Having one sick is bad enough...

[EchoPet]

...having two sick is even worse.

At the beginning of the month, my babygirl Wrangler (Australian Shepherd mix) was diagnosed with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. She never showed any symptoms except one morning she started limping. After taking her to the vet for x-rays, a blood panel showed that her platelet count was dangerously low. After a few other tests, we pin-pointed RMSF as the problem. She's been on treatment - antibiotics and steriods - since, and still shows no symptoms and is doing well.

The vets I saw told me I shouldn't have to worry about testing my other four dogs, that the chances of an infected tick biting more than one wasn't very high. I was told to watch for symptoms instead, even though Wrangler never showed any. I wasn't really happy with this, and have been worried about my other babies ever since... but at the same time was a little relieved not to have to spend a few hundred more dollars to run tests on four more.

Wednesday night, I was telling my boyfriend that I was worried about one of my other girls, Riley (Pit Bull mix) because she looks like she's losing a bit of weight and has been less energetic lately. Before I had a chance to schedule a vet appointment, she developed a limp yesterday evening.

So we're off to the vet today with a second sick dog for another round of tests. I hope we caught this early enough in Riley's case.

Next week (after the paycheck I'll pick up today clears the bank) I'm going to see about getting two of the other dogs, Lola and Kody, in to be tested. My fifth dog, Lulu, actually had a blood panel done in February for something unrelated and was just fine. Lulu also doesn't spend the day outside playing like the big dogs, so her chance of being exposed to ticks isn't as great.

Wish us luck...




edit - Forgot to mention, just sort of as a disclaimer: my dogs are all on flea/tick and heartworm prevention all year round. They all get interceptor for heartworm prevention once a month. The four big dogs get Advantix for fleas/ticks/mosquitoes during the spring/summer/fall months and Frontline Plus during the end of fall/winter months (we rotate to avoid resistance). Lulu is on Frontline Plus all year round (the vet was worried that Advantix was too strong for such a small dog). My boyfriend also treats the yard with tick granules a few times a year.

I really worry that this year is going to be the worst we've seen when it comes to ticks since it isn't even Spring yet and already the ticks are out in full force despite all our prevention methods.

 

[animalhouse27]

wow, I am sorry your going through all this! Sadly though.. all the topicals work.. But the Flea/tick have to bite the animal first. have you tried giving them Garlic in there food? That makes them smell bad to the bugs,and tends to help keep fleas and such away. :-/

 

[JordanAng420]

Onions and garlic in high quantity can be toxic to dogs. Both are in the same family, which contain Allacin...and garlic happens to be more concentrated of the two...too much Allacin eventually leads to renal disease (liver failure) or hemolytic anemia, a disease that forces the body to consume it's own red blood cells. Just 5 grams of garlic for every kilogram (at once, OR gradually) can be fatal. So it wouldn't be a good idea to use the garlic.

Do you have a yard, or do you take your dogs for walks? If you do have a yard, have you had it and your house treated?

When using the topical solutions to prevent fleas/ticks, do you wait 48 hours before AND after you use it to bathe/swim your dogs? Have you tried using the Frontline spray? A lot of folks have great results with it, since you can spray it everywhere. Good luck.

 

[EchoPet]

Sarah - No, I don't give them garlic for the reasons Maia mentioned.

Maia - We have a yard, total it's four acres, and the dogs have run of about one acre. My boyfriend treats the entire yard a few times a year. We haven't had the house treated because we haven't had any problems with anything inside (our indoor-only cats have never had any fleas or ticks). Occasionally we'll take the dogs for walks around the neighborhood, but we stick to paved areas. And yep, I actually usually wait even longer than 48 hours between using the topicals and any bathing (before and after). The dogs don't have access to anywhere they could swim either. I haven't tried Frontline Spray since we do the topicals instead. Plus, the Advantix prevents biting flying insects which are really bad here in the summer as well, and the Frontline doesn't.



Riley's blood panel showed that her platelet count was low, but still in the normal range. The erlychia/lyme/heartworm tests all came back negative, and it'll be a few days til we get the results of the RMSF test. They gave her the same steroids and antibiotics that Wrangler is already taking. She still has a limp so I'm just trying to keep her comfy right now.

