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[nfgirl]

Hello all,

I came across this site and am so hoping I am on the right track. Parker is our 8 year old Lab x. She was always in good health until she developed a cough about a month ago - she had never had a cough in her life. The vet diagnosed kennel cough because of the presence of a low grade fever. Parker was on antibiotics for 2 weeks but the cough continued and became a little phlegmy. At that point, I asked the vet to do x-rays of her throat. They did and her throat was fine but there were three lumps in her lungs. This happened two weeks ago. The following Tuesday she had a thoracic wash. Last weekend (four days after the wash but prior to the results) she coughed up some blood. The vet on call told me to wait for the results and make her as comfortable as possible. Monday we got the results and she has an E-coli infection and started a strong dose of antibiotics. Yesterday (Thursday) she still showed no signs of improvement, in fact, she is getting more lethargic and has a decreased appetite. I brought Parker back to the vet and asked her to do more x-rays to see if they could find a primary tumor elsewhere that would indicate the lumps were cancer. They found no growth/tumor anywhere else in her body, but now her lungs are almost full. That is just ten days after the initial x-ray finding three.

I know this still could be cancer, but I am considering the possibility of Blasto. She has all the signs: lack of appetite, coughing, slight fever, and on two occasions in the last three weeks she limped for short periods. The reason the vet didn't consider it initially is because we are in Newfoundland and blasto apparently isn't seen here BUT we were living in Ottawa, ON until August of this year. Could this have been incubating since then? I got my vet here in NL to call our clinic in Ottawa and he indicated they had one case of Blasto. Is it common in Ottawa?

We are now desperately trying to get antifungal meds before everything closes for the weekend. We haven't done a test, but if she has cancer that is progressing this rapidly she has little time, if she has Blasto we also have little time.

Please let me know your thoughts. I don't want to see her suffer. Thus far she still has her sight and can even go for walks etc. but for shorter periods of time. We love her dearly.

Nicole

[evayola]

The best advice that I can give is to ask your vet if they can provide antifungals for you over the weekend and in the meantime send out a urine sample to miravista labs. I am not exactly sure how that would work for you since you are out of country. Antifungals can be gotten at a human pharmacy as well. The kinds mostly used are sporonax, itraconazole, and fluconazole. Maybe your vet can contact MiraVista labs and see if they have any additional resources since you are in NL. How about having the lung xrays emailed to your vet in canada? Blasto can incubate for an extended period of time without any symptoms so really anything is possible. The symptoms do sound like blasto however not all dogs show the same symptoms. Please hang in there and try the suggestions I gave you. Apparently most vets can spot blasto in a chest xray because of the classic snowstorm pattern.

Eva

[nfgirl]

Thank you. We are getting her on antifungals today. I hope we have caught this in time and that it is blasto and we can turn it around. I will post the medication and dosage as soon as it is in hand.

[nfgirl]

Ok, so Parker is now on 100 mg. of Sporonax (Ith...) 2x a day, Prednisone 2x a day and Pepcid 2x a day. She is also on an antibiotic for the E-Coli infection found through the thoracic wash. She is a lab x who weighs about 65 pounds but is down at least 5 lbs now.

Her appetite is ok - she will eat rotisserie chicken, Fancy Feast (her favourite) and tonight we gave her the pills in vanilla ice cream. Also will eat plain yogurt.

She isn't coughing much, but lethargic. She still responds when we get home etc (or when she smells chicken, thank goodness).

What should I be looking for in the next few days? Does it get worse before it gets better? The lungs looked "full" in yesterday's x-rays. Does the dosage sound high enough? My vet is just going with what another vet in Ottawa did -I have to say I am lucky to have a vet who is so open to working with me despite no test results.

We don't want her to suffer, but if we know it might look worse in the next few days before it gets better, we can live with that. If getting worse simply means the disease is progressing and she could suffocate, we would like to give her the gift of grace at that point.

Please let me know if I am hoping against hope.

Nicole

[evayola]

Is she having a hard time breathing at this point? Is her respiration as if she is gasping for air? My vet told me that if Marge ever got to the point where she would not lay down and just stood with her neck extended panting, she would have to be put in an oxygen tank. It was something that we were always watching for. Why did your vet prescribe prednisone? I only ask because steroids are typically not used when dealing with a fungus because the fungus can potentially feed off of it. There have been a couple people here that have given doses of it when the breathing became very labored. You will have to expect that things will get worse before they better. If this is blasto, there will be a fungal die off and its really hard on them so expect more coughing, etc. Are you going to send out any bloodwork or urine to get a definite diagnosis or is your vet thinking its blasto now? Stay positive and keep positive energy flowing in the home. You will want to make sure you limit play time and walks. Also keep her eating and drinking plenty. Stay positive!! Keep us posted.
Eva

[evayola]

Also read the post with the newsletter. I bumped it a few days ago.

