# Blastomycosis



## ty823 (Feb 7, 2006)

We've thought about just not taking Lucy with us when we go, but the thought of being up there without her is almost as bad as the thought of her getting sick


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## HovawartMom (Aug 10, 2006)

I would ask yr vet,here if there's anything you can do like a shot to protect her from getting.


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## AquaClaraCanines (Mar 5, 2006)

I lost a Basenji puppy to it. Actually she wasn't mine, but I lived with her owner. It was horrible.


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## Jazzys Mom (Mar 13, 2007)

My daughter had a Golden die of Blasto 2 years ago. She is on this forum but doesn't post very much. She is *DSlats *on here. Her name is Debbie and she would be glad to tell you all about her experience with blasto and what it cost her PM her. She is still furious at how she was treated by the vet --- that BTW didn't diagnosis Miller until it was too late and Debbie had been telling him all along what she thought it was

Jazzys Mom


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## ty823 (Feb 7, 2006)

That really sucks. I read that it is almost always mis-diagnosed at first for anything from lyme disease to cancer. 
Unfortunately, I haven't found anything about a vaccine for it. I guess I'm just going to have to make more of an effort to keep her in my sight at all times and not let her dig around and sniff any bare/loose dirt as much as possible while we're up there.


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## Jazzys Mom (Mar 13, 2007)

No, there is no vaccine but if I'm not mistaken there is something - some pill or something. I don't know if it is a preventive or a treatment. Debbie will know that

Jazzys Mom


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

I have known of several dogs diagnosed with blasto. Some were treated; others were not. All eventually died of it. The ones who treated their dogs told me that they would never do it again. Now, this was 3 or 4 years ago, so they may have come up with better and more effective treatment but the dogs who were treated were never the same and as I said, died within a year or less of treatment. These were otherwise young and healthy dogs.

I am afraid of Lyme disease, ehrlichia and lepto (all of which we have up here as well) but if given a choice, I would pick any of them over blasto.

I'm sorry to sound so negative but we have had people die of it up here, let alone dogs. One of the dogs that was treated but later died was owned by a vet who caught it relatively quickly. The difference may whether or not it gets in the lungs. 

Here are a couple of sites with some good information:

Pet Columns: Blastomycosis--Fungal Disease Common in Outdoor Dogs

Blastomycosis.ca - Information, Articles, Stories, and its Victims


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## ty823 (Feb 7, 2006)

*wow*

Unfortunately, I had to pull up this 4 year old thread because we are pretty sure that our Lucy has Blasto. I haven't posted on here forever, but I know this site is full of knowledge. 

A little over a week ago, Lucy became lethargic and lost her appetite, so we took her in after a couple days of this. Her temperature was at 105 and had an enlarged spleen. Our vet put her on antibiotics and told us to keep her rested. 4 days later, she was not any better, and her breathing was becoming more and more labored, so that brings us to yesterday. We did an X-ray which showed a light area in her upper lung which I think was about the size of a tennis ball. Then he took blood and did a throat swab. The throat swab was then transferred to a slide and looked at under the microscope, and he was about 95% sure that the yeast that showed up on the slide is blasto. 

Our Vet (who is also my cousin, thank god) is pulling some strings with people he knows at the university and I may be driving the slide up there myself today to hand deliver it to someone he knows in the pathology dept. to confirm that it is actually blasto since my vet has never actually seen a case of it. 

The one thing we have going for us is if this is Blasto, we caught it pretty darn early. She has no eye problems, skin lesions, or any other symptoms. Just a fever, lethargy, and a short coughing fit maybe once a day. The only reason the vet even looked for Blasto is because I suggested it. 

I am praying that this can be one of the rare cases of Blasto being treated successfully :crossfing


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Survival rates are very good in immunocompetent people and dogs. I'm surprised to hear your vet call it a "yeast," though. I'm glad you're getting a pathology report.

What treatment protocol is your vet recommending?


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## ty823 (Feb 7, 2006)

Well I remember hearing the word "yeast", but I'm probably not using it in the right context. It's been a long time since biology class. 
He said he is going to make several phone calls today to help come up with a treatment plan. Like I said, he has never actually seen a case of it here in his 20+ years of being a vet. All he has said for sure is that she'll probably have to take an antifungal pill everyday for 60 to 90 days, and that the medication can be hard on her liver and kidneys so we'll have to monitor that closely.


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## Jax's Mom (Oct 16, 2009)

I'm so sorry you are having to deal with this, and especially after reading your post of 3 years ago, very eeiry indeed. I am glad however, that you caught it so early (if in fact it really is blasto), and pray that your girl does well with the treatment and recovers. Please keep us posted....