 

[animalhouse27]

Never heard that before. I had a old vet tell me to give garlic. Not the Actual Cloves. But the pills. And it is in a lot of powders and such on the market for dogs.. So.. yea..

 

[JordanAng420]

Well, hopefully the limp has nothing to do with any kind of tick-born disease. It's good that the HW/ER/LM came back negative...You sound like you either know a lot about veterinary medicine, or you're in the business yourself...so you might already know when I tell you that low platelets come back in the low-normal range quite a bit, but I understand how it concerns you when you're dealing with this disease...all I can say is that my vet would be using the same protocol as yours is as far as meds...keep your fingers crossed for the RMSF test to be negative and if it is, you just need to focus on the limp. Which I hope is the case.

 

[EchoPet]

The limp scared me because that was the first symptom that Wrangler showed. I woke up one morning to let the dogs outside, and she wouldn't put weight on one of her paws. I originally took her to the vet for x-rays thinking she'd broken it or something, but when the vet couldn't find anything wrong with the leg, he did the blood panel and saw that her platelets were dangerously low. Wrangler's HW/ER/LM also came back negative, so our regular vet started treatment for RMSF right away. I wound up getting a second opinion, and the second vet actually sent off a RMSF test that came back positive.

It's possible that Riley has just coincidentally injured her foot and doesn't have any sort of tick-born disease, but she's also just been a little lethargic the last week which is something both vets told me to keep a watch for.

I'm not actually in the vet business myself, but I try to stay informed so I can make the best decisions for my pets. My field is actually in canine and feline nutrition (and I work in a pet store), but it all ties in I suppose.

 

[JordanAng420]

Wow, nutrition what a difficult field, good for you! Not something I was ever good at.

How is Riley's limp, and how is the lethargy? Have you noticed anything other symptoms, such as petecchiae (sp.?) under the skin, fever, inflammation of the eyes, or enlarged lymph nodes?

Don't know what lab they used, but maybe the RMSF IFA test is back today...
What a tough case. It's always the people that are "in the biz" so-to-speak that have the ones with the not-so-common diseases...

 

[EchoPet]

Sorry for the late reply, I sort of took a few days off from the computer.

Riley never showed any rash, inflammation, or sign of fever. Her lymph nodes did feel slightly swollen to me, but I wasn't using that as a guide since it could have been my paranoia making me think they felt swollen.

Anyway, the lab results came back Wednesday - Riley tested positive for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever as well. She still has a limp despite the steroid injection, it comes and goes, but one of the techs told me that can be expected with the disease. She seems to have more energy again since the first week of antibiotics.

Wrangler is still doing the same - not showing any symptoms and acting just like normal. She's finished with the few weeks of steroids they sent me home with (she needed more than just the injection since her platelet count was so low) and is on her second round of the doxy.

My other dogs aren't showing any symptoms, so hopefully they don't have it as well.

It's really frustrating... because I feel like I go above and beyond to do only the best for my pets, and now two of them are sick with tick-born disease despite all my flea/tick prevention efforts. I don't know what else I can do for the rest of the year to keep my babies flea/tick free. I also really worry about the pets out there that don't get the sort of care that mine do.... the ones not on any flea/tick prevention and the ones whose owners won't take them to the vet for blood work just because of a little limp or less than normal energy. :/

 

[JordanAng420]

Janna, i'm so sorry about the lab results. There's nothing you can do that you are not already doing. You're doing a great job...the only thing I can suggest at this point would be have your boyfriend treat the yard more often, if possible...and to do a thorough "tick-check" on the dogs after EVERY opportunity outside. Also, i'm not sure what your vet's protocol as far as the bloodwork goes, but normally i'm pretty sure they send out another test 2-4 weeks later to confirm the diagnosis...I think it depends on the lab, though. Keep us posted...

 

[EchoPet]

Thanks for all the support, Maia. My boyfriend treated the yard this month, and we'll see about doing it maybe every three months or maybe more. I've also been doing more "formal" tick-checks since I've been on high alert about it lately (usually I would just rely on normal daily snuggling and petting as a way to check for lumps, bumps, and bugs). I'll have to check about sending out more tests. I think the plan is to have each of them retested after they're through with all the refills on the antibiotic, but I'll ask again when I have to pick up the next round.