Any veternarians in the house?

interesting, I just talked to a vet 2 days ago about the dog's friend who was limping when he came out of the ocean..pretty bad. He said "give your dog 100mg Rimidyl daily... for the rest of his life.. he will be a totally different dog." I mulled it over, and said "steroid?" He said something mild.. curious what it actually is. This dog is 80-90lbs so might want to adjust you dose too.

NSAID

NSAID

 

 

Cool, I guess i misunderstood. Glad your dog is doing well.

Still seems better... Ate a bunch last night... Probably too much too fast because he barfed it right up... But didnt seem any worse for the wear...

Still seems better... Ate a bunch last night... Probably too much too fast because he barfed it right up... But didnt seem any worse for the wear...

 

Mine does that occasionally too, especially with people foods. Sometimes I don't think he chews at all lol. Glad he's doing better!

On the issue with the eye, could that maybe be a worm or something? I saw a surgery where a woman was going blind in one eye, turned out she had a worm in there that was growing and growing. They had to surgically remove it. Could such a worm in the eye also cause other health issues with the dog?

My dad is a Vet and I worked there for a long time as a kid. I will refer him to this thread. Maybe he will look maybe not. But, I can say knowing my dad, he probably wouldn't think the hamburgers and pizza are what he should be eating.

On the issue with the eye, could that maybe be a worm or something? I saw a surgery where a woman was going blind in one eye, turned out she had a worm in there that was growing and growing. They had to surgically remove it. Could such a worm in the eye also cause other health issues with the dog?

 

If there is a worm inside the dogs eye that is causing him to bleed out his ass, I'm taking the first flight to the Fortisdome and setting up camp under the tree.

If there is a worm inside the dogs eye that is causing him to bleed out his ass, I'm taking the first flight to the Fortisdome and setting up camp under the tree.

 

My thinking was maybe such a worm could be excreting something into the bloodstream that is causing the dog all sorts of problems. I have no idea if that is realistic or not though.

Rimadyl is a wonder drug for dogs. Our Beagle had some serious pain and the Vet said the same thing, Rimadyl for the rest of his life, not in large doses and eventually scaled it back to as needed, but it was a night and day difference.

 

Glad to hear things are looking up RD, hope things keep going in the right direction!

My dad is a Vet and I worked there for a long time as a kid. I will refer him to this thread. Maybe he will look maybe not. But, I can say knowing my dad, he probably wouldn't think the hamburgers and pizza are what he should be eating.b

 

I know.... But. We had to get some weight on him (or at least stop the wasting away) and the meds are ineffectiveve unless taken with a full meal... I mean, when a dog turns his nose up at a cheeseburger, desperation sets in. He still will not touch dog food... Hopefully we can get him well, get some weight on him with the junk food, and then only offer him dog food knowing it may take a few days before he gives in and eats it.

 

 

Remember- Tuesday I expected to come home and find him dead on the floor. He had completely stopped eating. And just laid on the floor in a coma like state. He was a day or two like that away from me putting him down.

Here are some questions from my dad.

 

1. See if he has the test results? See if he can get them and forward to you (most Important)

2. See If the pet was on heartworm preventative? which Brand and was it continuous or seasonal ( the pet could have adult heartworms and not be shedding microfilaria at the time the test was done. Also find out the brand and type of heartworm test used)

3. See if radiographs were taken of the lungs.

4. Blastomycosis is a possibility, it is a fungus that is found in dogs that predominately live near rivers, lakes, forests or wet areas that have a lot of dead and decaying debris to provide a medium for the fungus to grow. They inhale it as they are sniffing or digging. We had tons of fungus growing in our forest in Oregon and had to keep the grounds picked up continuously. (where does the family live or where have they visited within a month of the pet showing signs) Frequently the fungus is found in higher incidence in the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio watersheds, but can obviously be found rather ubiquitously.

