Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Listening Point - General Discussion :: Blastomycosis
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OneMatch |
carbon1: "Dogs are not people." Mine are. |
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OneMatch |
Hope your pooch recovers well. Thank you for caring enough to do so. |
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LindenTree |
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jillpine |
So sorry to hear this news. Blastomycosis is a serious fungal infection, and above all, no way your fault or negligence. I’m so sorry. I hope your dog fully recovers soon - it is possible. And it is not inexpensive, as noted. Folks, regardless of how you may choose to value your dog’s / dogs’ lives, understand that this fungus lives in the duff all over certain geographic locales. It may or may not be on the radar of your veterinarian for your ADR (ain’t doing right) dog. It is helpful if you tell your vet that you camp with your dog. In Minnesota, it is a reportable disease. So sorry, LindenTree. Best wishes for a strong and full recovery, JP (dvm) |
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LindenTree |
Thanks for the kind words Ben, it's looking more like I will be joining you in the desert in a month or so. |
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GregSC |
OneMatch: "Mine toocarbon1: "Dogs are not people." |
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LindenTree |
Side note. Our GSD River has been on treatment for 10 months now. She is still positive according to her last antigen test but below level of quantification. She will most likely be on treatments for 12 months when this is over. It is deadly for 25% of all dogs that are known to have contracted Blasto. Vimeo. Blastomycosis |
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OneMatch |
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blutofish1 |
plander: "OneMatch: "+2carbon1: "Dogs are not people." |
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Ho Ho |
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carbon1 |
I have known two people who had one dies from it one lived after a long hospital stay. I decided I would not pay to have dog treated for it. It is not always successful and cost a lot. I would just put them down. I have own a lot of dogs. It comes down to economics for me. Dogs are not people. |
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LindenTree |
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LindenTree |
carbon1: "I have heard of a few dogs that have had it. It has been around a long time first cases I heard of 30 plus years ago. We are probabaly near $1,200 now for treatment, it will most likely cost $2,000 or more to get her to a Zero/Hero. Meaning she needs to have zero Blasto Antigens in her system to be considered Blasto free, God willing. This is on the cheap side compared to some people/dogs I am reading about. |
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jillpine |
LindenTree: "A pic of River a couple weeks before her diagnosis on the shore of Lake Michigan. River is a rescue dog from Kentucky, flown up to MN by Pilots and Paws. Always admired that name, Ember. River also a terrific name. She will beat this, LindenTree. She’s already beaten a million to one odds by being your dog. She’s got this! |
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blutofish1 |
OneMatch: "Mine alsocarbon1: "Dogs are not people." |
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LindenTree |
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plander |
OneMatch: "carbon1: "Dogs are not people." +1 |
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KawnipiKid |
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arctic |
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LindenTree |
Her brother (Ember) in the photo was rescued from a Reservation in South Dakota. |
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airmorse |
OneMatch: "carbon1: "Dogs are not people." So are mine. |
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LindenTree |
arctic: "I hope your dog makes a complete recovery, LindenTree. Dogs are family, and their lives are precious."+1 |
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LindenTree |
Best of wishes to you and your pup. Linden |
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Ho Ho |
I'm really glad to hear River is almost completely recovered. I'm really sorry to hear it has been such a long fight. And of course an expensive one. We live outside Ely and our dog also contracted Blasto last year, but she was able to get clear of it in only 1.5 months of treatment, which was extraordinarily lucky, but also I think, because it was caught early. The Ely area is a blasto hotspot, and the Ely vets will almost always test for blasto whenever a dog is doing poorly. I think they treat more cases of blasto than any other vet clinic anywhere, partly because there is a higher incidence here, but also because they actually test for it and correctly diagnose it so often. It's often misdiagnosed elsewhere, which makes it worse because the correct treatment is delayed, and the wrong treatments for other diseases can actually do a