Species: Dog
Sex: Male
Age: 4
Year: 2009
Country: U.S.A.
Locality: Rogers, AR
Survived?: No
Medical Diagnosis of Blastomycosis?: Yes
Where Caught: We have no idea. We live in a city suburb with a fenced yard. Our dogs are rarely out of the yard except for leash walks.
Symptoms: Severely lethargic and cloudy eye that appeared to be red with blood. These symptoms came on very, very quickly - in a matter of hours.
Treatment: Vet was almost sure we were dealing with blastomycosis and didn't even wait for the labs to come back. Started Bo on Itraconazole (.75 ml twice a day for three days, then once per day). Curiously, his blasto test came back negative. As he worsened, we upped his Itraconazole to .75 ml twice per day. Bo was also put on two different antibiotics for what appeared to be a secondary bacterial infection during his treatment for Blasto.
Cost of Treatment: Approx. $2000.00 over a three week period. This included an emergency clinic stay when he needed oxygen treatments. This 24 hour stay totalled almost $1,000.00 by itself.
Additional Comments: I have had dogs since I was seven years old and had never even heard of this disease until 3.5 weeks ago. Bo's battle was lost at exactly three weeks into treatment. When the autopsy was performed - then said it was EVERYWHERE. I just don't understand how a seemingly healthy dog can present all of a sudden with symptoms and be gone three weeks later. It is a devestating disease with often devestating results.