One of my Border Collies has Blasto....:-(

[chrisb321]

Hello,

After some time researching I came across this forum.  I've read a number of posts and I can see this forum will be a useful source for me.
As of a month ago I'd never heard of Blastomycosis.  Now I have!..although there is still a lot for me to learn.

My name is Chris and we have two Border Collies.  Bella (5) and Zoe (4).
Here they are a couple of months ago, Zoe is left, Bella is right:


At the beginning of December we were at the dog park and I noticed Zoe was limping badly.  I stopped her and we saw what looked like a big blood blister between two back toes.
Took her the vets the day after the day after, they took a look, didn't really have much to say and gave us some meds and some lotion for the foot.

Around the middle of December we got up one day to find Zoe rubbing her eye along the side of the bed.  Thinking back I had noticed her eye looking more grey that week, like an older dog, but I didn't think to much of it.  I did a little test with a dog treat and I found that she couldn't see anything out of one eye.

Panic set in, off to the vets again that afternoon.  This time we had a more senior vet, he said he wanted to take a sample from her foot to check for something very rare.  10 minutes later he tells us that Zoe has something called Blasto.  He prescribes the Itraconazole and advises us to go to the eye specialist.

We get her into the eye specialist and we are told that Zoe will never see out of that eye again but the other eye looks clear.  The goal at the moment is to try to keep the eye.  We now have 2 weeks of loads of drops and other meds.  Everything goes fine for about a week and a half and then she started acting bad and rubbing a lot.

Took her back, after a few tests we are told she is currently at a permanent headache level of pain that will get worse and feel like a migraine soon.  We are told chances to save the eye are very slim.  We schedule to have the eye removed in 2 days.  Devastated....

The next day was horrible watching her in pain.  She just sat there with her mouth hanging open...  Horrible.

The day of the surgery we dropped her off at 7am, by 11 we had a call to say all went well and she is in recovery.  We pick her up at 3 and she is in a great mood!  Instant relief!  She looks a bit scary though! (Don't worry she looks a lot better now 3 weeks later)



Then it's a week of antibiotics and pain killers and now we are on the Itraconazole for however long it may be,
Her hair is growing back and as far as she is concerned, everything is great.  She still has the sore on her foot which causes her some problems now and again...

As I say, I have researched but I still have gray areas.  Hopefully those will clear up as we go through this thing.  We're about $3,000 into it so far and it isn't over yet, but she is our baby....

Here's a few of my questions/comments.  If you have any input it would be appreciated.

> Contagious.  I read that it isn't and I also read that it may be.  I really hope it isn't as I have been face to face with Zoe since it happened.  She's getting so much love Bella is getting jealous!
> How Long.  How long will she be on the pills?  We go to the vets once a month for a blood test to check her liver.  Whats the final all clear test?
> Foot Sore.  Is this the place where blasto could re-enter?  Is there anything I can do to clear this up or will it clear on its own?
> The future.  We love going places with our dogs like the dog parks.  It's winter at the moment (we live 35 north of Chicago) so we are staying inside most of the time, but what about when it warms up?  Can we do the things we like to do again or do I need to baby Zoe for ever and really restrict where we go?

Thanks for listening to my looooong ramblings.  I'm glad I've found this place to hear others experience.
Chris

[Wilson3]

Zoe and Bella are beautiful! and very lucky to have you Chris and your family!
It really sounds like you are on track with things and have a good vet!


Wilson was on pills 8 months ,it seems they should be at least for 6 months  some longer

most are using the pee test ,it wasn't around when Wilson had blasto we used CBC and x rays  to see how he was doing

look at the posting "pictures of our pets when ill" I used Pascalite clay on wilson's
we where told no we could not get it or at least 1 in a million chance but do wash hands and losts of cleaning in case we never coverd Wilson's sores due to it need to breath to heal and more damage could be done if covered

the future I will bump up wilson's story of life after blasto  it was published and yes life does go on and gets better it has been 2 yrs for us and I really do not think much about it but I do watch for signs


it really sounds like you guys are doing well!
where are you from? what dog park do you go to?
wilson3

dogs do very well loosing there sight they are not like humans and feel sorry for themselves don't you either feel sorry for Zoe,Zoe will sense this and feel bad
stay strong and positive

[chrisb321]

where are you from? what dog park do you go to?
wilson3

Thanks very much for your kind words and the experiences you have had.

