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[Lucky]

I would like to know how many other people have dogs who have, or who is currently  on treatment for blastomycosis?  Also what the current success rate is? I have a 9 1/2 yr old german shepherd who is currently on treatment for it, but after reading most of the available info on the internet, it sure does not look to promising. I am also worried that my other  dogs may contract this disease.  Please reply!  Could use also check with your local veterianarian's office and see how many others have contacted this disease?  I called my large animal vet and he has already diagnosed 4 others in our area.  Two dogs were put down and one died.  Last that I had heard, one was being treated.  Thanks for reading this.

[Lisa]

I think a lot of dogs have died without a diagnosis.  Even with Surf we weren't able to get a definite diagnosis, but I don't know how it could have been anything else.  Here in Canada, it is not a reportable disease so there is no one collecting stats on how many dogs and people are being affected.

My vet told me of one other dog who had it. They took the dog to the University of Guelph. They ran up their bill to several thousand dollars in no time, and the dog didn't make it 

I had to put down Surf on a weekend with another vet who was on call. She said she saw Blasto quite often when she was a country vet near here. 

Over in Michigan, the Sault Ste. Marie paper reported the vets as saying they were saving 95-97% of the dogs with blastomycosis there ( http://www.sooeveningnews.com/articles/2006/06/21/news/news81.txt )

I hope your dog is one of the lucky ones who can beat blasto!!

[Lucky]

So far so good for my dog Lucky.  She has been on the medicine for a while and seems to be doing ok as long as I have her on 5 mg prednisolone daily.  I hope that she will make it and that my other 5 dogs do not get this disease too.  Good Luck to everyone else out there!  Also if you are buying the Itraconazole medicine, then ask you vet to special order it from Tri- V Services (veterinarian contact for meds).  They can have it compounded for you into capsules like they did for me and it is Much less expensive than the drug store.  Since I work at a veterinary clinic, I got it at cost which was $230.00 for a 3 month supply.  Your vet will need to mark it up some to make some money but maybe not?  Does not hurt to ask!!  Thanks Lisa for doing this website!  Terri- Indiana

[Carolyn]

Our dog Melly came home from the vet today. She has been on the Itraconazole for 7 days. They were also giving her Vitamin B 12, Rimadyl, and Metacam for pain. She also has eye drops, as her eyes became affected after we took her to the vet. She does not look good at all, and I'm really starting to think that she won't live through this. She is eating well, but is breathing very heavily and she has to be carried outside to go to the bathroom. She still can't walk on her back leg and appears to be completely blind, even though her left eye looks alright. The vet has been great, and I'm sure there were a lot of things he didn't charge us for, so the treatment was under $500.00. I would love for her to get well, so I could say it was all worth it, but I'm starting to wonder if we aren't just prolonging the inevitable.

I'm glad Lucky is doing so well on the medicine. It is my understanding that most dogs do recover. Our vet said he has seen six cases this year (including Melly) 1 of the other dogs died, and the other 4 got well. As for Melly, only time will tell. I wish you the best of luck, and a speedy recovery for Lucky!

[Lisa]

Hi Carolyn, thanks for joining the forum.

I'm glad to hear that Melly is home with you and that she is eating!!!  Surf wouldn't eat AT ALL.

I'm mostly worried about you saying she can't walk on her back leg because Surf had that and she just got worse and worse until she couldn't use her front leg either. The vet felt that was the sign it had moved into her nervous system. If it has, the damage is not reversable.

I'm amazed at how generous your vet is to only charge $500.  Especially after a prolonged stay at the vet's! I'm sure my bill would have been a few thousand bucks by now! 

The Itraconazole kills the Blasto, but the body still has to expell it so her breathing may be bad for a while yet as all that stuff works it way out of her lungs.

Best wishes for Melly.  There is a very long recovery time for Blastomycosis, and even then, there are often reoccurances throughout the dog's life of this horrible fungus. I'll be thinking of you two,

Lisa

[Carolyn]

We had Melly put down today. She got much worse yesterday, and I could not get her to take the pills. She was so weak that she could'nt lift her head or stand up to pee. By this morning she was rattling when she breathed. I'm sure her lungs were filling with fluid.  I gave her pills back to the vet and asked him to donate them to someone who could not afford the treatment. Her life was far too short, but it was a good life. We will miss her very much.

[Lisa]

Ahhh Carolyn, I'm so sorry.
I know how hard it is to watch them be so sick, and then have to make the decision to let them go.
My deepest sympathies...

Lisa

[Lucky]

Carolyn, I am so sorry to hear of your loss with Melly.  I had hoped that she would have gotten better.  You have my deepest sympathies.  I hope that the news will post more info regarding this terrible disease, so that more vets and the public will learn what to watch for with their companions.  So far, my dog (Lucky) is doing ok since starting on meds one month ago, both for her eye and the disease.  I still keep praying that she will make it, but only time will tell.  Please look into a Pet Loss Support group in your area, as I had found that this helps in dealing each persons loss.  Once again you have my sincere sympathy.  Terri

[mbarrett]

May I ask how much the medicine costs for you

[Lucky]

