# Reoccuring staph infections; Bad breath/eye drainage



## CITIgolden (Mar 9, 2013)

kmroark said:


> I have two questions:
> 
> Bronson gets staph infections that keep coming back. We treat him wih the proper antibiotics and keep everything clean. He has a whole list of crazy allergies but the allergy shots didnt seem to help at all so we did away with giving them to him. Does anyone have any experience with staph infections. I'm following all the vets recommendations to try to avoid them but it seem to come back every few months.
> 
> ...


Well more experience with the disease in the lab setting and humans. Staph is opportunistic and tends to attack organisms with compromised immunity. I would strongly recommend stopping and not repeating steroids shots as they suppress immunity. 

How old is Bronson? Is he exhibiting any other symptoms? Lethargy, pain, loss of appetite? What food do you feed?

Did he have staph infections before the tick bite? A couple of tick-borne diseases can compromise immunity and are difficult to detect otherwise. 

Any issues with his fur? Getting dry or excessive shedding?

Any thyroid problems?

Bad breath and nasal discharge etc.can be caused by the staph infection. However, a recurring staph infection usually indicates some underlying condition - that's almost always the case in lab animals and people. I think your vet needs to start looking for causes of immunity suppression. 

In the meantime, you can supplement his diet with probiotics to offset negative impact of antibiotics and give some omega fish oil. 




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## kmroark (Jun 26, 2012)

He is 2 but has been getting staph infections since he was about 6 months old. The derm said it is caused by allergies. Like I said he has a whole bucket list full of different allergies. They have done a good amount of test and still said it was being caused due to his horrible allergies. The tick bite and eye drainage/bad breath was recent, within the last two weeks. He doesn't have a staph infection at the moment so I doubt that has to do with what is going on right now. His staph infections do not come back mrsa positive so we were told its different from the staph infections humans get. We were also told with him being so itchy from he allergies, if he scratches and causes skin irritation or a break in the skin, that is how the staph infection starts. He gets treated with whatever antibiotic it's not resistant too and was getting prednisone but we no longer get the prednisone with the antibiotic because of the long term issues it can cause. As far as the food, he gets taste of the wild, the salmon based one. He is still acting like himself. His appetite and behavior is normal.


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## kmroark (Jun 26, 2012)

He is allergic to
Grass
Specific trees
Multiple different weeds
Pollen
House flies
Roaches
Tobacco
Wool
Cats
Storage dust and another type of common dust
And a few other things I know I'm missing, I would have to look at the list. I wish I could just put him in a bubble.


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## CITIgolden (Mar 9, 2013)

kmroark said:


> He is 2 but has been getting staph infections since he was about 6 months old. The derm said it is caused by allergies. Like I said he has a whole bucket list full of different allergies. They have done a good amount of test and still said it was being caused due to his horrible allergies. The tick bite and eye drainage/bad breath was recent, within the last two weeks. He doesn't have a staph infection at the moment so I doubt that has to do with what is going on right now. His staph infections do not come back mrsa positive so we were told its different from the staph infections humans get. We were also told with him being so itchy from he allergies, if he scratches and causes skin irritation or a break in the skin, that is how the staph infection starts. He gets treated with whatever antibiotic it's not resistant too and was getting prednisone but we no longer get the prednisone with the antibiotic because of the long term issues it can cause. As far as the food, he gets taste of the wild, the salmon based one. He is still acting like himself. His appetite and behavior is normal.


Im so sorry, poor Branson. The drainage you describe sounds like could be caused by a staph infection. The problem with them is that they're extremely infectious and basically go from one part of the body to another, so if the drainage, for example, is from the staff infection it would transmit to every surface he touches... Also to be on the safe side you may want to test for Ehrlichiosis - it does cause discharge as well, but there are usually other symptoms - it's a tough one to diagnose, but much easier to treat with antibiotics - it's a tick-borne disease. Topical tick preventatives aren't 100% effective and don't necessarily last as long as advertised. 

Have you tried bathing him more often? Cleaning his bowls daily with antibacterial soaps, cleaning the area where he sleeps with Lysol wipes or one of those - you should make sure the area is dry. You probably know and do all of this. Any chance of flea infestation in an area where he walks outside?

MRSA is just a more antibiotic resistant strain of staph bacteria and is specific to humans, but people get other kinds as well.

There is clearly something impacting his immunity, that would explain the allergies as well. The infection itself while not caused by allergies, can be enhanced if the dog is allergic. Try to minimize vaccinations as allergic dogs tend to have adverse reactions even if invisible.

Both hypo and Hyperthyroidism and inflammatory bowel disease can result in compromised immunity resulting in allergies and also enabling staph infections. Hypothyroidism can be caused by allergy treatments. It doesn't sound like an IBD. Have you ever checked his thyroid? I would do that if not.

Vitamin C can also act as a natural antihistamine and can help fight allergies, thus refocusing immune system to fight off other infections. B-complex is another supplement that can help. Yoghurt also contains good probiotics, after so many antibiotic treatments you can only try to boost his immunity with stuff like probiotics and supplements.




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## CITIgolden (Mar 9, 2013)

kmroark said:


> He is allergic to
> Grass
> Specific trees
> Multiple different weeds
> ...


I just remembered, given you have a bit of a unique case at hand, perhaps you should ask Dr. Jean Dodds for advice. She's one of the preeminent experts on allergies and general immunity/thyroid problems. She answers questions on her blog:

Dr. Jean Dodds' Pet Health Resource Blog


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