We live in Gurnee, IL.  It's about 35 North of Chicago.
The two dog parks we go to are Lake County, IL ran dog parks.  One in Libertyville, IL (Independence Grove) and one in Lindenhurst, IL (Duck Farm).  We also walk our dogs on leases around some local parks.
http://www.lcfpd.org/preserves/index.cfm

We have been racking our brains trying to figure out where she got it, but I guess we will never know

[Jen]

 >Contagious. :  Technically NO.  But consider that dogs are usually the first to become infected from a common source, like your environment.  If the environment harbors the fungus, humans could become infected too.  There are some cases here where the dog was only the first to be infected.
   There is a school of thought that believes the exudates from sores/lesions could theoretically go through the fungal life cycle and again become infectious, and barriers/gloves are sometimes advised.  Haven't seen it happen though.

 > How Long. "  How long will she be on the pills?:  Most people treat for at least 6 months.  MiraVista is usually used to determine if it's safe to stop treatment.  I have no actual experience with them, but others do.

> Foot Sore.  Is this the place where blasto could re-enter?  Is there anything I can do to clear this up or will it clear on its own? :  It could.  Wilson3 has experience with bad sores on the feet.  Dirtbike's lesions cleared up with antifungal creams. 

> The future.:  Most of our success stories have picked up right where they left off.  Dirtbike still hunts, roams, swims, plays, and you would never know that she was almost killed by Blasto.  Wilson's too.  Some of these dogs are missing one or more eyes, toes, etc.  They don't mind, and they're busy living out their normal lives.

   I only caution that it be taken very seriously.  I'd say that on the whole, the success stories are still outnumbered by the ones who didn't make it.  You stated that the vet didn't discuss it much, just gave you a scrip and referred you.  Learn all you can.  There are more resources and experience here than anywhere I've seen.

jen

[evayola]

Sorry that you have had your meeting with blasto but really glad that you have found yourself here. Without the support and tips and tricks from everyone here I dont know if marge would have made it. Jen and Wilson3 pretty much summed it up for you. There is a urine test that you can have done that will tell you how much of the blasto is in her system. It is done by MiraVista. You can either collect the sample yourself and send it out or ask your vet to do it for you. You know that she has blasto but this is a good guide to find out how much better she is doing. I am sorry that she lost her eye but like they said, she wont even know the difference shortly. Marge is blind in one eye but we did get to keep it in since her pressures remained low and stable. She also lost a toe. It did take some adjustment on our part to remember that she was blind on that side but she has done fantastically. About treatment length, it all depends on how severe the blasto is. Have you done a chest xray to see if its in her lungs? Marges lungs were totally filled with blasto and her eye as well... a year later we found out it was still in her bone. Like Jen said you really need to be armed with information when it comes to blasto. Even now we are still learning more and more things. This site is such a wealth of knowledge! Hang in there, things will get better!

Eva

[chrisb321]

Thanks again for the information.  Much appreciated.
Yes on her first diagnoisis she was xrayed and we were fortunate that there wasn't any in her lungs so we are hopeful.

Back to reading the other posts and a bonus picture of our two (as I like to show them off!)

