Sick Of Ehrlichia

[Guest eaglflyt]

I didn't know where this topic fit best ... in health and medical or in the rant section. Please bear with me.

 

Is anybody else with me on being sick and tired of tick borne diseases?

 

4 of the last 7 or 8 dogs to come into our group have been Ehrlichia positive. Both of our current fosters have ehrlichia and a sweet staghound that we now have is ehrlichia positive too! I'm passing out doxycycline like candy. One of the new foster boys came with a platelet count of 29,000. I didn't dare even turn him out to potty or exercise with the others for fear of him getting bumped and bleeding internally. All of them have significantly low WBC counts, even for greys. And, one has a test still pending for Babesia.

 

Please share your experiences with TBDs, especially ehrlichia.

 

My main concerns are:

 

1) Keeping one of the boys eating that came with a poor appetite after breakfast and now it's even worse since the initiation of doxycycline. What worked best for your hound(s)?

 

2) Did you do a standard course of treatment with or without serial titers? How many weeks of anitbiotics for your hound? What dosage of antibiotic per lb or kg was your hound treated?

 

3) What stage of ehrlichiosis was your hound in when diagnosed?

 

Thank you if you choose to share any information.

[greyhndz]

I didn't know where this topic fit best ... in health and medical or in the rant section. Please bear with me.

 

Is anybody else with me on being sick and tired of tick borne diseases?

Yup - for about the past 13 years! Two of my galgos were just diagnosed, one with Lyme, one with ehrlichia. This is a recent conversion, as they both had negative Snap-4's within the past year.

 

 

1) Keeping one of the boys eating that came with a poor appetite after breakfast and now it's even worse since the initiation of doxycycline. What worked best for your hound(s)?

I haven't experienced this problem yet, but it's just been 10 days. With Lyme you have the alternative of using amoxi; I believe imidocarb is being used as an alternative for ehrlichia.

 

2) Did you do a standard course of treatment with or without serial titers? How many weeks of anitbiotics for your hound? What dosage of antibiotic per lb or kg was your hound treated?

 

I should have but did not send off baseline titres and/or PCR's (or C-6 for Lyme) as I usually would do, because of personal circumstances. I plan on talking with Cindy Holland at Protatek and following her recommendations as far as serial serology.

 

I consulted a TBD guru who stays on top of the research and recommendations: both Lyme and e. canis are treated with Doxy 5mg/lb (or 10mg/kg) twice daily for 2 months. I will also say that my own vet did not prescribe that dose -- she used 5mg/kg x 1 month, and I have to shamelessly admit that I have my own doxy supply and treated both dogs per the recommended TBD protocol. You might want to check out TICK-L, which is a great resource for consulting with the vets and infectious disease people who are at the forefront of TBD treatment.

3) What stage of ehrlichiosis was your hound in when diagnosed?

 

Neither dog was symptomatic,nor had clinical signs. The best way to find out is through the serial titres to graph the peak and then the fall during convalescence

 

Thank you if you choose to share any information.

I hope all of your hounds have a speedy, uncomplicated recovery!

[Batmom]

A bit late since you've started treatment but I would really encourage use of PCRs, especially for Babesia but also for Ehrlichia.

 

Initial titer only doesn't tell you whether the dog actually had that disease or something else. If the dog gets better, you might not need to know ... but then again you might. The difficulty with titers is, some dogs maintain a high titer for years, whether they ever had the disease or not.

 

Re appetite: You've probably already tried this, but with stomach-nasty drugs we usually do 1 Pepcid (10 mg famotidine), wait 30-40 minutes, feed meal or substantial snack, then give meds right after the meal/snack.

 

Best luck with your puppers!

[Guest MyHoodies]

I had a foster several years ago that had Ehrlichia. The group didn't know about it until he went through two other foster homes; all they had said is that he was a bit squirrelly . So I took him in and vet finally figured it out; we don't get many cases around here I guess and only decided to test as a last resort.