lot of harm (e.g., antibiotics help the fungus thrive by killing off the competition). Since we live outside Ely and our dog also always has her nose to the ground, we knew she was at risk of contracting blasto at some point. Finally, at 9 and half years old, she did. We were out west in the Cascades when the symptoms started showing up - in her case basically a dry cough that got worse pretty quickly. On a Saturday morning we knew she needed veterinary treatment, but could not find anyone that could see her immediately in western Washington. Also, since we suspected blasto, we were concerned that a Washington vet might not have much knowledge about the disease. Fortunately we were able to call the Ely vets and talk to them about the issue. Once it was clear we could not get treatment during the weekend in Washington, we decided to speed home (still a three day drive). In the meantime, the Ely vet prescribed the antifungals which we were able to get filled at a Walmart pharmacy east of the Cascades. Our vet thought blasto was likely enough that we should start treatment and we would confirm with a test when we got home. Once home, the blasto test was positive. Our vet told us that our dog would need to take the anti-fungal meds for at least 4.5 months because that is the minimum time they have seen for recovery. Normally they will not even retest before that time. But our girl recovered very quickly - she was asymptomatic within 10 days - and so they decided to retest her after a month and a half. Miraculously, she was clear of blasto. Our vet was blown away by the quickness of the recovery. No doubt luck played a role in her quick recovery. But the vet also thought early treatment at the very onset of the illness probably also made a big difference. So if your dog has unexplained symptoms and you have been to the BW or another area with blasto, insist to your vet that they test for blasto any time there is a mysterious illness. Vets in other areas often will not even think of this disease. Early detection and treatment is key. PS - People get blasto too, not as often as dogs, since we mostly don't stick our noses in the soil (I believe human cases usually come from areas like construction sites where the soil is disturbed and the spores may be windbound). And misdiagnosis is also common in people. Someone I know in Ely told me his son almost died from blasto because it was not diagnosed for a long time. So this is something to keep in mind for human medical treatment too. |
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jillpine |
blastomycosis information The only means of prevention is to remove your dog's access from the areas where the fungal spores reside - largely unrealistic for those of us living and recreating in endemic regions. My deceased best-dog-ever yellow Lab aged out of canoe tripping a few years back. Blasto was something always on my mind when she went with me, but it was a risk I was willing to take, just as with other risks we take when we're out there. Also, I reconciled tripping with her with the fact that she could also become infected when running through the forests and fields of home, given that it is endemic at both my home places. My personal preference is to not sleep directly on the ground in a bivouac set-up for reasons of wet, cold, mice, and blasto. Linden, I am not a gambler, but my bet is that River will pull out of this, and will live to see many wonderful adventures with your family. And, as a bonus, your post likely raised some awareness for other paddlers on the forum who may now see their veterinarian with a dog experiencing some vague clinical signs, and think to mention blastomycosis. A lightbulb will go off in the over-worked veterinarian's tired brain, and early detection will result in a positive clinical outcome! |
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Canoearoo |
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LindenTree |
Canoearoo: "There is a natural treatment for this- Colloidal Silver. Now I don't want to debate natural treatments, that is not the point of this post. But here is what happened to me, to make me recommend it. My neighbor was an organic farmer. One year she caught a fungus infection in her ear. The docs tried the basic stuff but it wasn't working. The fungus spread and began to eat her ear away. She went through 2 surgeries where they removed her ear and scrapped the fungus off the bones in her head. The fungus continued to spread and they couldn't stop it. Finally, it started to attack her brain and they decided they had done all they could do and so they set up hospice for her. I had been using Colloidal sliver for pink eye and simple infections over the years and I had read that it can fight fungus. She told me the Docs didn't know how much longer she would live and so I asked her if she wanted to try Colloidal siliver. She said she had nothing to lose. So I got her a big quart of it and brought it to her. She put it on her wounds, and in the wound and drank it every day. In a week she started to feel better. She went to the docs and found her fungus was retreateing. She made a full recovery in a month. Obviously, she lost her hearing on that side of her head, but she is alive and well 10 years later. So maybe try Colloidal Silver for you dog. It might help." I know people that use silver on the dogs external wounds when Blasto is infecting the body and it seems to help, in conjunction with Fluconazole or another similar drug. I have not heard anything about silver healing the Blasto itself. My dog had it in her lungs, but she had no external lesions. Her 2nd lung xray about 6 weeks after diagnosis showed around a 50% reduction in lungs. Her Antigen level at diagnosis was 6.2 on a scale of 0 - to 14.7 being the highest. Antigen levels above 14.7 are not able to be detected at the Miravista lab which is the only lab in north America that tests the urine for Blasto. |
