Valley Fever And Babesia Canis

[Guest gurehaundo]

Well, I couldn't wait any longer so I called Prota Tek. The woman who answered the phone said that Ace is positive for Valley Fever. The numbers she gave me are: IgM = 1:16 and IgG = 1:32. I have not looked any of this up, yet, but I will. Ace's panel also shows a low positive for babesia canis - 1:160. Ugh. At least the waiting is over. Now we have to figure out what we're going to do. I'm hoping that no one else has Valley Fever. Can't it be passed from dog to dog to people, etc.?

[Batmom]

Get the ultrasound. Do not pass go, get that ultrasound. You need to know if something untoward is going on in those innards.

 

I would probably consult Univ of AZ re the Valley Fever titer, his symptoms, and his history. Did he have a chest x-ray as part of his earlier diagnostics? (No, won't pass from dog to you or from dog to dog, you can rest easy there.) Reason I suggest a consult is, titer isn't very high and I wouldn't want to give antifungals to a dog sick with something else, KWIM?

 

For the babesia, I would get a PCR. That is the gold standard diagnostic for Babesia (absent a positive blood smear, which almost no one does anymore), and all the big commercial labs offer it. Again, I wouldn't want to give Imizol to a dog who didn't need it, particularly if the dog might be sick with something else.

 

Sending hugs and best luck.

[greyhead]

I don't know how to say this, but does anyone have any less expensive advice? An ultrasound plus PCR testing may be more than some people can afford. Should she just not do anything if she can't afford both of those? Her vet doesn't think the ultrasound is necessary; is she wrong?

 

 

[Batmom]

Given the dog's symptoms, I would want the ultrasound.

 

Could also submit dog's records including x-rays and test results to OSU for review. That is a free and often very useful second opinion.

 

 

 

ETA: I understand and sympathize with the money issue. Fortunately an ultrasound isn't very expensive for me. I'm sorry that it is for others .

Edited October 21, 2011 by Batmom

[greyhead]

Given the dog's symptoms, I would want the ultrasound.

 

Could also submit dog's records including x-rays and test results to OSU for review. That is a free and often very useful second opinion.

 

 

 

ETA: I understand and sympathize with the money issue. Fortunately an ultrasound isn't very expensive for me. I'm sorry that it is for others .

Thanks, Batmom. It might help if you could mention the kinds of things the ultrasound would be looking for and how discovering them might affect treatment. If it were me, that info would make my decision easier.

[Batmom]

Ultrasound: I would be looking for oddities in spleen, stomach, intestines, and wherever that shadow was on the x-ray. I want to know why the dog has a hunched posture, guarded way of moving and IIRC weight loss as well.

 

 

Usually an ultrasound can see soft tissue abnormalities that you might not see on an x-ray. You can see general organ shapes on an x-ray but you can't see much detail. For a really bad and depressing example, on x-ray we could see that Batman's esophagus was displaced but we couldn't see what was displacing it. On ultrasound, we could see the mass.

Edited October 22, 2011 by Batmom

[greyhead]

Might any of these abnormalities be due to the TBD's, or would they likely be due to other causes. If the latter, would that argue against TBD treatment potentially? I'm just trying to understand where the obtained ultrasound info would lead. Thanks.

[Batmom]

You wouldn't want to treat a dog for a tick-borne or fungal disease unless the dog actually had that disease. The medications that treat Valley Fever and babesiosis can have some pretty intense side effects.

 

Both diseases -- Valley Fever and babesiosis -- can cause ongoing damage (if the dog has the disease), and both can cause damage that is permanent. The dog could have had the disease long ago, entirely cleared it, yet have lifelong ill effects from it. Or the dog could have simply been exposed to the disease, never had it at all, and be suffering from a different condition altogether.

Edited October 22, 2011 by Batmom

[JJNg]

I agree that an ultrasound is important for the reasons Batmom stated, so I would agree that it would be best to go ahead and have it done if possible. While I'm not very familiar with Valley Fever since it's not something we see in our area, it does seem Valley Fever fits most of Ace's signs. The one thing it really doesn't explain is the abdominal pain.

