–sometimes just minutes!
Call the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at 888-426-4435
(There may be a fee for the consultation)
Prognosis is usually poor. There is no antidote – the key is prevention.
Prevention
- Prevent dogs from drinking and swimming in blue-green algae.
- Even a few mouthfuls of scummy water can cause illness.
- If your dog swam in scummy water, hose your dog down with fresh water. Do not let him lick the scum off his fur.
- Don’t let your dog drink from buckets or bowls that contain green scummy water—he doesn’t have to be in a lake or pond to get sick from blue-green algae poisoning.
- Minutes or hours count with blue-green algae toxins. Go immediately to the vet or call the Animal Poison Control Center phone number shown above.
People and cats are also susceptible–do not go swimming or allow your pets to drink green scummy water.
Read these articles for more information:
https://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/poison/blue-green-algae/
https://www.bluecross.org.uk/pet-advice/blue-green-algae-and-its-dangers-dogs
http://www.pethealthnetwork.com/dog-health/dog-toxins-poisons/blue-green-algae-a-deadly-danger-dogs
https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/blue-green-algae-risks-to-dogs/
https://www.aspca.org/news/animal-poison-control-alert-dangers-blue-green-algae
I don’t think I knew about the dangers of blue green algae. How scary!
This is a great warning. In my town they do not post signs but every Summer there is gross lime green water at a park where dogs are always playing! I try never to let my dog drink sea water, green or stagnant water. It’s not always easy but I do my best. I immediately bring a small bowl of fresh water over to her if she tries to drink the ocean or lake water. She usually will take the fresh water.
Love & Biscuits,
Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them
Good idea to bring your own water.
Such an important post…I see this toxic green water in some local areas and always hope people know to keep their dogs out of it. Our riverside beach itself was recently closed due to contaminants in the river, yet I see people and their dogs in it. I just Pinned this post over on my “Bark About” board and am sharing over on FiveSibes Facebook page as well. Great info on such an important topic.
Thanks for sharing. Yeah, some people either don’t pay attention to signs or don’t think the signs are important for them.
This has always been my greatest fear and concern with bodies of water, especially lakes. Heck, even if I was not a pet owner, I stay away for this very reason. You have no idea the type of organisms and toxic mess that resides in the water to make you and your pets ill. Thanks for sharing such an important post. Will share. People need to know!
Wow, that’s a new one for me, never heard of dog’s dying from blue green algae. It’s good that your getting the word out, especially since others want to keep it under wraps.
Oh gosh. I don’t let my dogs near water at all. Half the time I feel guilty that they are missing out on all the fun, but the other half of me feels like I’m keeping the safe. Great post!
When you have a water dog it is almost impossible to keep them out of the water. Better to keep them safe.
Thank you for helping save lives with this frank, objective discussion of the facts and including some of the warning signs! You are a dog angel!
That’s a new one. Dog angle! I love it! Thanks.
That is a scary, nasty stuff. Fortunately much more visible than some other contaminants. We don’t typically get that around here but this year there is one lake that has been tagged already and others might follow. Though presently wildfires are our biggest concern having one “close to our backyard.”
I really appreciate the photo as well as the written description of what the dangerous algae looks like. We have a small pond and although the dogs don’t go in it, I’m glad to know that the algae is not toxic to the dogs!
It’s best to only let them swim in clean water.
The city just issued a warning here about algae at one of the local water spots. Definitely not going there! Mr. N doesn’t like water enough for me to really worry but some of his friends are water fanatics.
That’s some scary stuff. Glad they aren’t keeping the news about it under the radar anymore.
My dog LOVES to swim, so this is particularly relevant to me. I only let her swim in moving water – which, of course, has it’s own dangers – and in treated waters, just as community pool dog swims.
Streams can have blue-green algae, but I’ve only seen it on the edges sometimes. Usually, streams are too shaded to get really thick algae growth. I’m not sure about community pools for dogs. I haven’t seen one of those around here.
This is so important to know and I have never heard about blue-algae poisoning before. Thank you for sharing this. The situation described when they didn’t want anyone to know about dogs dying reminded me of that Julia Roberts movie where the water people drank was unhealthy. Hopefully, more and more people will be aware of the dangers of blue algae.
I remember that movie about the toxic drinking water! Hexavalent chromium, I think was the contaminant. Just like Flint, Michigan with lead in the pipes. It’s amazing how much they don’t want us to know to protect ourselves and pets.
Thanks for this information. We go for walks in the Forest Preserves and I always wondered about the algae’s impact on dogs We have avoided it as a precaution – though Ruby is also not a huge fan of water. I’m going to tweet and pin your post!
P.S.: This is Ruby and Kristin from The Daily Pip. We have changed our blog name to myrescuedlife.com
Thanks for sharing my post! It’s a lot easier to avoid if you don’t have a water dog. Thanks for alerting me to the name change.
This is very good information. I hate when my dog drinks any water not in a bowl, though I’m not always quick to stop him. At a dog campground I recently went to, my dog jumped in a pond like this. Fortunately, the facility also had dog baths and I washed him (with dog soap) immediately afterwards – more because he stank rather than know this stuff is toxic.
Good thinking to hose him off. Some of the bright green water could be duckweed (with tiny leaves or grains (watermeal) that float to the top). That water really smells bad too but doesn’t have the toxins.
We got toxic algae here in New Zealand. It makes the national news as the announcements are taking very seriously indeed and dogs have died (horrible though it is to report).
Thank you for adding preventative measures and solutions to your basic warning. People need to know how dangerous this can be.
Thank you for your comments. I think people really do need more education on this topic. Of course, what we really need is to clean up our environment so that we don’t get so many nutrients washing into ponds causing algae blooms.
Great points and so important for dog owners to know them. I am fortunate that Layla will not go into any water so I have never had to worry LOL
Great post. I blogged about this a couple of years ago as well and was surprised how many people didn’t know about the dangers of toxic algae. It’s great info to get out there, so people can keep their beloved dogs safe!
We do need a lot more public education on this topic.
Yikes! What a great warning. We’ve had lake advisories in the past at Lake Texoma (near us) about blue green algae and they close access to the water. But this makes me also wonder about it contaminating smaller bodies of water like cattle tanks and ponds. Scary stuff!
Cattle tanks and ponds can get it too if they get a lot of nutrients washing in. I’m not very familiar with cattle tanks, but my research mentioned a dog drinking out of an old aquarium that had the toxic algae and the dog died.
Excellent and important article. We live at a huge lake and there are many smaller lakes around us and I will share this with my dog owning friends.
Thanks. We need to spread the word.
Very timely post as here in the UK, we have seen dogs die this summer from blue/green algae and there are so many warnings around social media.
We are lucky that our dogs don’t really like going in water, but for some breeds they are straight in without thinking about it. So helping owners be aware is key.
Yeah, both of my springers were like that. Hard to control around water.
Thanks for such an information packed post! All my dogs have been old and never showed any interest in going near anything resembling a lake or pool. Even Jack, who’s the first young dog I’ve had, couldn’t care less. He has been known to try and drink from puddles and I always stop him because I worry he could get sick.
Good for you. He’s probably not going to get blue-green algae toxins from a puddle since the algae needs time to grow. But who knows what could be in a puddle.
Very important information. I always encourage people to double-check that the water is safe from the blue-green algae before they head out on a trip. I have seen a few dogs get very sick from exposure…luckily all of them made it, but it was really scary for their owners. Thanks for this important post!
Wow, glad they made it. My dogs haven’t gotten sick from it, but from what I have read, some can die within a half hour if they drank a good dose.