Anyway, he was on Dox for 5 or 6 months; we also battled a urinary infection and hookworms for several months . I think I lived at the vets office which was also about about a 40-45 minute drive from my house. I did the happy dance once all was cleared up and we could finally put him up for adoption .

He was a very patient boy and would take pills easily; twice a day but I forget what the dosage amount was. I had a big jar of pills.

 

you have my deepest sympathy; there were times i just wanted to scream with all the running to vets (I think it was or seemed like every three weeks); at least it was during the warmer months.

 

He really didn't seem to have any other side effects or problems asso. with it.

 

I have had poor eaters over the years... Try Ensure Plus if weight is needed. Canned food, hot dogs, cooked calf's liver with tomatoes/green beans/carrots.

sorry so long and hope this helps. If i think of anything else is will post again.

[Burpdog]

I always use stomach meds with doxy. Carafate works well as does zantac. Boiled meat mixed in with the kibble or canned.

 

8 weeks at 5mg per # of body weight

[kudzu]

For appetite while on doxy & some other drugs. I have had more success with Zantac rather than Pepcid. For some dogs it makes little difference. For others Zantac got the eating more willingly. It bs a prokinetic effect that Pepcid doesn't. Perhaps that is why. Also, if that or onee of the medscalready suggested does not work you might ask for metoclopramide (Reglan.) have had excellent results with it.

 

Sending best wishes for successful treatment for all. My father had ehrlichia. Took months of treatment to knock it out. He did feel much better after starting treatments but definitely not well. In all it was 8 mos or so before he was back to himself. Never had a relapse thankfully.

[Guest zombrie]

My GSD at one point had Lyme, Anaplasmosis AND Ehrlichia at the same time. We weren't sure if she was unlucky enough to get bit by a tick that gave her all three, or they came from separate ticks. Regardless, she was one sick puppy...she couldn't even walk and it seemed like it happened overnight. So our experience with the disease is a bit different than your situation, as she was sick for quite some time.

 

I hope your fosters get well soon... ticks are such nasty, useless creatures.

Edited June 3, 2011 by zombrie

[Guest ThunderPaws]

We did 3-4 weeks of doxy for Ehrlichia pos dogs, seemed to work well.

[Guest june]

Our group gets dogs with TBD's from time to time and they treat them before adoption. One of my girls had Ehrlichia, was treated and I had her tested again about 6 months after I brought her home. She is now fine. I feel lucky; these diseases are very nasty!

june

[Guest eaglflyt]

I'm finding it challenging to get everyone on board with the latest TBD treatment guidelines. The decisions are not actually mine to make with the foster boys. I'm presenting information and learning as much as possible to share in an inoffensive and constructive manner.

 

Our foster that is being tested for Babesia still doesn't have the results back yet. I have a question for those of you that have dealt directly with Babesia treatment before. Since Babesia cannot actually be cured, do you only treat if the dog is symptomatic and not just on a positive test result? I seem to remember reading of groups that treat every positive test result hound when screened, regardless if symptoms are present. What is the reasoning behind this approach?

 

Thanks for all the information shared. It has been very helpful!

[Guest ThunderPaws]

Babesia Canis can be cured with two rounds of Imizol injections. Very painful treatment... Our vet only charged $150 for everything. Babesia Canis is most common in greyhounds, while Babesia Gibsionis is most common in pit bulls and requires more complicated and expensive treatment.

Test results take about 1-2 weeks. If the dog already shows symptoms I would give doxycyline until treatment can be done, hopefully very soon.

Adoption groups in TX have a lot of experience with Babesia treatment and were very helpful with answering my questions (thank you!).

[Batmom]

do you only treat if the dog is symptomatic and not just on a positive test result? I seem to remember reading of groups that treat every positive test result hound when screened, regardless if symptoms are present. What is the reasoning behind this approach?

 

This is where you really want that PCR. It tells you whether the dog actually has the disease or not. Positive PCR = dog has Babesia and needs to be treated. Negative PCR = dog probably (nothing is 100%) does not have disease.

 

Titer testing, which is still very common, is not terribly useful as the sole test method, especially for asymptomatic dogs. It tells you only whether the dog has been exposed.