Burpdog Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 (edited) Please take some time to read the information in this link. Print it out for yourself and your vet. You will see after reading this, why so many of us ask time and time again--has he/she been checked for a TBD: TBD info Here are some of the symptoms for erlichiosis: weakness cough labored breathing fatigue pneumonia intermittent fever arthritis muscle wasting discharge from nose or eye depression weight loss anorexia increased thirst and urination incontinence sensitivity of the skin head tremors disorientation seizures neck or back pain bleeding tendencies pallor due to anemia retinal hemorrhages bleeding into the skin rash nose bleeds spontaneous bleeding abdominal tenderness swelling of the legs swollen lymph nodes Certain features of ehrlichiosis may mimic the following diseases: systemic lupus erythematosus brucellosis blastomycosis endocarditis immune mediated diseases thrombocytopenia pancytopenia myelophthisis cancer of the spleen or liver Valley Fever plasma cell myeloma leukemia Sometimes the TBD test can come back negative yet the dog will respond to doxy or doxy/pred. Edited November 30, 2004 by Burpdog Diane & The Senior Gang Burpdog Biscuits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Greymom Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 Thanks for posting and reminding everyone of this. This should also be posted in Greyt Information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GreysAndMoreGreys Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 TBD can be tricky little devils!!! I had a vet look at me cross eyed because I was in Birmingham asking for a Lyme test for my dogs. I came from CT where it is very common. Turns out my GSD had Lyme. Thanks Burpdog for posting this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Yat4 Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 Buddy tested positive for ehrlichiosis even though he didn't have any symptoms yet. It's good to just get them tested to avoid problems down the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paula Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 Excellent information! Thank you, Diane! ~One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all ~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LynnM Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 This is why it can be VERY helpful to have a general knowledge of where your pup was raised. These dogs go to adoption at around 3 years old. Only the older dogs- those that raced until 4 1/2-ish and up were at the track long enough to have picked up a TBD and incubated it at the track itself. By knowing where the hound was raised, you can get an idea of your possibilities... Erlichia- Anywhere south of NC, but especially FL, TX and OK. If one of our dogs looks like he's coming down with something, this is a good bet. Babesia- Some OK, far north TX, NC, New England. Dogs that lived their whole life in FL should NOT have Babesia. Yeah, sometimes the bug didn't read the book.... Lyme- same as Babesia, but especially the northeast. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever- the west mostly, but does occur occasionally in the east. Now that few FL breeders run out west (not transporting back and forth as much), there's not much of it here. Lynn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greytspud Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 Tiffany was diagnosed with Erhlichia last year. She was 9 years old at the time and she had been mine for 4 years. We have lived the whole time in California and I had her on Frontline. Tiffany had no outward symptoms. During her routine check up with the vet, we decided to do a blood panel just to get some baseline numbers given her age. The results came back: low platelets. We went through a number of rounds of different TBD assays. It turned out she had a relatively rare form of Ehrlichia. So routine bloodwork can be an important part of detecting TBDs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burpdog Posted June 26, 2004 Author Share Posted June 26, 2004 Many people have no idea where their dogs were during their schooling/racing days. One of the things I have seen repeatedly is vet's reluctance to believe or ignorance about TBDs in a non racing state. I know in Texas it's the first thing we think of since the TBDs mimic so many different things. I know Cindy's Copper was diagnosed with RMSF (I think--Cindy correct me if I'm wrong). He's a Texas dog that made his way up to Wisconsin. Diane & The Senior Gang Burpdog Biscuits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mleg2001 Posted June 27, 2004 Share Posted June 27, 2004 My vet only wanted to test Sunny for Erhlichia since he was born and raised in Arizona, I insisted testing for Babesia and Lyme. Vets here in Canada tend not to be familiar with tick