[nfgirl]

Thanks for the replies and encouragement. I don't know whether to take heart in Parker's response to the meds or not. Thus far today she doesn't seem any better or worse. She certainly has an appetite for rotisserie chicken and Fancy Feast though. And after reading some posts here I picked up on the fact the ithra. should be given with fat for easier absorption, so she gets that pill wrapped in a vanilla ice cream ball. She loves it.   I have only heard her cough once today which is an improvement.

Since we don't know if it is blasto, the way we are looking at it is: 1. if it is, we hope we have caught it early enough to kill off and we are feeding her what she wants to eat to keep up her strength if she does go through the "worse before it gets better" stage; 2. if it isn't and it is terminal, we want her to enjoy every minute, so for a Lab enjoy means food and we are trying to comply.

My vet prescribed prednisone in case there is inflammation. As I mentioned before, this is all new to her too. I had no idea it could feed the fungus. Should we discontinue? There is no inflammation so far. Where should I look for inflammation? I keep checking her gums to make sure they are pink as a way to check on the oxygen levels. She doesn't have noticeably laboured breathing so far.

I will explore how best we can test her positively for Blasto from Newfoundland next week.

In the meantime, do all dogs with Blasto get worse before getting better once on meds?

Thanks so much. Oh and if someone could point me to where I can see images of other dogs' lung x-rays with Blasto, that would be great. I read the first newsletter and copied it to my vet. This is an amazing resource!

Nicole

[Wilson3]

Nicole I did send you an email with images and also http://blastomycosis.ca/index.cgi?page=dog
there are some.

There are pictures of lesions on the board also under pictures of when your friend is ill I think it says

I do believe most do get worse before better. Glad to hear Parker is still eating that is a plus! With Wilson after 48 hrs. of being on the itra, it REALLY went down hill.
all 4 legs swelled up he could not walk and his breathing was so fast I though his heart was going to give up. I held him and cried, begged him to never give up.

Wilson was on Previcox a non-steroidal anti-imflammatory
I help his fever which went away once his swelling was gone in his legs (3 months)  when his fever was up he would not eat
This also helped with his breathing it clam down a bit.
But as with any drug it should be used as the vet says and not ment for long term.

Head up and stay strong and have faith! Your positve energy is needed right now for Parker!!!
wilson3

[nfgirl]

Hi there, thanks very much. I did get your email and I will be passing it on to my vet. In the meantime, I am now sick with worry that we have lost more time. We are giving her 100 mg. of Sporanax 2x daily, but we are also giving Prednisone and Pepcid (though spaced 2 hours apart). Maybe this is why she is not exhibiting the getting worse before getting better thing.

I know my vet is trying her best with the knowledge she has. So if I stop the prednisone and pepcid, will Parker survive the fungal flu? I am so upset, I don't know what to do. I know no one knows the answers, I am just distraught. She definitely has the lesions too.

Do they come back from having the snowstorm in their lungs? Is there really hope?

I just lost my nineteen year old cat last month - I treated her at home for epilepsy since she was 1 and CRF for her last five years. It's all so sad.

I am trying to be positive.

Nicole

[Wilson3]

DEEP BREATH! Parker has just started treatment ...2nd day??
Yes some do make it and some do not...
No one knows why some do and some don't
And YES there is is always hope where there is life (my vet told me that when I asked him about Wilson ,when all other vets said he would never make it . From looking at his medical records Wilson should not have been even standing at the vets office when they tested for blasto but he was I still remember his dreamy look he was giving me and my vet told me he was fighting for me. Wilson's barking at me like come on Mom lets get this over with)
Some have used the Prednisone and Peocid ,I do not know what to say about using it.

She is a lab and much bigger then a 53 pound aussie and Wilson was getting 125 mg 2x's a day for 10 days
then once a day for the first 3 months
the went to 175 mg 1x's a day (vet said this was the safe zone for his size around 50 pounds)for the last 5 months
The increase to 175mg was because we had stopped seeing progress

you are on the right track do not worry yourself sick ( I know easy for me to say)
 Parker will feel your worry and make her more upset.
NEVER loose faith!

Find your happy place with Parker hold that in your mind and heart! Think of something new and fun for when Parker is better somthing to look forward to do talk to Parker about it and picture it in your mind.
wilson3