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[klwgrace]

I'm so glad I found your site.  Our 10 year old chocolate lab was diagnosed this week and it is so sad to see him suffer and struggle to breathe. We have two inside dogs and our lab,Dakota, has been our loyal outside gaurdian until this horrible illness has taken hold of him. I've had dogs all my life and I've never known of anything quite like this. Current problems: Dakota is excessively thirsty (I'm just hoping that the thirst is not due to kidney problems). We are having an extremely hard time getting him to eat.  I made rice with chicken and he'll eat a couple of bites and we've also offered him a couple of pieces of roast beef.  I appreciate reading any and all your comments on this topic. We can already see the bones of his back haunches and we need to get him to eat so he can fight this.  Also, do any of your dogs go through spells of heavy panting for extended periods?  Dakota will lie down and cough and wheeze occasionally but then will lie back down and sleep.  However, today he started panting suddenly for over an hour. I've got the air conditioner on and a humidifier running to try to alleviate his breathing.  This whole illness has me confused and I'm scared my other two little mixed breeds who like to dig around looking for lizards will contract it also. One more thing, when did you start seeing any improvements in your animals?

[evayola]

Sorry that your Dakota was diagnosed but glad that you found us here. Have you had Dakotas kidneys tested? I would highly recommend doing that to see where you stand currently with his kidneys and his liver. There are sooo many suggestions for foods to feed Dakota. My vet told me that if Marge would eat it, feed it. We fed steak, chicken, liver sausage, pizza, fig newtons, homemade hamburger patties. When the dogs are feeling sick from the meds (what meds do you have Dakota on?) it is hard to tempt them with food. We found that the the stronger the smell the more enticing. Dogs like garlic and it is ok to give them so I would sprinkle garlic on the chicken or the beef and warm it because warming it brings the smell out. You can also try tripe. I found a paste called NutriCal which was good when Marge was really refusing food. It is very high calorie and can be found at almost any pet store. Is it the dehumidifier you have on? A humidifier will bring moisture into the air which isnt good on the lungs. You want it dry and cold for the best situation for Dakota. How long have you had Dakota on meds? It can take weeks before you see any improvement. It will get worse before it gets better as the fungus dies off. Stay strong and stay positive!

Eva

[Wilson3]

how is Dakota doing?
with all this heat it sure is a even harder battle for these guys to fight....
I have 2 other dogs also and worried they to would get it or had it waiting to explode
but nothing only my wilson got it but his immune system was weakened . they say a healthy dog with a strong immune system can battle small amounts of blasto and we would never even know they had it. It is when for some reason the immune system gets weakened,stress anything to trigger it to weaken the spores take hold. Most likely your other 2 dogs are fine.
Keep reading the posts many wonderful ideas and great people on here
you guys are in my thoughts
wilson3

[klwgrace]

Dakota is still hanging in there.  He definitely is a trooper.  I believe he is like his dad who lived to be 14 and had even survived a heat stroke at 10 when he was roaming the fields with my husband.  Dakota is no longer our outside guardian due to the extreme heat and his condition. He is now part of the inside menagerie and fits in well. He's been great about going outside to take care of his business.  Well that is when we finally picked up on his cues of needing to go out. (Silly humans!) His breathing has improved greatly and we no longer have to give him the bronchodilater all the time.  He still lies around, does not eat, seems depressed, and is weak in his rear legs.  One turning point is when he got up and walked over to our son to be petted.  That was amazing.  The future looks hopeful if he will ever eat.  We force feed him Nutrical paste and are constantly offering him everything under the sun.  He finally took a bite of Italian sweet bread and managed to chew it and keep it down. We cheered over that. Today he's acting like his mouth is sore so we're wondering if it's from the illness or from the meds.  We just take it day by day.  At least now we are not wondering daily if he's going to make it through the day or whether we need to end his suffering by having him put down.  Whew!!!  That's a miserable feeling.  We just keep going and continue to be optimistic.  As of now, I think he may pull through as long as he does not relapse.  I'm so thankful for this board because it gives me the information I need in dealing with this hideous illness. 

[klwgrace]

Woo-Hoo!  After about three weeks of this blasted disease, Dakota is finally beginning to eat on his own.  I'm sure Dakota is saying, "Yay! no more force feedings."  He still has a ways to go but we're getting there.

[jefndebbacon]

Whoo hoo!  Great news! Deb

[Cathy, Bailey and Duke]

YEAHHHHH!