diseases, though Lyme disease is found in southern part of Ontario, they really don't see or experience many cases of babesia but with many senoirs spending their winters down in Florida, Texas and Arizona they have become a bit familiar with Erhlichia. At a seminar for greyhound owners one vet brought up tick diseases but only recommended testing dogs that raced in Florida that showed signs, later I spoke with the vet and explained with another group that tick tests all their greys, that the incidence of tick disease was much higher in the CT/New Hampshire area many where showing exposure to Babesia and also Lyme, A few tested came back with exposure to multiple tick diseases. Being the dogs are transported all over the country to different tracks or farms there is the possibility of transporting live infected ticks along with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greytlady94 Posted June 27, 2004 Share Posted June 27, 2004 If a greyhound is "just not quite right", a TBD is the first thing I would suspect. In most cases we are not going to know where all the grey has been. He may very well have been whelped on a farm in Texas, for example, but traveled to several other states through his racing career, and could end up being petted out somewhere up north. A grey might also show very few symtems, but just be "not quite right". The first thing I am going to want done is blood work, and if platlet count is low, we are going to put him on doxycycline right away while we wait for other results. Ehrlichia, which is what we see most here, responds very quickly to doxy. Many vets just don't snap to thinking tick disease, and the grey can get very sick or die while an asortment of other ailments are being treated because the vet doesn't think TBD's. Greyhound angels at the bridge- Casey, Charlie, Maggie, Molly, Renie, Lucy & Teddy. Beagle angels Peanut and Charlie. And to all the 4 legged Bridge souls who have touched my heart, thank you. When a greyhound looks into you eyes it seems they touch your very soul. "A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more then he loves himself". Josh Billings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burpdog Posted June 27, 2004 Author Share Posted June 27, 2004 ignorance about TBDs in a non racing state I am modifying that statement. It can happen in a racing state too Check those platelets! Be familiar with symptoms. Doxy treatment is easy to do, non invasive and can save your grey's (or other dog's) life! Many vets just don't snap to thinking tick disease, and the grey can get very sick or die while an asortment of other ailments are being treated because the vet doesn't think TBD's. This happens Diane & The Senior Gang Burpdog Biscuits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burpdog Posted June 28, 2004 Author Share Posted June 28, 2004 Bump. Not all 1797 members have read this yet Diane & The Senior Gang Burpdog Biscuits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TLM Posted June 29, 2004 Share Posted June 29, 2004 You will see after reading this, why so many of us ask time and time again--has he/she been checked for a TBD: I'm glad you posted this, Diane. I know our group and others receive dogs from all over the country so it's almost impossible to know what they've been exposed to before arriving at the adoption group. Better to test and be safe than sorry. Lori Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jananice Posted June 29, 2004 Share Posted June 29, 2004 Our group holds a tick testing clinic once a year. They usually have 30 spots. This year they could have held two of them. The clinic they do it through gives us a discount...we had one dog come up double positive for Babiesia and Erlichiois this year, and a number of other dogs with low positives. I didn't get my app through in time. I'll get them done next year. Being in Washington state, a lot of our vets don't know about these diseases. Valley Fever is another our dogs get that mimics other problems. This seems to affect dogs from the Southwest (Arizona) mostly. Hard to diagnose but treatable once it's discovered. If you're not sure TEST FOR TBD!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TLM Posted June 29, 2004 Share Posted June 29, 2004 I didn't get my app through in time. I'll get them done next year. Your vet can draw blood and send it to ProtaTek Lab for testing at any time if you don't want to wait. Here's the info: "Because of our concern for the Greyhound breed, ProtaTek has established a panel with a special discounted fee for diagnosis of all four tick-borne diseases, as well as Valley Fever, to make testing affordable to the Greyhound owner. For more information about the services available, have your veterinarian contact: Dr. Cynthia J. Holland ProtaTek Reference Laboratory 574 East Alamo Street, Suite 90 Chandler, AZ 85225 Tel: (480) 545-8499 Fax: (480) 545-8409 http://www.njgreyhounds.org/li2.asp#a2 Lori Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jananice Posted June 29, 2004 Share Posted June 29, 2004 Lori I know I can do it at any time. My two don't show any signs and haven't for three years. I'll wait for the next clinic because it'll only cost me $30 per dog instead of the office visit charge and the full fee for the tick testing. If they do show any signs of illness, however, tick testing will be at the top of the list. Glad you posted the info for ProtaTek though. This place is just a wealth of information! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest auntiesara Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 I had to pressure Matt's vet for the TBD test and he had Ehrlichia with a high titre. His test came back negative one month after the Doxy and Imazol treatments (Jan 2004). I just had him retested and it came back negative. His only symptoms were lethargy and a stange limp, so I always suggest TBD testing. Sara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galgomum Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 Thanks Diane, thanks to your list we could convince a vet to test for Ehrlichia. We don't have any experiece with it, but it is common in Spain. In this case the vet was going to treat for Leukemia and didn't want to test until he saw the list. Turns out the galgo has Ehrlichia and Leishmanioses. ~SAGE~ Save A Galgo EspañolPetra Postma Photography Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robinw Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 (edited) Yes, tick borne diseases are tricky. Phoenix tested positive for babesia and was treated with Imizol. Imizol needs to be imported from the US. My vet was wouldn't test...disease carrying brown ticks don't live here. I had to change vets. Advice...if you suspect one of these diseases...BE PERSISTENT! edited for bad spelling Edited June 30, 2004 by robinw Xavi the galgo and Peter the cat. Missing Iker the galgo ?-Feb.9/19, Treasure (USS Treasure) April 12/01-May 6/13, Phoenix (Hallo Top Son) Dec.14/99-June 4/11 and Loca (Reko Swahili) Oct.9/95 - June 1/09, Allen the boss cat, died late November, 2021, age 19. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Annie Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 Please forgive me for cross posting! I have a thread for River and his relentless symptoms in Health and Medical and I am desperate to find the underlying cause. Because we live in Canada, no vet has suggested testing him for tick borne diseases!!! Could this be the cause? Again, I'm VERY SORRY for cross posting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvgreys Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 Does anyone have a resource for info on Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever? Our latest group of dogs off the track tested positive, including my Derby girl. Jeanne with Remington & Scooter the cat....and Beloved Bridge Angels Sandee, Shari, Wells, Derby, Phoenix, Jerry Lee and Finnian.....If tears could build a stairway, and memories a lane, I'd walk right up to heavenand bring you home again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burpdog Posted June 30, 2004 Author Share Posted June 30, 2004 Insist on sending a blood sample to ProtaTek Labs. There is a thread in Greyt Information. Several people in Canada (as has been mentioned) have a hard time convincing their vet to send off a sample. Be persistant! Thanks Diane, thanks to your list we could convince a vet to test for Ehrlichia. We don't have any experiece with it, but it is common in Spain. In this case the vet was going to treat for Leukemia and didn't want to test until he saw the list. Turns out the galgo has Ehrlichia and Leishmanioses. This brought tears to my eyes. I am so glad you didn't let up! So many dogs die unnecessarily because vets are not aware Diane & The Senior Gang Burpdog Biscuits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burpdog Posted June 30, 2004 Author Share Posted June 30, 2004 Having a problem finding a good link for RMSF. Maybe Cindy has one. http://petplace.netscape.com/articles/artShow.asp?artID=3336 One for erlichosis I found: http://www.mirage-samoyeds.com/tick.htm Diane & The Senior Gang Burpdog Biscuits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvgreys Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 Thanks for the info, Burpdog. Jeanne with Remington & Scooter the cat....and Beloved Bridge Angels Sandee, Shari, Wells, Derby, Phoenix, Jerry Lee and Finnian.....If tears could build a stairway, and memories a lane, I'd walk right up to heavenand bring you home again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TLM Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 Here's another link on RMSF http://www.vet.uga.edu/vpp/CLERK/otis/ Lori Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts