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[weluvmoose]

Both the vet in Canada and my vet here said that rarely blasto can be transmitted from dog to human via a deep bite from an infected dog or when you are cleaning the open wounds if you have an open wound on your hand.  Both advised me to wear gloves if this happened with Moose which fortunately it didn't.  They said unlikely but not impossible so take precautions. 

[gunner]

Here is a good site on Blasto in humans
http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic231.htm

Mostly people breathe in the same spores as the dog does and that is how they get it.  It can be transfered to humans via a deep bite by the dog or if you have cuts on your hands and handle draining leasons like I did.  (WEAR GLOVES!) No Blasto in me yet but I have been warned to keep an eye out for symptoms.  Though I think I have a really good imune system so fingers crossed. 

One pathologist out of 4 working on Gunner's case also thought they saw some other fungal thing in her that is contaigous to humans but there won't be a confirmation of that for a few more weeks as they play in the lab growing cultures and things.

[Wilson3]

Hard to beleive sooo many vets and specalists and they are still having problems figuring it out  at least it sounds like they are finally getting some where must be very hard for you to stay patient with them i would have lost it by now with them i lost iat my clinic after a month and finallysaid enough is enough give me my normal vet and i want answers we where lucky i guess not as lucky as the ones that get answr right away they are really lucky!!
i would not be to worried about getting blasto from gunner wilson had nasty open spots dripped alot and like you said if you have a open wound or get a bad bit or have aids or some type of weakend immune system then yes you might get it from your dog you can get it from the same environment that you and your dog go to or live in but not directly from your dog veryv ery low risk of directly from your dog  http://health.stateuniversity.com/pages/229/Blastomycosis.html
this site is good to
how is gunner doing ? responing to meds yet?
wilson3

[gunner]

Gunner has good moments and long bad spells right now.  She sleeps ALOT.  I have to force feed her  a/d food mixed with ensure through a syringe.  Poor dog, she is beginning to cringe when she sees me coming.  It seems like every time I walk past her I am trying to squirt nourishment into her.  She still drinks some on her own.  I just got the super expensive meds from the pharmacy today so I am hoping that she will start to show some improvement in the next couple of days. 

Do you happen to know how long it might take for Gunner to start eating again on her own?  I have to go to Florida in a couple of weeks and my mother is scheduled to baby-sit.  She is not comfortable with force feeding.  I sure hope Gunner will be into eating on her own by then. 

Thanks again for the information!
Joyce

[evayola]

You know Marge was the same way where she would have her good moments and then she would just sleeeep. I felt like she slept for a couple months. I also felt so bad with Marge because anytime I got up, I would force something into her. I thought she would hate me for it. But, sure enough it brought us closer. It took Marge a bit to start eating on her own. I want to say a month but I have said this a bunch of times.... Once we took Marge off the capsule form of itra (with the powder inside) and switched her to fluconozole tablet she made a total turnaround. She started eating again and was up and moving. I also ordered from pet health pharmacy and marge went back to not eating because it is the powder form and her stomach couldnt handle it. Now again everyone is different. I am sure that Gunner will be eating by herself in a couple of weeks. Force feeding is not fun!

[gunner]

Yesterday Gunner had a really  great day and was almost like her old self.  She ate on her own and dug in her toy box and chewed on her rubber bone for quite a while.  She hasn't done that in weeks so I was thrilled!

At 5:30 this morning, she threw up and hasn't been able to hold anything down since.  I haven't been able to get any of her medicine in her today because she can't keep anything down for more than a few minutes. 

So far she has had 3 Sporanox pills.  They are very difficult to get into her.  The first time it stuck to the roof of her mouth and we both were gagging by the time I got it down her throat.  The next pill I tried to get down and it too got stuck.  So I tried the butter trick.  The butter came back up but the pill some how managed to go down.  The third pill this morning made her gag going down and all the food I had forced force fed her came up with it.  What a mess!  I am concidering lubricating the pilll with some WD40 and popping it down there.  Just kidding...  Since then, everything keeps coming up.  Is there something that I can do to help her keep her food down?

There simply has got to be an easier way to get those sticky gelatine things into the dog.  Does any one have an easier way than the butter that doesn't seem to work for Gunner? 

I sure do appreciate all the help you have given me so far.
Joyce and Gunner

[Wilson3]

i new someone that used baby food they likethe smell and is very taste to them they just mixed the pil right in

[gunner]

Can you open the capsule and put it in their food?  Or does it have to stay in the capsule until they swallow it?

[lisa marr]

  It is preferable if it is swallowed as the capsule and dissolves in the stomach, but if you can't get it in otherwise, you can try breeaking it open.  It will likely taste horrible, though.  I dipped my dog's in vegetable oil, openied his mouth and shoved them in his throat, closing his mouth and holding it shut until I was sure he swallowed them. he took them for about 11 months so he got very good at taking medicine.
            Good luck!                            Lisa marr and Beau
 

[weluvmoose]

My dog loves cheese so I take about 1/2 slice of American cheese and put it in the microwave for a few seconds just to soften it a bit - then I mold it around the Sporanox pill and he gulps it right down.  Hope this helps! 

[evayola]

We put Marge's pills inside of pill pockets (treat you purchase from store) or in cheese wiz or peanut butter. They all worked!

[luvmyjacks]

I know you have already bought the capsules, but they have a good shelf life so maybe you could try a week or two of the liquid sporonox/itraconazole.  I gave that to Will and it was easier.  It was absorbed almost immediately and I wasn't worried about him throwing it up before it had time to work.  Judging by past posts by the time your Mom comes to babysit it should be at the stage where human food is appealing and force feeding not an issue.  Check some of the previous posts for timing because we all went through it.  I bought a lot of reduced meats at the supermarket and fed it warm so the flavour was enhanced.  Sometimes Will threw it out on the floor then when the taste hit him he picked it up and ate it on his own.