Three tips for talking to your clients about leptospirosis

Many pet owners are unfamiliar with leptospirosis when it is brought up during vaccination appointments. It is important to educate clients about the risks Leptospirosis poses to their dog and its risks as a zoonotic disease. Furthermore, it is important to inform them the Leptospirosis is a disease you would want to prevent rather than a disease to treat.

Leptospirosis can be severe and very costly to treat

If their dog is not protected from the disease, contracting the bacteria can have severe clinical outcomes including acute kidney failure, liver dysfunction, and pulmonary hemorrhages. Diagnosing and treating Leptospirosis is often difficult and costly. Aggressive treatment can cost in the ballpark of $10,000-$20,000! With this treatment, prognosis can be guarded; without it, the outcome can be grave. Even dogs that recover may have some degree of chronic kidney disease or other complications, thus creating more costs related to the management of a chronic or progressive disease process.

Vaccinating your dog can reduce zoonotic risk to the household

Further educate the owner about the serious zoonotic risk their family can face if their dog contracts Leptospirosis – pregnant women, children, elderly household members, and those with compromised immune systems being at a greater risk. Although most human infections are the result outdoor recreational activities in water, one study showed that 10% of cases likely resulted from pet contact.1 Rare but severe cases can result in kidney failure, liver failure, meningitis, or death. By communicating these severe risks and outcomes (for both people and pets), the client is usually more readily persuaded to consent to the vaccination.

The benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks

If an owner is hesitant about the vaccine because they heard it causes adverse reactions, you can inform them that the frequency of adverse events is not substantially different than that of other core vaccines2 (less than 1%). Reactions that do occur are usually mild, local, and simple to manage. We can also mitigate risks of vaccine reaction with standard precautions like reducing the number of vaccines given at a single visit – especially in higher-risk or small breed dogs, or administering a combination vaccine. Giving a hesitant owner this option may give them the peace of mind to proceed.

Beyond vaccination, inform owners of standard precautions such as preventing dogs from drinking water from streams, ponds, puddles, or lakes – especially where there is a significant level of wildlife interface. For suburban and urban households in endemic regions, notify owners about the risks posed by rodents or backyard wildlife encounters. The threat of leptospirosis is closer than you think - city, suburban and rural dogs are all at risk!

References:

1.     Meites E, Jay MT, Deresinski S, et al. Reemerging leptospirosis, California. Emerg Infect Dis. 2004;10:406–412.

2.     Moore GE, Guptill LF, Ward MP, et al. Adverse events diagnosed within three days of vaccine administration in dogs. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2005;227:1102–1108. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16220670/