This article discusses how climate change is making dogs sicker.
As if this year’s storms, floods and heat waves weren’t enough to worry you, some experts fear climate change is also expanding the distribution of diseases that can sicken or even kill dogs, putting more pets at risk for diseases their owners have never had to deal with before.
While diseases in dogs are not tracked as intensively as those in humans, veterinary epidemiologists and biologists say Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, a bacterial disease that can cause fever, joint pain and vomiting, is moving into California and Texas. Heartworm, which can damage the cardiovascular system and clog the heart, is spreading beyond its traditional home in the South and southeast. Lyme disease, which can cause joint swelling and lameness, is now affecting dogs as far north as Canada.