The Ottawa Citizen

Jake Rupert

Owner says pup gave her ringworm

Breeder says she did everything
possible to get rid of parasites

Paws R Us Kennel

Tuesday, September 5th, 2000

All Colette Leger wanted was a companion. She ended up with a worm-infected dog -- and an unpleasant case of ringworm herself.

Things are better now, but Ms. Leger, a nurse who cares for the elderly, could have done without the grief and the highly contagious disease.

At the end of June, she decided she was ready for a dog. For a couple of weeks, she went to the Humane Society shelter every second day, but didn't find her perfect pet.

She turned to newspapers and found an ad in which a business called Paws Are Us boasted several breeds. Since she didn't know what kind she wanted, she thought this might be her best bet. She phoned and was given directions to a farm outside Shawville, about an hour west of Ottawa. She drove up with a friend and they were met by a woman.

"I just asked to see what they had, and they started bringing them out," Ms. Leger recalls. She saw several dogs, including a female puppy Beauceron, a French rescue dog.

Mr. Leger didn't like the look of the farm or the dogs, including the Beauceron. "I asked if I could see where the dogs are kept, but she said they didn't let people in the barn. They showed me the father but said I couldn't see the female who had the puppies."

She didn't feel right about the puppies; they looked too timid. But, having driven all that way, she decided to buy the younger pup, even though an older dog was offered at a lower price.

"My theory was if there was something wrong with the dogs, then I'd get the younger one because there would have been less time for things to go wrong with it," Ms. Leger says.

She asked if she could pay the $350 price by cheque or credit card, but was told she couldn't and was given directions to a bank machine in Shawville. She returned and signed a contract to buy the dog.

She had been given the name of a veterinarian by the Paws Are Us owners and took the dog there on July 6. She was worried because her puppy, named Nico, wasn't eating and had diarrhea. Being a nurse, she took along a stool sample, and Nico was diagnosed with roundworms.

The dog was given medication and Ms. Leger was assured that the condition wasn't unusual.

On July 18, she went back to the vet because Nico now had blood in her diarrhea. Again Ms. Leger brought a stool sample. The vet's lab tested the sample and found coccidioses, another parasite. Nico was given medication for this too.

She pointed out a bald spot developing on Nico's front leg. The vet said it looked like a "hot spot" -- nothing to worry about.

As Nico lost more weight, Ms. Leger worried. She read books, and did research on the Internet. Opinions were varied. She didn't know what was happening with her dog. And the spots were getting worse.

Then, on July 28, she found a spot on her own leg. It was a Friday after 5 p.m. Her doctor had left, so she went to a clinic. Doctors there didn't know what it was. She went home.

By Monday morning, she had 18 spots on her body. "At this point, I'm flipping because this is all over me. My face, my arms, legs, everywhere. I didn't know what it was."

She went to the Riverside Hospital and was told she had ringworm. She was prescribed cream and went home.

Later that day, she took her dog to another vet, who said the spots on Nico looked like ringworm and gave her pills, shampoo and ointment for the suspected ringworm, as well as other pills for every other type of worm Nico might have. This vet took a sample from the dog and sent it away for testing. Results confirmed ringworm. Based on incubation periods for these parasites, Ms. Leger's vet told her Nico must have had roundworm, coccidioses, and ringworm when she left Paws Are Us.

Nicole Labombard, who operates Paws Are Us with her sister and parents, admits the dog may have had worms before it left, but she says she did everything possible to rid the dog of the parasites.

"We worm our dogs every two weeks," she said. "You can only kill a worm when it's in the stomach. That means if there's eggs, I can't kill them until they hatch. I start worming at three weeks then every two until they're out the door. I try to get them all but if the worm is not in that stage when I worm them, I won't get them."

The treatments seem to have worked for both Ms. Leger and Nico. Nico appears to be a healthy, if underweight. She's playful and spends most of her day in a large run Ms. Leger has in the back of her west-end Ottawa home. Nico has lots of energy and especially likes to chase and nip at people's shoes while they walk.

Nico and Ms. Leger, who spent $570 on vets and treatment for the puppy, are going to be good companions for each other, but it was a pretty rough start.

"It hasn't been easy, but she's worth it," Ms. Leger says.

  The Lives of Dogs at Paws R Us