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nctry |
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LindenTree |
River, our 2 YO German Shepard mix was diagnosed with this fungal disease on October 11th, 2021. What a roller coaster it has been for us with ups and downs during this time, she is showing great improvement, however we will likely be treating her for another few months at least, since it had compromised her lungs. Our dogs symptoms were lethargy, loss of appetite, weight loss, some respirations of 120+ pm lying down, wheezing and coughing. This is a very serious disease and just wiped out our dog for weeks. What little I know about Blasto, it appears that it is becoming a more frequent disease the last few years. Humans and other animals can also contract this disease, but is sounds like it is more prevalent in dogs. Even though we camped in the superior NF four times this past summer, we suspect she contracted it from our 2 weeks we spent camping on the shores of Lakes Michigan and Superior, or day trips we took to Wisconsin point. (We honestly do not know) I am sharing this story to help people become aware of this disease, I will provide a couple links about Blasto. Feel free to ask any questions and I will do my best to answer what I know. I think there is also a vet who is a member here. DHS Wisconsin Blasto CDC Blastomycosis Blasto in dogs |
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Maiingan |
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Jaywalker |
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nctry |
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nctry |
She got into mouse poison... luckily my neighbor recognized it right away she was missing a bunch right after we left. I had to make her throw it up... and wow she’d eaten a lot. (She excels at that)... plus make her take activated charcoal... then a year ago she got real sick... so much pain (mid January) and I though it had something to do with a condition she had previously. To get her in my truck we used a peds board from the firehall. Strapped her down and away I went. The vet figured lymes... did I mention this was January. I’d just got back early from Arizona. In November I had had both Lymes and covid at the same time myself. Sure enough she not only had Lymes but all three main tick born diseases. She was given a much more aggressive dose of what I had got of the exact same pills. And it took all summer and into fall before she got where she’s doing quite well. Her tick collar had come off in September and I figured it was not needed seeing how it was cold and snowy and all early on. Yes it cost some... but she’s my responsibility. No she’s not human... but she’s taught me more about life then any human ever did! Just like old Bernice, she responds with me to fire calls, she watches over the kids at the beach I live by... would love to be a canoe dog... you put a canoe in the water and she’s in it ready to go. I’m horrible at trimming her nails... lately she sat and chewed/ trimmed her own nails. Haha. Calling a dog people in my opinion is putting a dog down a bit. Haha! They really do deserve all we can do for them in my opinion. We’re in the desert dispersed camping for the winter. What a joy to have. Blasto is also a concern down here... Don’t think for a minute I put her before a human life... but that’s how I see life in general. Our neighbor at home has a golden with blasto... he’s responding well to treatment and like River is doing better but not totally out of the woods. If you have a dog you should already have a vet you can trust... this is important! Then you can justify trusting your putting your money to good use in saving your dog. Animal shelters, vets, and other care givers do a great service. And Linden and Krista have made a great home for both Ember and River... so get well soon River, we’ll be up there camping before you know it! Take care Linden! |
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rtallent |
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GregSC |
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Spartan2 |
Ho Ho: "PS - I forgot to include a picture of our blasto patient Piwi (short for Kahshahpiwi). This picture was taken in Bighorn Mountains last month, about a year after her miraculously speedy recovery from blasto. I'm not at all biased when I say she is the prettiest dog in the world <3 She's also just about the sweetest. :-) |
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Ho Ho |
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