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[FrenchieMom]

My three year old Frenchie, Annie, went to the vet about three weeks ago with some weird hard lumps.  We also noticed she had lost a bit of weight. Vet told us it was hives (I had changed her food recently) since she has pretty pesky allergies.  So they sent us home with steriods. One week later, she started limping - carrying her right front foot.  Back to the vet - x-rays showed nothing, so they diagnosed it as a soft tissue injury.  And the lumps were still there.  So, more steriods, an anti-biotic and some pain meds.  The limp seemed to improve.  Then less than a week later, she starts limping again, but this time it's the back left foot and the right front still seems to bother her.  So finally, the vet took full x-rays, blood work, cytology on one of the knots and her lymph nodes and a fungal titer.  This was on Monday.  Bloodwork came back normal by Tuesday morning.  Tuesday afternoon, she seemed even less mobile, and her breathing became labored.  Dr. sent in a prescription for Difulcan to start her on (she is a small dog - weighs 18 pounds normally, is probably more like 16 now).  I gave her one dose last night and monitored her breathing all night.  Took her back to the vet first thing this a.m. because she just seems like she go so much worse in 24 hours.  Fungal titer came back negative for blasto this morning.  They still hadn't heard from the cytology on the cyst, so they did another draw from her lymph node and put it under the scope themselves.  It's not super obvious, but I looked at the slide and we are all pretty convinced it's blasto.

We live in downtown Chicago and have no idea how Annie has contracted this.  I'm so scared and sad for her.  She is currently at the vet, getting IV fluids, pain meds and oral anti-fungal.  I'm going to check on her again soon.

Any words of wisdom would be much appreciated.

[Jen]

Hi Annie-
 Unfortunately, Blasto is everywhere.  It's also called "Chicago Disease".  Check all of our stories; you'll see lots of similarities. Hopefully you were able to catch it early.  I was really glad to see so many success stories when I popped in yesterday, and I think we were all, at one time, at about the same point you appear to be, so hang in there.

Best-
jen

[Wilson3]

hi
i think jen hit it right on to hang in there all the storys sound a lot a like
it is very hard to see something you love and treasure so dear to your heart hurt so much.
but htey are sronge and are here to teach us things. we learned so much from wilson during his illness
now he is his old self us a bit wiser remeber to beleave inthem and have faith miracles to
thank the person up stairs (who ever you beleave in)
Anni is young and is stronge and will get more strength to beet blasto from you never stop beleaving she will get better
keep us posted
wilson3

[FrenchieMom]

Thank you for the kind words.

An update on Annie:
We live downtown, right by Wrigley Field.  They have no idea how she got this since they never see it in the city.
 
I took it upon myself to google and found this professor/vet at the University of Tennessee who specializes in blasto.
http://www.vet.utk.edu/faculty/legendre.shtml
He was so nice and consulted with my vet yesterday so we could choose the best course of action for our little girl Annie.

I'm afraid the blasto is all over.  It's in her lymph nodes, her lungs, pretty much everywhere.  She wass breathing very rapidly.  She was been hospitalized all day yesterday, in an oxygen ten, IV fluids & pain meds.  We had started out Tuesday night with a dose of Difulcan.  She had a second dose of Diflucan Wednesday morning.  Then after speaking to Dr. Legendre we switched to Itraconazole Wednesday afternoon and will be going forward with that.  He did not recommend Ampothericin B as it can be very harsh and didn't prove worthy for Annie's situation in the studies he has done over the years.
 
She stayed at the emergency clinic all last night being monitored.  Her breaths per minute were 120 when we dropped her off, partially elevated from the stress of being transferred (she always gets antsy in the car).  They put her in an oxygen tent, but that doesn't really seem to help her.  Eventually her breathing slowed on its own and was down to around 60 breaths per minute.  She slept comfortably most of the night.  Her pulse ox at all 3 checks was 98% so although she is breathing fast, she is getting plenty of oxygen.

We picked her up this morning and took her back for daily hospitalization at our vet.  Dr. Legendre said if we can get through the next week she should make it.   He also said days 3 & 4 will probably be the worst, so we are bracing ourselves for that.  They will put her back on a small amount ot steriods (also Dr. Legendre's suggestion) to help with the inflammation that will be caused by the blasto dying.

Though nervous and still whimpering some, she was in pretty good spirits when we transferred this morning.  She walked around and peed on her own and wasn't limping nearly as badly as before.  On Tuesday she would hardly walk at all.  She is at our vet all day today.  We might bring her home & monitor her here tonight as long as she will eat and drink water on her own today at the vet.

Thanks again for the support & info.  I'll keep you posted.

[evayola]

Just make sure you are careful with the amount of steroids you give as they will supress the immune system. Good luck and I hope Annie gets better!

[FrenchieMom]

I checked with our vet on the steriod dose.  He okayed the amount with the blasto specialist from Univ of Tennessee, so I feel confident we have the dosage right.

We had the option to bring Annie home tonight.  We decided not to bring her home.  We live a good 20 minutes from the ER and we were afraid if something happened we couldn't get her there fast enough.  So I will pick her up in the a.m., take her back to her regular vet for a check and then if everything is still good, I'll bring her home tomorrow (I work from home full time).  One day at a time.  She is eating, so that is good.  She is tired, but alert and breathing isn't too bad.  So far, so good.

