Dog owners warned as seven-month old puppy dies from mystery illness

Dog owners are warned after family’s seven-month-old sproodle puppy Oscar died from mystery illness days after a walk in the park

• Chloe Vickers’s dog started passing blood and vomiting after the walk 
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A mother has issued a warning to dog owners after her seven-month-old puppy died from a mysterious illness days after walking in the park.  

Chloe Vickers took her puppy sproodle Oscar, who is a cross between a Poodle and an English Springer Spaniel, to Wythenshawe Park in Greater Manchester on February 9.

However, within hours of being there Oscar started to become sick. Just three days later he died at home with his family.

Ms Vickers has since taken to social media to warn all other dog owners to be careful on walks and look out for any signs of sickness.

Manchester City Council said they are aware of the issue. The RSPCA is also urging people who experience something similar with their pets to contact their vets immediately.

Seven-month old Oscar, who is a cross between a Poodle and an English Springer Spaniel, died three days after walking in Wythenshawe Park in Greater Manchester

Ms Vickers said the puppy sproodle was their first family dog and her son ‘absolutely loved him’

A map of Wythenshawe Park in Greater Manchester where Oscar began to feel ill

‘The park is always full of dogwalkers, it’s just happened to us which feels like really bad luck,’ Ms Vickers told Manchester Evening News. 

‘I took Oscar out on a walk on the park on Thursday morning as we would always do and he was running around as he always would.

‘This day we went a slightly different route from the café and into some woods. He was running around as normal here still though and everything was normal.

‘But when we got back he wouldn’t drink anything which wasn’t like him at all after a walk like that. Later on he was sick and we took him to the vet where they gave him anti-sickness drugs.

‘But at this point he started passing blood and was vomiting a lot. It seemed he was quickly deteriorating and becoming really lethargic.

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‘The vets said they couldn’t see him straight away again as he wasn’t insured yet. It was horrible ringing around all day on Friday and Saturday trying to get some kind of help, we could just see he was dying at this point.

‘The next appointment we got we were told to take him home to die. It was heartbreaking to see him dying right in front of us, we had no idea why it was happening.’

Ms Vickers said it wasn’t the first time she’s heard of something similar happening at Wythenshawe Park, with a friend also losing a dog in similar circumstances last year. She’s hoping to use her story to raise awareness for other dog owners.

‘We’d only had him since October, he was such a good dog. My young son absolutely loved him, he still calls for him now, asking ‘where are you Oscar?’. This was our first dog as a family, it’s just so sad, we’ve done so much crying.’

She does not know for certain what caused the illness but suspects something in the woods may have poisoned Oscar or given him Parovirus.

An RSPCA spokesman said: ‘This is concerning and our thoughts are with dog-owners who have been affected by this. We haven’t been made aware of these incidents, however we urge anyone whose pet falls ill in similar circumstances to contact their vets straightaway.”‘

Manchester City Council also said they are asking staff at their parks to remain vigilant.

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