 

If you decide not to do the ultrasound, I would definitely recommend treating for Valley Fever. From what I can find, an IgG titer of 1:32 is pretty significant. The newer antifungals, itraconazole or fluconazole, are safer and more effective than ketoconazole. While the newer meds are more expensive, fluconazole does come in a generic that is more affordable. Here's the University of Arizona site with lots of info about Valley Fever.

 

I wouldn't treat for Babesia without confirming active infection with PCR or direct observation of organisms on a blood smear.

[Guest Shermanator]

Echo's a Valley Fever Dog. It is unkown where the disease has settled, but we believe its in her leg. Spors are spead when the wind blows, and the dust is swirled around heavily. Dogs in AZ can be prone, since they can ingest it through digging in it, rolling, etc. Echo's been on fluconozle for 2 years, and we believe she will never shake the disease. If we leave it untreated, it will cause damage to her, and become lethal. We run bloodwork every quarter, to make sure her liver and kidneys are ok. Its a mangable disease, and the only symptom is her limp. She carried a low titer of 1:2 for 9 months, so weaned her off the meds to see if she was stable. 3 mos later, she lost 3 lbs and her titer rocketed to 1:16. She's on 600 mg fluconozle a day, we can get 1 1/2 mo supply for about $50. Some of my friends will VF dogs get their meds at costco! If it is VF, get the meds anywhere but from an online pet pharmacy, I was floored when I saw how expensive the meds were. Getting them through a regualr pharmacy is cheaper. Good luck!

 

Also, was Ace from AZ? Also, VF is not contagious and cannot be passed from one animal to another.

[Guest BlackandBrindle]

Valley Fever is caused by a fungus that lives in the soil in the Southwest. It isn't communicable to other dogs or people. It's something you get from the soil.

 

If you get xrays for some reason, VF looks a lot like osteo (just an FYI).

 

Your biggest concern with VF is keeping the pup eating. I had to feed Sadie homemade for a few months but otherwise she was fine. Generally vets will put your pup on fluconazole, but there are other meds too. Protocol is to put them on meds (I believe Sadie was on 325 mg 2x a day, she's about 65lbs) and test every 3 months to see if the titer goes up or down.

 

VF is easily controlled with meds and the meds aren't too expensive now.

 

Sadie's been on meds for about 3 years now. She's on a maintenance dosage (200mg a day) and probably will be on that all her life. We use SamE and milk thistle to help protect her liver.

 

It's late and my brain is tired but if you have any questions please feel free to email me. I'm going to pm you with my email now.

[greytlucy]

Any vet in Arizona would medicate for VF at those titers. As others have indicated the meds have come down a lot in price but will be a long term treatment. You probably are better off having the drugs sent from one of the mail order pharmacies down here due to the demand we have for the drug, may be more expensive in your part of the country.

 

Back in the spring U of A told me we are starting to see cases with no positive titers as well here complicating things and pushing vets to medicate even more frequently(I found out about this when my own vet was pushing me to medicate my negative titer poodle who was showing many symptoms.) I found U of A to be very helpful as we sorted through my poodle's issues and you may want to contact them for a consult if you or your vet is unsure how to proceed.

[Guest gurehaundo]

Thank you all so much for your advice! We decided to start Ace on the Fluconazole. The vet called it in to Costco. Ninety pills (one month supply) will cost us a tad bit over $27. Ace has to take three pills a day. 1.5 in the morning and 1.5 in the evening. The pills are 100mg each, so he's getting 300mg a day. We still have him on the Tramadol, but it's not really working. I plan on contacting the vet tomorrow to see what else we should be doing. We did end up canceling the ultrasound since the vet felt it was unnecessary at this point. She did say that we could always reschedule. She also felt that we will not treat the B. Canis, yet. We started giving Ace milk thistle as well.

 

Ace went to racing school in or near Tucson, I believe. I think he was only there for a few months before they booted him out! Otherwise, he lived most of his life in Colorado. We moved to Washington in 2010.

 

ETA: Please click on my Facebook link to see a video that I took almost three weeks ago. I don't think I posted this one here. I just posted it on Facebook today. Though my profile is private, I think the video is public. Ace is still behaving the same way even on his pain pills.

Edited October 23, 2011 by gurehaundo