The daughter of a woman whose dog died from Alabama Rot in Mullion has shared the timeline of events in a bid to warn other pet owners about the “scary, unknown and indiscriminate illness.”

Maxwell, a ten-year-old Jack Russell known as Max for short, contracted the disease back in June, but specialists Anderson Moores only confirmed last week that the disease was the cause of the death.

He had been walked around Mullion Cove, Predannack, Polurrian Beach, Polurrian Cove, Gunwalloe and moorland around Mullion by owner Elaine Harrison.

Now Elaine’s daughter Lauren Bayfield, who lives in Porthleven has written a warning on social media about the lack of information about the disease and to share the days leading up to Max’s illness.

Lauren’s dog Jango - a dachshund-Jack Russell cross - is also suspected to have contracted the disease and developed lesions, but survived.

She said: “Max and Jango were walked through fields at Predannack – the Mullion side - Mullion Cove and Polurrian Beach the days before Max got poorly.

“They were both walked to Church Cove at Gunwalloe on the Thursday, where Max started showing signs of discomfort on his back, near his tail. He was taken to the vets on Friday and given antibiotics for the sore on his back that had developed.

“At this point it was thought that he had been biting this area, which was why there was an open sore. The sore dried up but started to go black. Max was withdrawn in himself but was eating and drinking.”

Falmouth Packet:

Max, who died from Alabama Rot. Photo: Elaine Harrison

However, by Sunday they noticed that Jango had developed sores on his leg and chest and the following day they took him to a different vet.

“They were gravely concerned that it could be Alabama Rot. They carried out blood tests but no signs of anything sinister showed up.

“They contacted Anderson Moores Vets, who specialise in treatment of Alabama Rot, with photos of the sores, and they confirmed that Jango's sores were highly likely to be Alabama Rot,” said Lauren.

By the following Wednesday Max had not improved and had stopped eating. Blood tests then confirmed that his kidneys were failing and so he was put on fluids. However, by that Friday, despite the drip, Max had deteriorated and the family made the difficult decision to put him to sleep.

Lauren added: “Meanwhile, Jango ate a full meal every night and continued chasing cats and tennis balls.

“Other than the sores, Jango did not display any other symptoms and is now absolutely fine.

“It was tragic to lose Max to Alabama Rot and we are grateful to the powers that be that Jango somehow survived something so ruthless.”

Lauren is now calling for more effort to be made in gathering data on the condition, particularly in relation Max and Jango, as despite being the same family they have been told it was difficult to share information due to “data protection” – something she said they were “surprised and disappointed” about.

“There is no evidence as to the cause, prevention or treatment, despite what you read about the time of year, washing them off etc. And the only research that is being done is being done so privately, not through DEFRA,” she added.

Max is the sixth case of Alabama Rot to be confirmed in Cornwall since 2015, and the third case this year.

Other confirmed cases in the county include one that had been walked at Goonhilly Downs in November last year and at Tehidy Woods in December. In January this year dogs were confirmed to have died from the disease in St Austell and Redruth.

In total, the UK has now seen 189 confirmed cases across 39 counties since 2012, with 52 cases in 2018 and 14 in 2019.

The disease, also known as CRGV (cutaneous and renal glomerular vasculopathy) is caused by damage to blood vessels of the skin and kidney.

It causes tiny blood clots to form in the blood vessels, which blocks them and can ultimately lead to damage of the affected tissue. In the skin, this causes ulceration; however, in the kidney it can lead to severe organ dysfunction (kidney failure).