MBarett   FYI  My vet had ordered Lucky's Itraconazole 200mg (which was compounded into capsule form at that dosage) from a company called Med Vets.  It had cost me $230.00 for 100 capsules, which I am giving one a day plus 5mg of prednisolone.  That is at the vet's cost with no mark up at all since I work for him.  I am also treating her eye with Neomycin with Polymyxin B Sulfates with Dexamethasone (eye drops) twice a day, along with Prednisolone Acetate ophthalmic eye drops twice a day too.  As of today, she is still eating and drinking and her bloodwork came back normal, but her x-rays do not show any improvement whatsoever.  She is doing some coughing, sneezing, and spitting up.  I had taken her off the daily pred last week and that is why her symptoms came back per the internal specialist.  I had only given it to her every other day due to her 15 pound weight gain.  Now, I have to worry that if she gains any more weight she will not be able to walk very well do to her spondylosis. (spelling?) I also give her reglan twice a day and have been for these past 2 years along with prescription diet I/D dog food with a little canned pedigree to get her to eat.  I keep hoping that she will make it but time will tell.  Good Luck to you !  Terri

[Carolyn]

Thank you Lisa and Terri for your sympathy. It was very hard to let Melly go, but she got so bad so quickly, and I just knew she wasn't going to beat it. I really think the vet knew it too, but he didn't have the heart to tell us. It still amazes me that she went from healthy to near death in less than 2 weeks. I hope I never see anything like it again.

MBarret, I believe the price of the pills is based on the weight of the dog. Melly weighed 35 pounds and her pills were only $60 for a one month supply. They will need the pills for at least 2 months. There is so much more to it than the Itraconazole though. There are the vet bills, pain medication, eye drops, antibiotic, etc. It can add up very quickly. Our vet was very generous and did not charge us for the hospitalization, but we still spent close to $500. She was worth every penny and then some.

Hang in there Terri! If Lucky has made it this far, she must be a fighter. I'm keeping you in my thoughts and I really hope Lucky will pull through.

[Lucky]

Yes, That is true that the medicines are based upon your dogs weight.  Sorry that I did not point that out to you earlier.  My dog "Lucky" is being treated for a 75 pound dog, but since then has gained 15 pounds due to the prednisolone.  Thank you for all for your prayers and concerns.  I hope that Lucky does make it so at least one other happy story can be posted here on this web site.  One of my other dogs, who is an old Labrador, is not doing so well due to her diabetis and lung disease.  Having two sick dogs at the same time is hard, but at least Heidi is doing well along with my other 3 rescued dogs.  Thanks again Lisa for this web site!  I"ve got the flu today so not feeling well myself.  Good Luck to everyone !  Terri

[mbarrett]

I am very sorry for everyone that have lost their dog to this disease.  It moves so quickly because symptoms are difficut to decipher until late.  Since I last wrote my Vet stated that using the compounded formula of Itraconazole has proven to be not as effective as the noncompounded form.  It apparently isen't as "bio effective". This has been studied by the veterinary school in Madison.  I live in Wisconsin and the city I live in has been hit hard this past month.  I work in a health Dept. and we put an article in the local newspaper to make people more aware of Blasto.  I feel very fortunate because my Vet's dog was diagnosed 1 week prior to my dog so she was very tuned into it.  My husband found a swollen area on my goldens gum.  when it didn't go away and her breath got worse (2 days)  I took her in to get it checked.  At that time the vet found a swollen lymph node.  We put her on Itraconazole which cost me $394 for 1 month supply. It has been a week and a half and her gum is much improved and the lymph nodes under her neck have gotten smaller.  she had no lung involvement.  I understand about the cost because within the first week I spent $1000. Well thanks for all of your advise I reall y appreciate it.  I will keep you all in my htoughts and prayers.  Thanks
Mary Lee

[Lucky]

Thanks Mary for the info, too bad that I was not told that before.  I e-mailed Purdue University Veterinary school and they said the same thing that your vet school told you.  Now I wasted my money on something that will not help my dog, and what's worse is that I cannot afford $460.00 a month to treat my dog!  Wish my vet/employer and internal med specialists new that or at least told me.  I was told that there is a IV therapy drug for this disease and that it would cost me $3000-$5000 to treat my dog for 6 weeks or get the other oral meds and treat for 3-6 months.  I wish that the vet schools along with the vet's offices that see a lot of these cases would send out a letter to all veterinarians!  Maybe, then we would ALL know what symptoms to watch for and treat these dogs earlier rather than later.  Even better would be if the news media was made aware of this since it can affect people too!  Well, I do not know what I'm gonna do now since I already work 2 jobs to take care of my rescued pets.  Purdue said that they get about 20 cases a year!  Maybe, they could treat my dog as a learning case for all vet students and vet tech students to learn more about this disease?!  I am open for any suggestions that you all may have.  Thanks for letting me post this info!  Good Luck to you all!  Terri

[mbarrett]

Dear Terry,
I understand about the cost of medicine.  One of the ladies I work with stated she rescues Goldens and has recieved several from people who can not afford the medicen.e  I am checking into a place in Canada who can get me a 3month supply for about $600. They told me it was Sporanox made by Janssen which is the only company that makes this drug.  The generic version is made by EON labs which this company does not carry.  I would suggest you check this out.  If you go on City of OakCreek, WI website they do have info on this drug company and it is  US/ Canandian monitored.  Another lady I worked with used the compounded formula of the drug for 11 months (4 months and then 7 months due to a relapse)and her dog is great, so there is hope.  I think the noncompounded medicine works faster so you don't have to be on it as long.  I got the impression from my vet that every day they learn something new.  Well I will be interested to go to work today to see how many people responded to the article in our paper that came out last Friday.  I guess all we can do is spread the word to everyone we can and hope it eventualy helps.  Hang in there and I will let you know of anything new I hear.  My prayers are with you and your pup
Sincerely
Mary Lee