[FrenchieMom]

Annie came home today around 1 p.m.  I had a bit of a scare when her breathing was really rapid for nearly an hour, but she was due for some pain meds and about a 1/2 hour after I gave them it slowed back down.  I think poor Annie was in pain.  Took her outside a few minutes ago and she peed just fine.  I'm glad she is home, but nervous and it is so hard to see her so wiped out - just laying there.   

[Jen]

Awww! It's so heart-breaking.  Just keep us in mind, we've all been there- I remember so many nights lying awake with Dirtbike, how she wheezed and her poor nose dried out and crusted over. It wasn't good at all, and I wondered if it wouldn't be better to let her go.

She had the fight in her, and it all paid off, but at one point I did decide that Dirtbike had already "died", and any more time she spent with us was just a bonus. It took lots of work, and neither man or beast should have to live through that.
  Now she's running and playing, she's a lard-butt, and she's the sweetest thing ever. I swear it changed her whole personality.   I hope Annie gets better soon-
jen

[FrenchieMom]

Thanks Jen!

I have happy news - Annie is doing well!  She has been home since Friday around lunch time.  Was a bit scary having her at home at first, but her breathing has really improved since Friday.  We had her in the vet on Saturday for a check-in and all looked pretty good.  So far, we've been lucky, she is eating.  We are feeding her ID food instead of her normal kibble, so she goes to town when we offer it.  Sometimes I add a little parmesean cheese to coax her in.  So far she isn't refusing the peanut butter I give her pills with either. 

My main worry - she isn't drinking her water.  I tried adding a bit of juice to it, thinking maybe it was the taste or something.  That didn't help.  What is interesting - she will drink it from a small syringe (we had to give her some meds mixed w/water once so we have one), but she won't drink from her bowl.  We go back to the vet today so I'm going to ask then.  Any ideas?  I feel fortunate that she is eating, but anyone else have this same problem with water?

[evayola]

I had that problem with marge because she just didn't want to get up so I fed her lots of ice cubes and frozen pedialyte. It helped her quite a bit. I am glad to hear that everything is going okay!

[Jen]

Good for Annie! Yes, frozen Gatorade, ice cubes, we tried all that, but she really liked drinking from the toilet best. Pedialyte in a spray bottle helped a bit, and we were forcing her to drink Ensure Plus. I was also packing her mouth with peanut butter so she had no choice but to swallow.

Our daughter was home last week and I showed her how Dirtbike begs for her pill now.  She gets it in a spoonful of margarine, all you have to do is ask if she wants her "butter".  Annie will also need the fat from the peanutbutter or some kind of oils to metabolize the medicine.

Good luck-
jen

[lisa marr]

Hi! My nearly 3 y/o collie/cattle-dog mix  (Beau) has been on itraconazole since last October. He hasn't had symptoms for quite some time, but I don't want to risk a relapse -- seems like the trend is to treating for 6-12 months (whereas it used to be 1 month past resolution of symptoms). He had lung, skin, and toe involvement, and his first xray looked like a huge cancer blocking out part of a lung.

Anyway, I am writing because Beau, too, didn't want to drink water...I would try everything -- the most success was  1. giving him chicken broth (low sodium --full strenght at first, then diluting with water) and 2. Putting a particularly delicious piece of meat/cheese/ whatever was solid and appealling into his bowl of water --he'd dunk his head in to get the food, then seem to realize he was thirsty...

I hope your little one does well.  The thought of reliving those early weeks is what makes me keep Beau on meds --I've got maybe 6 weeks left until the year is up. How long does Dr Alegendra recommend to continue the antifungals?

    Lisa Marr and Beau

[Wilson3]

Jen

I was wondering you have been using fat as a means to help dirtbike my question is blasto turns into a yeast when in the body and yeast feeds off the fat they eat
fat has no value other then fat so I am wondering how is this working for you?
everthing I have read and from the vets I have talked to they have said less fats it feeds the blasto

i am confused!!!
 cause it sounds like it worked for you
do the vets really knwo what they are doing?or are we all just testing everything out which it does sound like almost
it almost sounds like each case is different and find what works for the animal that has it.

wilson has no fat in his diet almost all protein (raw  to) when he had gotten fats he had gotten worse and almost died ever time we would increase the fats so we stopped them almost all together

how did you decide on butter?it has worked for you

very confused
wilson3

[lisa marr]

Wilson3,

   I read your question, and although I was not the person asked, I will respond.  Antifungals, particularly Itraconazole (brand name sporonox) are not well absorbed from the digestive tract.  Itraconazole is a lipophilic compound, meaning it can dissolve easily in oils (lipids,fats), but not water. The brand name med Sporonox comes as little itty bitty balls inside of the capsule. Supposedly, it is better absorbed that way.  Compounded Itraconazole is in a powder form.  The difference in delivery system may be responsible for the increased effectiveness of the brand name, or so some vetrinarians believe.

  Regardless of whether generic or brand name Itraconazole is given, eating fat in the meal in which Itraconazole is given increases the likelihood that enough medicine will get iout of the digestive tract and nto the bloodstream to get to the parts of the body where the fungus is growing...I guess you can think of it like needed to take your calcium suppliments in a meal that contains something acidic so that your body will absorb more of the calcium...

  I don't know how this all fits into the fact that Blast is in its yeast from in the dog's body (and the fungal form in the environment, allowing dogs to inhale the fungal spores), but I think the point is to give the medicine in a meal with fat, not to given the dog a diet high in fat overall...

  Hope this helps! LM

[Jen]

Thanks Lisa -
You explained it much better than I could have.
: )
jen