Bartonellosis - Add Another Tbd

[Burpdog]

Came accross this on another list (Circle of Grey). A woman's grey was tested for and had bartonellosis. From what I've read, it is the bacteria in cat scratch fever and can be passed from ticks to humans and dogs.

 

Dogs. Although of low prevalence, B. vinsonii has been documented as a

cause of endocarditis in 4 dogs. A closely related organism is suspected to

cause myocarditis and endocarditis in North Carolina where Bartonella

seroprevalence is low (3-4% of dogs).  Bartonella spp. may also cause

unexplained epistaxis, idiopathic arthritis, granulomatous lymphadenitis

and rhinitis in dogs.

 

Antech Report

 

edited to add:

 

Bartonella vinsonii, subspecies berkhoffii, has been reported to cause cardiac arrhythmia, endocarditis, myocarditis, and granulomatous lymphadenitis and rhinitis in dogs. Bartonella henselae also has been reported to cause liver disease (peliosis hepatitis) in dogs. While vectors have not been identified for Bartonella spp., ticks are believed to be likely vectors. There is a high rate of co-infection in dogs with ehrlichiosis, babesiosis and bartonellosis. Any dog being treated for Babesia spp. or Ehrlichia spp. infection and not responding completely should be tested for Bartonella spp. infection. Immunosuppression results from bartonellosis, and this may impair ability of the dog to clear concurrent infections.

 

Of about 700 serum samples screened by Dr. Breitschwerdt's laboratory, 90 (11%) were seropositive for Bartonella spp., which is higher than the previously noted 3% rate. Of these 90, 30 dogs had no other antibodies against infectious agents and 24 had complete medical records. Among these 24 dogs, 30% had dermatologic changes of erosion/scabbing of ear tips and leukocytoclastic vasculitis on biopsy. Some dogs had joint pain, and 20% had uveitis with or without retinal hemorrhages. Twenty-one percent had neurological disease, several had changes in the CSF like GME, and 21% had AIHA. Half of the dogs had thrombocytopenia, and about one third had neutrophilia, monocytosis, eosinophilia, and anemia.

Edited April 25, 2007 by Burpdog

[Madeara]

Asia had her blood work done there at north carolina when there could have been the possbility of her having bartonellosis, but it ended up being the equine erhlicia.

[Greytlady94]

I have had cat scratch fever, it is a tough disease.

[Burpdog]

Has anyone had their grey tested for this? Results?

[Jiffer]

This sounds very familiar, but I can't place where I've heard it. I know the clinic where our guys donate tests for it, though.

[Aerosmom]

Cricket's neurologist has sent her blood to NCU to test for Bartonella. We were in for a recheck and I mentioned that she was currently taking Baytril for rhinitis and that she seemed to perk up on it. Apparently Baytril is more effective against Bartonella than Doxycycline, which we gave her when all this started last August. So, he put her back on Baytril to see if she continues to improve while we wait to hear about her bloodwork. She's not back to 100% but I do notice she is more stable and coordinated. I have my fingers crossed that it is this and we can finally help her. It really would seem miraculous if we could bring her back to normal with antibiotics.

 

Otherwise the other possibilities are autoimmune disease or cancer and that means continuing the Prednisone and trying chemo injections, which would help both.

 

Does anyone know much more about this? Apparently it's an emerging disease which was only discovered to be tick-borne in 1993. I read that dogs with heavy flea and tick infestations are more prone to it.

 

Have other greys been diagnosed with this?

 

 

[Burpdog]

They have but not sure if any on this board. Check out Circle of Grey where I first saw a grey diagnosed with it.

 

Also, e ewingii is more prevelant than I think is known. It requires a PCR test also, and takes time.

[Guest Zookiesmom]

Zooks testing positive for hemobartonella, I'm not sure if thats what you mean by bartonella, if its the same thing. He was on three weeks of doxycycline and he had SO much energy. He's been good ever since, and we haven't had him tested again.

[Aerosmom]

Zooks testing positive for hemobartonella, I'm not sure if thats what you mean by bartonella, if its the same thing. He was on three weeks of doxycycline and he had SO much energy. He's been good ever since, and we haven't had him tested again.

 

What were Zookie's symptoms?

[Guest Zookiesmom]

Zooks testing positive for hemobartonella, I'm not sure if thats what you mean by bartonella, if its the same thing. He was on three weeks of doxycycline and he had SO much energy. He's been good ever since, and we haven't had him tested again.

 

What were Zookie's symptoms?

 

he didnt' really have any. We registered him as a blood donor at the vet and they tested him and found it. Once he was treated he had a TON more energy, so we think it was making him anemic and weak and lazy. We just thought we had a lazy dog!

[Aerosmom]

Zooks testing positive for hemobartonella, I'm not sure if thats what you mean by bartonella, if its the same thing. He was on three weeks of doxycycline and he had SO much energy. He's been good ever since, and we haven't had him tested again.

 

What were Zookie's symptoms?

 

he didnt' really have any. We registered him as a blood donor at the vet and they tested him and found it. Once he was treated he had a TON more energy, so we think it was making him anemic and weak and lazy. We just thought we had a lazy dog!

 

I hope we're not grasping at straws for Cricket. I'd love to have this all just be TBD -- the other options are autoimmune and cancer. I'm feeling hopeful since the neurologist thought it was worth investigating, but it seems like they don't know too much about the disease yet. I have read it can manifest with neurological symptoms.

[NeylasMom]

There was a post on here recently from one of our adopters who thought their grey had this. The test came back negative, but since there have been reports of false negatives they continued the treatment and saw improvement. The dog's name is Gromit if anyone wants to search for the thread for more details. That was the first I had heart of it.

[Guest Zookiesmom]

Zooks testing positive for hemobartonella, I'm not sure if thats what you mean by bartonella, if its the same thing. He was on three weeks of doxycycline and he had SO much energy. He's been good ever since, and we haven't had him tested again.

 

What were Zookie's symptoms?

 

he didnt' really have any. We registered him as a blood donor at the vet and they tested him and found it. Once he was treated he had a TON more energy, so we think it was making him anemic and weak and lazy. We just thought we had a lazy dog!

 

I hope we're not grasping at straws for Cricket. I'd love to have this all just be TBD -- the other options are autoimmune and cancer. I'm feeling hopeful since the neurologist thought it was worth investigating, but it seems like they don't know too much about the disease yet. I have read it can manifest with neurological symptoms.

 

From what I can find online, hemobartonella and bartonella are different diseases. Zooks didn't have many symptoms with hemobartonella, and most symptoms arise in immune compromised dogs, such as those that have had splenectomies.

 

[Guest Matt]

Geez, when I was searching for info on Bartonella I didn't find this thread. Too bad...

 

That was my Gromit possibly with Bartonella. Gromit was having the usual TBD symptoms early this summer (lack of energy and appetite, extreme lethargy, acting depressed) but didn't test positive for the usual TBDs. He responded initially to doxy but it didn't last. My vet consulted with the immunologist at NC State, who said the symptoms and initial response to doxy were consistent with Bartonella (doxy won't take care of Bartonella). We tested, but it could take up to 4 weeks for results, so started treatment with azythromycin. Gromit responded to treatment and recovered fully -- but the test results were negative. Apparently that's not unusual -- the test isn't always conclusive. So maybe he had it, maybe he didn't.....

[ShantisMom]

Guess I should add this to my testing list. Yikes!