5. You can test for Blasto with a tracheal wash and or if the cough is productive by looking for mycotic cells in the sputum, or a biopsy of a lymph node. All of those are easily done and don’t require a general anesthetic, which if the pet is very sick you want to avoid putting the pet under. If the fungus starts growing in the lungs it can be fatal.

 

Here are some questions from my dad.

 

1. See if he has the test results? See if he can get them and forward to you (most Important)

2. See If the pet was on heartworm preventative? which Brand and was it continuous or seasonal ( the pet could have adult heartworms and not be shedding microfilaria at the time the test was done. Also find out the brand and type of heartworm test used)

3. See if radiographs were taken of the lungs.

4. Blastomycosis is a possibility, it is a fungus that is found in dogs that predominately live near rivers, lakes, forests or wet areas that have a lot of dead and decaying debris to provide a medium for the fungus to grow. They inhale it as they are sniffing or digging. We had tons of fungus growing in our forest in Oregon and had to keep the grounds picked up continuously. (where does the family live or where have they visited within a month of the pet showing signs) Frequently the fungus is found in higher incidence in the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio watersheds, but can obviously be found rather ubiquitously.

5. You can test for Blasto with a tracheal wash and or if the cough is productive by looking for mycotic cells in the sputum, or a biopsy of a lymph node. All of those are easily done and don’t require a general anesthetic, which if the pet is very sick you want to avoid putting the pet under. If the fungus starts growing in the lungs it can be fatal.

 

 

1. Urine test came back negative for blasto. But he still thinks it is. Blood tests came back normal except for elevated white blood counts.

 

2. He was on seasonal HW... I think its hartgard or something like that. Its a large chewable "brownie" type like. 2 different tests given- Both negative. He did express concern that we werent giving him enough of it for his weight. If it was latent heart worm, he wouldn't be improving would he?

 

3. No xrays etc....

 

4. We live in Southern Indiana. 18 miles from the main branch of the Ohio River. On a 92 acre property with about 50 acres of thick forest. With a 3 acre lake. With one border of the property, directly behind the house made up of Silver Creek, a major tributory of the Ohio River (It runs between a few feet to about 15 feet deep dependending on the weather), A 30Ft x 30ft pond in the front yard, and Multiple smaller creeks running throughout the property. Our particular "town" is also "ground zero" for Blasto with much higher incidents of it, with much more severe infections than any of the towns and cities around us. Its a very "Blasto friendly" property... But.. Caesar spends very little time outside... And isnt a digger....

 

5. The cough has now subsided. Probably two weeks now. In fact, the only remaining symptom appears to be the eye, which is improving very slowly.... Even the lymph nodes are shrinking fast. This is after 12 days on ithaceazole (Or whatever that anti-fungal is called), an oral anti-biotic (cefalexin or something like that), and 2 topical eye drop/ointments for the eye. The appetite is back... He even ate a very small portion of dog food today. The depression and lethargy seems to be gone. He even jumped up on the bed today, which he hasnt done since he got sick (didnt have the strength). The bleeding has stopped from both ends. Im still concerned he may be constipated again, but I'm attributing that to the crappy diet. The rapid improvement seems to have coincided with day 8/9 of the treatments plus the addition of rimadyl...

Ate chicken and livers, and veal and hamburger for dinner... Seems like himself again (and hungry). The one addition to the meds was an anti inflammatory- Rimidyl... seems to be all the difference in the world.

 

My 70lb labradoodle is on Rimadyl 3/4 of a 75mg tablet every 12 hours when his limping acts up. For us it's a joint and fatty deposit thing but it's basically a big ibuprofen dose (NAISD or whatever) so it handles inflammation and pain nicely.

1. Urine test came back negative for blasto. But he still thinks it is. Blood tests came back normal except for elevated white blood counts.

 

2. He was on seasonal HW... I think its hartgard or something like that. Its a large chewable "brownie" type like. 2 different tests given- Both negative. He did express concern that we werent giving him enough of it for his weight. If it was latent heart worm, he wouldn't be improving would he?

