Blastomycosis outbreak in the UP

[rtrypwr]

Just read a short article that is stating in Marquette Country there is an upward trend of Blasto cases in dogs.

Pretty serious condition to be aware of, biggest thing is to try not to let your pups drink from stagnant water pools. Here is a better explanation of it then I can do.

http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/respiratory/c_multi_blastomycosis

and the article....

Dog fungal infection outbreak reported in UP



Posted: Thursday, July 28, 2011 8:25 am


MARQUETTE, Mich. (AP) - Officials say a number of dogs in northern Marquette County have been diagnosed with a fungal infection.

The Mining Journal of Marquette reports blastomycosis has been diagnosed in dogs in Big Bay and surrounding areas. Dogs may be exposed to the organism for one to five months before they start to show symptoms of the infection, which is being seen more in the Upper Peninsula.

Blastomycosis is treatable if detected early. Symptoms in dogs include loss of appetite, weight loss, a cough and skin lesions

 

[nytro_rtx]

We lost one of our dogs to this years ago, we tried to cure it but it was to late. We're not sure where she got it, we had her out on the pontoonand figure thats when she got it, but when we were researching it afterwards we found out there was quite a few cases in the Eagle River, Wi. area(not where ours got it at). It was a tough time forsure.
Keep an eye on your dogs and if anything seems out of place get them to the vet. asap.
nytro

 

[snoluver1]

My dog has been very sick for the past 10 days or so. The vet can't figure out whats wrong with her. She is extremely lethargic and wont eat or drink. The only thing she wants to do is eat grass and puke. We found a golf ball size lump in her left front arm pit area and immediately thought the worst, but the vet doesn't see any smoking gun signs of cancer. They are treating her with antibiotics to see if there is any improvement. After 7 days on antibiotics she seems to be getting a bit of her spunk back but still wont drink or eat very much. She also is not moving her bowels hardly at all. This Blasto thing might be worth asking about, although she doesn't seem to have much of the lung symptoms. We did notice a slight cough in the beginning but that seems to have gone away.Thanks for the post!

 

[canon]

Snoluver1,

Im no expert and only can speak by experience. Your dog has Blasto and
if you don't get this drug called Sporonox it will die soon. Be prepared to pay up a little on the Spornox in the beginning, but once you get the prescription you should
be able to reduce the cost considerably by using an online Pharmacy.

I would also like to recommend that you immediately stop giving your dog antibiotics
seeing as in some cases they can actually feed the infection.

The University of Wisconsin's veterinarian web site has a lot of content published
on Blasto.

M

 

[snoluver1]

Thanks Canon. I'll be making a call to the vet first thing in the morning. The more I read up, the more it sounds like a fit. She doesn't have all the symptoms, but a good majority of them for sure. And it just so happens I live right next to a heavily wooded wetland area which the dog frequently goes "exploring" in. Perfect habitat for the fungus to thrive. Thanks for the info guys. I just hope we caught it in time!

 

[canon]

Hi Snoluvr1,

I was wondering if your dog actually has blasto and wether you caught
it in time?

Hope all is well and everything turned out for the best.

M

 

[nytro_rtx]

Hi Snoluvr1,

I was wondering if your dog actually has blasto and wether you caught
it in time?

Hope all is well and everything turned out for the best.

M

X2, hope everything turned out for the best.

 

[snoluver1]

Vet says not blasto. She is slowly springing back to life but definitely still something wrong. Still lethargic but she is eating and pooping so thats a step in the right direction. We had a second aspiration done on the lump we found by her arm pit. They are saying its probably cancerous. Calling it a "round cell" mass?? But they don't think its related to her sickness. Basically we still don't have a solid answer what the heck is wrong with her. I'm thinking it might be time for a different vet!!

 

[Firecatguy]

good luck too your pup snolver......maybe time to get second opinion!!!

 

[canon]

Hi Snoluvr,

I noticed you are from Illinois. Well, let me tell ya "there are a lot
money grubbin veterinarians in Illinois" I actually had one try to
tell me it was going to cost 4k to get a ACL surgery done.

Im curious wether a xray was done on the lung area of your
dog? it can be difficult for blasto to show up on a blood test.

M

 

[snoluver1]

No x-ray done, but they said it didn't show up in the blood work, which doesn't necessarily mean she doesn't have it, but also the fact that she has shown improvement and not gotten worse kind of rules it out.

 

[Skidooski]

Have they checked for Lymes? Good luck, hope all turns out well.

 

[LoveMyDobe]

Tumor

Vet says not blasto. She is slowly springing back to life but definitely still something wrong. Still lethargic but she is eating and pooping so thats a step in the right direction. We had a second aspiration done on the lump we found by her arm pit. They are saying its probably cancerous. Calling it a "round cell" mass?? But they don't think its related to her sickness. Basically we still don't have a solid answer what the heck is wrong with her. I'm thinking it might be time for a different vet!!

OMG Your vet should explain this to you. I would have this removed. One of my past Dobes had one, vet said don't worry about it. Well, he was 10 and it turned to cancer overnight! So all the lumps my Reba girl had were removed. Saves a heartache

 

[LoveMyDobe]

$$$$

Hi Snoluvr,

I noticed you are from Illinois. Well, let me tell ya "there are a lot
money grubbin veterinarians in Illinois" I actually had one try to
tell me it was going to cost 4k to get a ACL surgery done.

Im curious wether a xray was done on the lung area of your
dog? it can be difficult for blasto to show up on a blood test.

M

I agree. This does cost. But my Reba tore her ACL and I had acupuncture and herbal drugs and she was good to go! Putting her under the knife was not my option as she was a young acive dog with another Dobe at home. Now they can do stem cell for this at a cheaper cost. But when it comes to fur kids, ya gotta make the best choice.

 

[snoluver1]

OMG Your vet should explain this to you. I would have this removed. One of my past Dobes had one, vet said don't worry about it. Well, he was 10 and it turned to cancer overnight! So all the lumps my Reba girl had were removed. Saves a heartache

The vet did try talking us into removing it (for $680) but couldn't guarantee she would get it all, couldn't guarantee she wouldn't actually make it worse and couldn't guarantee the dog would fully recover from the surgery. We kinda figure, the dog is 10 years old, at best she has about 3 years left. Doesn't seem right to put her through all that at this point.

 

[frosty]

Hey Snoluver, whose your vet? I've been going to Mundelein for my little guy. Was at Antioch until they botched his eye surgery. Had to go to Buffalo Grove for the specialist to patch his eye the right way. 5k to save his eye, well worth the money, because he was only 2 yrs old.

I'm going to need to find a taxidermist that stuffs dogs, the wife has already said it, she can't live without the boops.

 

[snoluver1]

Been going to waucaonda because we are Friends with an employee there. They recently changed hands and have a new staff. I think I'm going to go back to lake zurich. They were very good there with our last dog.