I'm new to this board but I've been reading the postings and it's been so helpful and encouraging. My dog Buddy is a miniature doxie. He's not your average looking wiener dog. He's got long wire hair very unique looking. I'll try to post a picture of him. After begging my husband for years he's the first dog the kids and I ever had. He will be a year old on Sept. 23. We took Buddy up north to Lakewood, WI on Memorial Weekend, Fourth of July and then the weekend of August 10. My parents live up on a lake up there. Buddy just loved it up north. By the weekend of August 10, I noticed that he was hardly eating anything at all. He didn't have any other symptons but I was concerned since he wasn't that big of a dog to begin with. He was only 13.5 lbs. So after that weekend up north I took him to the vet. He was running a 104.4 temp. Didn't show any signs of breathing problems, lesions or anything of that sort, bloodwork all came back good. Just still not eating. So the doctor sent me home with antibiotics. Well by Thursday morning of that very same week Buddy starting wheezing really bad. He suddenly seemed much worse than earlier in the week. So back to the vet I went. I'm fortunate to have one of my really good friends who's a vet tech where I go. I came in and she said that the Vet wanted to do a bloodtest to check for lyme's disease as well as Blastomycosis since Buddy had been up north. Plus they did an x-ray and could see that something was definitely going on with his lungs. They were thinking that it most likely was not pneumonia since he'd been on antibiotics since earlier in the week. The bloodwork had to be sent away and the vet felt that if it was Blasto that treatment should start immediately. We wanted to be proactive so we contacted Roadrunner Pharmacy and they overnighted Itraconazole to me. Buddy started on a low dose on Friday, August 17. I also had to start syringe feeding Buddy since he had started lose weight. By Sunday they had the lab results and it was negative for Blasto. I've heard that blood results usually are false negative. Monday August 20 they did another x-ray and Buddy's lung's were worse. The vet consulted with another vet who was not familiar with the case and he said right away it looked like a classic case of Blastomycosis. Suddenly Buddy's dose of the Itraconazole doubled for a week. I was running to the vet every other day so he could get fluids so he wouldn't become dehyrdrated. I'm sure as most of you all know this was a very critical time for my little Buddy. Many sleepless nights. I really thought that on Aug. 25 Buddy was going to die. His breathing was so labored. He looked so pathetic and I felt totally helpless. To my amazement he survived the weekend. They lowered the dose of Itraconzole that next week. On Friday, Aug. 31 they did another x-ray although they said they didn't think they'd see improvement yet. My friend felt there was a slight improvement to her surprise. It's been a roller coaster ride ever since. There are good days and bad. As of last week I've started to do the IV fluids myself at home. I'm still syringe feeding him usually 3 times a day. I had him to the vet this past Monday Sept. 10 and his temp was back up to 104.3. They put him on a new antibiotic too since his white cell count was elevated. Plus in an effort to stimulate his appetite they gave him a vitamin B12 shot. I don't know if it's that but that night I got him to eat some center cut pork. Then yesterday at lunch he ate some leftover tenderloin I had. I couldn't believe it. I still need to keep syring feeding him since he's down to 11.4 lbs. He's pretty much skin and bones. I think that they feel he has rounded the corner and should survive this. It's been so helpful to be able to read peoples postings and know that people are going through and feeling the same way that I do. This has to be one of the most stressful times in my life. And it's not over yet. I know it will be a very long recovery time before I get my pup back. I can't give up on him. I'm in this for the duration. He'll be getting an x-ray on Monday, Sept. 17. Keep your fingers crossed that it shows improvement!
One other interesting side note. My mom's neighbor up north on her lake had Blastomycosis last summer. It took him 6 months to have a clear chest x-ray. Plus I've also found out that a man across the lake lost 2 dogs to Blasto. So we're pretty sure that's where Buddy got the disease. Needless to say I'm going to be pretty paranoid about bringing Buddy back up north.
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Topic: Buddy's Story (Read 952 times)