 

3. No xrays etc....

 

4. We live in Southern Indiana. 18 miles from the main branch of the Ohio River. On a 92 acre property with about 50 acres of thick forest. With a 3 acre lake. With one border of the property, directly behind the house made up of Silver Creek, a major tributory of the Ohio River (It runs between a few feet to about 15 feet deep dependending on the weather), A 30Ft x 30ft pond in the front yard, and Multiple smaller creeks running throughout the property. Our particular "town" is also "ground zero" for Blasto with much higher incidents of it, with much more severe infections than any of the towns and cities around us. Its a very "Blasto friendly" property... But.. Caesar spends very little time outside... And isnt a digger....

 

5. The cough has now subsided. Probably two weeks now. In fact, the only remaining symptom appears to be the eye, which is improving very slowly.... Even the lymph nodes are shrinking fast. This is after 12 days on ithaceazole (Or whatever that anti-fungal is called), an oral anti-biotic (cefalexin or something like that), and 2 topical eye drop/ointments for the eye. The appetite is back... He even ate a very small portion of dog food today. The depression and lethargy seems to be gone. He even jumped up on the bed today, which he hasnt done since he got sick (didnt have the strength). The bleeding has stopped from both ends. Im still concerned he may be constipated again, but I'm attributing that to the crappy diet. The rapid improvement seems to have coincided with day 8/9 of the treatments plus the addition of rimadyl...

 

 

Good response to therapy is a great sign. The Ithaceazole is the current drug of choice for Blasto and certainly covering the body response with antibiotics for secondary bacterial invaders is prudent. Just don’t stop too early.

 

Failure to demonstrate the organism is always frustrating.

 

Radiographs might still show some changes at this stage but with the severity decreasing, the contrast to the initial presentation might not be as dramatic. They likely would show general body response, but now not diagnostic for Blasto specifically. It could detect a simultaneous heart enlargement secondary to a heartworm infection. This would show some slow limited improvement as the Blasto / secondary bacterial infection was cleared.

 

The tracheal wash, the lymph node biopsy all become less diagnostic as time and treatment progresses, eventually the mycotic cells are cleared .

 

It would be helpful to know the exact WBC count and the differential, this can help to differentiate the primary from secondary infections. Increased neutrophils, band cells etc. indicate bacterial infection. Lymphocytes indicate viral. Initial mycosis often present with elevated eosinophils, then secondary bacterial invaders mask the initial presentation. The eosinophils often remain after the course of antibiotic kills the bacteria. Thus when the initial CBC is compared to the post antibiotic CBC it may show a marked eosinophilia.

 

It sounds like the Doctor had good intuition and instituted the proper therapy. It takes a lot of experience and conviction to continue therapy awaiting response, when the testing can’t confirm your diagnosis. Kudos to his Veterinarian and staff for saving his pet’s life.

 

How is the fur baby doing today?

How is the fur baby doing today?

 

He's been doing much better... Eating... Hungry...

 

 

Then today his other eye started to look bad...

 

Tonight it seems he has gone completely blind in both eyes. Banging into furniture... Afraid to take a step... Completely debilitated.

 

I think I going to have to have him put down in the morning...

 

 

I have no fcuking idea what happened to this dog...

Sorry to hear that his health has taken a turn Erik.

 

 

 

Our positive thoughts are with you.

Very sorry to hear.......

I'm sorry man, wish there was something we could do to help him.

Man I am sorry to hear this. Drug suggestion seems myriad: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/296870-medication

 

I hope he recovers and that you do not have to free your dog from the pain. Sorry you and he are going through this. Best wishes.

That sucks

So.. After I posted last night he went into a coma like state... Wouldn't get up... Wouldn't lift his head... Etc...

 

 

This morning he got up, ate breakfast, went outside... Seems to have vision back...

 

 

I have no idea what to do...

And now he seems blind again...

Heya RD you ever consider taking him up to Ohio State?

Chill, continue to treat...wait it out. If there's ever a doubt, don't pull the trigger.