[Cathy, Bailey and Duke]

Zoe and Bella are absolutely beautiful!!! Sorry to hear about Zoe though!
   Both my Australian Shepherds have had blasto and have both recovered. When Duke was at his sickest, I was down on the floor face to face with him also with no problem with it being contagious. However when Duke got blasto a second time as a huge abscess in his stomach that eventually burst, the vet told me to wear gloves and wash thoroughly when changing Dukes dressing.
  As for the meds, I think Duke was on Sporonox for about 8 months the 1st time and 7 months the 2nd time. Also, I just let them live their lives normally, I don't baby them or keep them from running (except in very cold weather). I don't know the exact spots where the blasto is, so I cant keep them away from it. The one thing is that if it is very cold out, the vet said don't let them run outside much. He said if there is blasto in their lungs, the cold air might trigger it even if it is no symptoms at all at the time.  I still worry a lot that they will get it again!
  How is Zoes appetite now
Also, I am very familiar with your area. I grew up there. I also have many relatives in the area still. In fact I just got back from there 2 days ago. I was visiting my daughters.
Good luck with Zoe!!! There is so much info and support on this forum! Please keep us updated!


A link to my story - http://blastomycosis.ca/forum/index.php/topic,620.0.html

[Wilson3]

dont knock your self on where Zoe got it ...wilson still goes 2 x's a week to where we believe he got blasto heck it could be in our houseplants
you know hold the poor of knowledge of the nasty stuff and that is to me 1/2 the battle cause you know how to treat it

wilson3

love the picture!

[carolh]

Hi Chris,

Bella and Zoe are gorgeous. I'm partial to border collies.  Our border collie Zephyr died of blasto in 1994.  Our border collie/heeler mix Hale Bopp has not caught the disease from our little crazy girl (beagle in disguise) who has fought this now for nine months, thought we had beat it and her last Mira Vista test came back with an astoundingly high reading of 76 so she is back on medication.  Vet said affirmatively, positively not to worry about Hale Bopp catching it from her.  She got blasto in the eye, probably from poking around punky wood in the forest or digging (she's part dachshund, too).  A friend of mine owned an animal park and she had a raccoon who caught it even though he had been born in the park and had NEVER been outside his cage.  Ergo, seems the spores are airborne.  It helps to keep them away from punky wood in the forest, marshy areas, esp where cattails are present, and from beaver dams.  But it could be anywhere in the soil and it is undetectable.
We're going to have to keep Mika on itra and itra eye ointment (availble from Wedgewood pharmacy in New Jersey but it takes a prescription) for AT LEAST another six months. 
Bones, lungs, eyes very typical places for blasto. 
Keep us posted.   And good luck.  Mika lost one eye to blasto (we didn't have it removed but she is completely blind in that eye) and she does beautifully with the one eye.  As Wilson has said, blind dogs do well, too.  We use the eye ointment (itraconazol-DMSO) to keep, we hope, the blasto from spreading to the good eye.
Hope this helps.  You are in our thoughts.
Carol

[Wilson3]

Chris how are you guys doing??
wilson3

[chrisb321]

Chris how are you guys doing??
wilson3

We are doing pretty good.  Thanks for asking.

Zoe is still on her meds.  Besides her missing eye you wouldn't know that she has/had Blasto and she doesn't show any signs of being sick.  She has adapted to one eye and is getting on with her life.  Once a month we go ion for a blood check and so far those have been perfect.  Not sure when the plan is to stop the meds.  Will bring that up with the vet in a couple of months.

Now last month we had a nightmare with the other dog, Bella....  She jumped up on the bed to wrestle with Zoe, got her leg stuck between the end of the bed and the footboard and tried to jump over :-(  She dislocated her hip.  I will never forget her scream.

After a couple of attempts to put it back in the decison was made to remove the head of bone (Femoral Head Osteotomy).  She's feeling fine now but isn't using her leg yet.  Just hold it up all the time.  We may have to go to underwater treadmill rehab.

So between them both, nothing for years then 5K at the vets in a couple of months!  The vet joked we could make one good dog out of the two!  But they are worth it!

Thanks again,

Here's a picture from a few weeks ago!

[Wilson3]

they look wonderful!
Glad to hear Zoe is doing well! Fell bad for Bella but all sounds like things are getting better for her to That had to really hurt adn would have scared me to death to hear the scream I can only imagine
wilson3

[jiggasmom]

your dogs are gorgeous. Sorry you are dealing with this nasty disease. I pray that she roecovers quickly. We are all here to help and answer questions. So glad you found this site!