Pseudomonas (joe)

[ChiliDog]

Well after months of tests, bloodwork, ekg's, referrals, and finally that famous tracheal lung wash, Joe has been diagnosed with chronic bronchitis with a side order of a pseudomonas infection in his lungs. He's been prescribed a bronchodilator and an antibiotic (Zenaquin?). So hopefully that will fix him up.

 

Logan OTOH, has been conditionally diagnosed with degenerative myelopathy. I sent this diagnosis to OSU and Dr. Couto wants us to go for xrays and then an MRI. He is not convinced that is is DM as it is not a prevalent GH disorder.

 

So that will be my 2009 project, as Joe's heart (or what we thought was his heart) was my 2008 project....

 

 

Just wondering if anyone has had experience with a pseudomonas infection or DM in greys.

Edited December 12, 2008 by ChiliDog

[dmswartzfager]

Well, not Pseudomonas in greyhounds, but I'm studying Pseudomonas right now as part of my PhD work. It's an opportunistic pathogen that forms a biofilm, and it's especially known for infecting the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients and compounding their troubles. Once in a biofilm, it is very resistant to antibiotics - 1000 times more resistant than when it's not in a biofilm. However, it is usually sensitive to gentamicin, and fluoroquinolones such as Zeniquin.

[Guest Tenderhearts]

I don't have experience with either one, but wanted to offer you some hugs, and prayers and white for your boys!

:grouphug <-------for you

 

<------for Joe & Logan

[CaliforniaGreys]

No experience here either, but from one of the many Joe T Reporter fans, I will keep him and Logan in my prayers. Celebrities are "knot" supposed to get sick!!

[4My2Greys]

Donna,

I hope that the antibiotics prescribed for Joe T. will knock out that nasty pseudomonas. I can't bear the thought of my favorite reporter with the GINORMOUS heart not being well.

Just thought I would mention that I had been trying to find the cause of Nadir's recurring severe back pain for over 2 years now. I had taken him to 4 different vets and recently took him for full neurological exam at the University Vet School. X-rays, MRI, and spinal tap came back showing nothing. Turns out he showed up positive for Toxoplasmosis when they ran a tick panel. The toxoplasmosis was affecting Nadir's central nervous system. If Logan hasn't already been checked for something like this you might want to think about it. I wish one of the vets I had taken him to prior had thought to do it. It would have saved me $1000's and Nadir years of pain.

Hugs to both your boys

 

Judy

[ChiliDog]

Donna,

I hope that the antibiotics prescribed for Joe T. will knock out that nasty pseudomonas. I can't bear the thought of my favorite reporter with the GINORMOUS heart not being well.

Just thought I would mention that I had been trying to find the cause of Nadir's recurring severe back pain for over 2 years now. I had taken him to 4 different vets and recently took him for full neurological exam at the University Vet School. X-rays, MRI, and spinal tap came back showing nothing. Turns out he showed up positive for Toxoplasmosis when they ran a tick panel. The toxoplasmosis was affecting Nadir's central nervous system. If Logan hasn't already been checked for something like this you might want to think about it. I wish one of the vets I had taken him to prior had thought to do it. It would have saved me $1000's and Nadir years of pain.

Hugs to both your boys

 

Judy

 

Good to know, Judy, thank you for that info.

I must say that I am not sure if Logan is in constant pain or if it comes and goes. We noticed it about a month ago when we were driving back from Ottawa and he was VERY snarky with the other 2 in the back of the van. He's always been a space aggressive grump (which is why we always muzzle while traveling) but this was out of the ordinary even for him.

 

I know we have to have some bloodwork done on him so I shall ask them to do this as well. (um stoopid question - this is a blood test right???)

 

 

[DaisyDoodle]

Donna,

please give me a call. Cosmo had what was almost certainly DM. It was a few years ago, but I can tell you what I know about it. One thing I recall is that I was told it wasn't painful.

 

Donna

[Guest Kitty_cat]

Oh Donna, I'm sorry Logan and Joe are both sick :-(

I hope that Joe will have an uneventful recovery and that you will get a proper diagnosis for Logan.

BTW, that's a really nice siggy you have!

[Batmom]

No advice, just lots of prayers for your sweet boys.

[ChiliDog]

Thanks all.

