An investigation is under way after a wave of serious illness spread through pets in an Inverness suburb.
More than 20 dog and cat owners in the Milton of Leys area have reported their pet being affected by sickness since March 23.
Some dog owners said they had walked them on a path from Castleton to Daviot woods which crosses the Mill Burn.
Highland Council’s environment team has inspected the area and alerted Sepa, Scottish Water and local vets to try to get to the bottom of it.
But so far, they have not figured out what might be causing it.
‘She thought Murphy was going to die’
Symptoms have included vomiting, diarrhoea, lethargy and not eating.
Milton of Leys resident Catherine MacKenzie, 44, said her four-year-old miniature schnauzer Murphy became ill after walking in the area.
The alarm was raised after his repeated vomiting turned to passing blood through his back passage.
“They’re part and parcel of your family, so it was really concerning,” Catherine said.
“My 11-year-old daughter Breagha was really upset, she thought Murphy was going to die.
“We were just doing our best to reassure her that we’d get him some medicine and he’d be alright.”
Murphy was rushed to an emergency vet appointment and given some anti-sickness medication.
Thankfully, he now seems to be on the mend.
After realising her neighbour’s dog was also ill, Catherine discovered a social media post where dozens of local people were reporting similar symptoms among their pets.
Inverness pet illness is ‘strange phenomenon’
A number of cases have been presented at Inshes Vets.
Another dog owner said: “Our dog started being very sick around March 23rd. The vet took blood tests and thought he had an auto-immune disease and put him on steroids.
“The tests came back negative but he was still being sick.
“The vet thought it might be linked to a lot of other dogs up here being ill. He’s only just starting to eat properly and get a bit brighter now.”
Another owner said their dog was regularly in water in the area and needed a 24-hour stay at the vet and numerous drug treatments.
Inverness South councillor Ken Gowans reported the cases to the council’s environment team.
He said: “It does seem to be a strange phenomenon that this happening to so many animals in this area. That is very concerning to me.
“In the meantime, our advice to pet owners in the area is to keep them in sight.
“And make sure they’re not eating or drinking something that they shouldn’t.”
What could be causing the sickness?
For so many pets in such a small area to be struck by a similar illness that required emergency veterinary treatment has heightened fears that the cause could be malicious.
A decade ago, cat owners in the Culloden area of Inverness were said to be “living in fear” after several were poisoned to death after drinking antifreeze.
The Scottish SPCA issued a warning and worried it had been done deliberately.
Thankfully, so far no dog or cat deaths have been linked to the sickness reported in Milton of Leys.
Sepa has been contacted about the recent incidents by Highland Council.
But a spokeswoman said it has not seen any evidence that it is related to an “environmental incident”.
A spokeswoman for Highland Council said its investigation was ongoing.
She added: “An environmental health officer visited the area but could not identify any conditions of concern.
“There is, at present, no evidence of a source of this event.
“Investigations will continue into the possible source.”
Conversation