Distemper spikes in Santa Cruz raccoons
The Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter is advising pet-owners to vaccinate their animals after a spike in raccoon distemper cases.
Distemper first starts off with respiratory problems, then progresses to disorientation and bizarre behavior.
For the first time in more than a decade Santa Cruz County is seeing hundreds of cases.
The concern is not only for raccoons, but also for cats and dogs.
“It’s a problem and people need to be aware of it,” said Santa Cruz resident Bob Thornton.
It was around last Christmas when Thornton woke up to a raccoon with distemper in his backyard in the Seabright neighborhood.
“Really scraggly and skinny looking,” said Thornton. “Really weird and falling down once in a while, just not normal.”
Since early 2015 the county has received more than 400 reports of raccoon distemper with the majority of the calls coming from Aptos, Watsonville and Santa Cruz.
“It has just skyrocketed within the city of Santa Cruz,” said Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter field services manager Officer Todd Stosuy. “It happens when the raccoon populations are too large. It’s nature’s way of kind of evening out the numbers.”
The Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter says they’ve been responding to about five sick raccoons a day, capturing and euthanizing them to end their suffering and stop the spread of the disease.
“We’re very concerned that this could be transmitted to the feline or the canine population within our jurisdiction and have those animals suffer as well,” said Stosuy.
They’re recommending cat and dog owners stay up to date on their pet’s distemper vaccinations.
“If someone has an outdoor cat that’s not vaccinated and that cat comes in contact with one of these raccoons, or has saliva on it, or goes through their waste, they could theoretically contract it,” said Stosuy.
Feed animals insideinstead of outside.
Leftover food could attract raccoons.
“People should definitely be watching for raccoons,” said Stosuy. “If they see anything abnormal, see a raccoon out in the daytime, see a raccoon walking in circles, see a raccoon that just doesn’t look normal, definitely call us.”
If you see a raccoon with possible distemper, call Animal Services at 831-454-7227.