 

I had a ARGH moment with our vet here in Montreal - since Joe saw the specialist in Ottawa they faxed the prescription to our vet here. Today I get a call from our vet saying

 

"oh sorry, we don't have that medication here"

 

wha????????????????? "well could you ORDER it?"

 

Yes they can order it but it won't be here til Wednesday - If the weather was not so crappy I would be tempted to tell Klaus we were taking a road trip to pick up Joes meds... BUT we can wait til Wednesday.

[RobinM]

No experience but tons of prayers for your babies.

[ahicks51]

Thanks all.

 

I had a ARGH moment with our vet here in Montreal - since Joe saw the specialist in Ottawa they faxed the prescription to our vet here. Today I get a call from our vet saying

 

"oh sorry, we don't have that medication here"

 

wha????????????????? "well could you ORDER it?"

 

Can you ask the vet if there are any other fluoroquinolone antibiotics that can be prescribed? Maybe the vet stocks that drug or another one from the same class?

 

If they did a culture and sensitivity, he will know to which drugs the organism is sensitive. The class of antibiotics is quite large, and maybe they have another one you can use. But waiting until Wednesday is a long time.

[Guest GiJenn51]

Donna--- I'm sending you all TONS and TONS of hugs and positive energy.

[Guest vahoundlover]

Oh man, I am so sorry Joe and Logan are sick. No experience here, but adding them to the prayers.

[Aerosmom]

Cricket had problems with her spinal cord white matter and neurological symptoms in her back end. It was tagged as "autoimmune disease" -- Angell memorial neurologist thought perhaps it could have been from untreated TBD. She was treated with long-term Prednisone and I walked her every day and made sure she got exercise to keep her muscle tone. The initial onset was pretty severe and she did cry out in pain. Once it settled down, she didn't seem to be in a lot of pain but she eventually grew worse and had a lot of weakness and knuckling over of her paws and eventually loss of bladder/bowel control. It was so sad watching her deteriorate from a very strong, confident healthy 4 1/2 year old dog. We had to say goodbye to her just a month after her sixth birthday because she lost the ability to use her front legs too.

 

Not sure if it helps, but I remember reading about DM and thinking that her symptoms overlapped some.

[HopeForHounds]

Which bronchodilator is he on? I have some here I can send if it is the right one.

[patricia]

Sending prayers for your sweet baby.

[4My2Greys]

I know we have to have some bloodwork done on him so I shall ask them to do this as well. (um stoopid question - this is a blood test right???)

 

Cricket had problems with her spinal cord white matter and neurological symptoms in her back end. It was tagged as "autoimmune disease" -- Angell memorial neurologist thought perhaps it could have been from untreated TBD. She was treated with long-term Prednisone and I walked her every day and made sure she got exercise to keep her muscle tone. The initial onset was pretty severe and she did cry out in pain. Once it settled down, she didn't seem to be in a lot of pain but she eventually grew worse and had a lot of weakness and knuckling over of her paws and eventually loss of bladder/bowel control. It was so sad watching her deteriorate from a very strong, confident healthy 4 1/2 year old dog. We had to say goodbye to her just a month after her sixth birthday because she lost the ability to use her front legs too.

 

Not sure if it helps, but I remember reading about DM and thinking that her symptoms overlapped some.

 

Donna,

This is similar to what Nadir was experiencing just a month ago. He had lost all bladder control and was urinating on himself when he was lying in his bed. The pain had gotten so bad that he would attempt to get up when I'd try to get him to go outside but then would just drop back down. I was at the point of seriously thinking about having him put to sleep unless something could be found. One of the things they found on his bloodwork when I took him in was that his WBC count was extemely low. This happened a year ago also about the same time when he had a previous bad episode, his WBC count was extremely low then too. The vet I took him to then was able to get his immune system built up and I guess it put the Toxo in a sort of remission. She though like the others never thought to test him for tick borne diseases.

When you take him in ask that they run a titers for tick borne diseases. This is different from the regular bloodwork that is done. You also want that done though too in order to check his immune system. This may not be Logan's problem but the charge for the tick borne panel titers is not that expensive. I know with Nadir when I took him in for the neuro exam it was $1,300 and they couldn't spot anything on the MRI. They could pinpoint the exact area he was having pain through manual manipulation of his spine but other than that nothing showed up. It wasn't until they got the result back from the tick titers a few days later that they found that he showed positive for Toxoplasmosis. I got billed separately for that later and the charge for that was only $130.