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

ty823 said:


> Well I remember hearing the word "yeast", but I'm probably not using it in the right context. It's been a long time since biology class.
> He said he is going to make several phone calls today to help come up with a treatment plan. Like I said, he has never actually seen a case of it here in his 20+ years of being a vet. All he has said for sure is that she'll probably have to take an antifungal pill everyday for 60 to 90 days, and that the medication can be hard on her liver and kidneys so we'll have to monitor that closely.


They're sort of related, but you don't treat blasto the same way you'd treat yeast, so I was a little scared.

Antifungal meds are the treatment of choice, and unless she has acute breathing problems already, the prognosis is very, very good. I hope your vet calls around to appropriate vet school departments to get second opinions. In your shoes, I might make an appointment at the vet school myself, and I would definitely have the sample analyzed at one. Your vet is probably going to be looking at pictures in a textbook in order to analyze the slide, so it would be good to get the sample in front of somebody who has actually seen it before.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Brian, blasto is a weird organism because it morphs from a yeast into a fungus, or maybe vice versa. Kind of interesting stuff.
Tyler, I know someone with a golden who had blasto 4 years ago. It was caught early. He has some permanent lung damage (minimal) but is otherwise fine.
Thoughts and prayers are with you.


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

Prayers for Lucy.......


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## Blondie (Oct 10, 2009)

Good instincts you have. You are really on the ball. I never read about this before. Sorry this is happening, but thanks for making us aware of this. Prayers and hope coming your way.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

hotel4dogs said:


> Brian, blasto is a weird organism because it morphs from a yeast into a fungus, or maybe vice versa. Kind of interesting stuff.
> Tyler, I know someone with a golden who had blasto 4 years ago. It was caught early. He has some permanent lung damage (minimal) but is otherwise fine.
> Thoughts and prayers are with you.


Woah, what? Really? 

I just did some more reading on that, and you're absolutely right! I had assumed, since it was from such a different family, that it wasn't a yeast at all, but it does have that form, and that's the infectious form.

I stand totally corrected.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Even the word Blasto scares me to death. Once, I thought Tally had it when he was exposed to blue/green algae and I also thought maybe TippyKayak's wonderful Gus had it as well, though it turned out to be cancer. I am keeping Lucy in my thoughts constantly, and wishing you a great outcome. Keep us looped!


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Ljilly28 said:


> Even the word Blasto scares me to death. Once, I thought Tally had it when he was exposed to blue/green algae and I also thought maybe TippyKayak's wonderful Gus had it as well, though it turned out to be cancer. I am keeping Lucy in my thoughts constantly, and wishing you a great outcome. Keep us looped!


Yeah, we were _hoping_ for blastomycosis, if you can believe it. The only thing worse is cutaneous lymphoma.


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## ty823 (Feb 7, 2006)

Thank you guys for the words of encouragement, and sorry about your Gus. 

This afternoon, I got a urine sample from her, and he checked it for signs of the yeast because if it had reached her urinary tract, he would have to use a different type of medication. Fortunately, it looked clean. He also took another throat swab and got a really good sample to look at under the microscope again.

30 doses of Itraconazole are on order, and he plans to start treatments Friday if it gets here in time. We'll leave her with him through the weekend because the first 3 to 5 days of treatment can be especially rough. Then we are off to the inlaws. I'm going to hate not being there with her, but its important to get treatments started asap, rather than drag her along to all our Thanksgiving get-togethers with that junk inside of her. He said he will have an IV needle in her ready to go in case its needed. Man I am nervous, but it could be worse.

In the meantime, she is still showing flashed of herself. When we got out of the car, she ran over to visit the neighbor kids, which she rarely even did when she was healthy.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

it's pretty weird stuff, isn't it? As well as very scary...



tippykayak said:


> Woah, what? Really?
> 
> I just did some more reading on that, and you're absolutely right! I had assumed, since it was from such a different family, that it wasn't a yeast at all, but it does have that form, and that's the infectious form.
> 
> I stand totally corrected.


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## Kally76 (Jun 14, 2010)

I am so sorry your family is dealing with this. I lost my first golden and a black lab to this. This was not anything our vets were used to seeing. I took them over and over for open oozing sores they kept getting. When their breathing started getting really labored labs were finally sent off somewhere and came back as 'Blasto'. By this time my lab had gone completely blind. This was all in about a 6 week long span. My lab had really gone to the point of no return and I had him put to sleep. My golden hadn't gotten as bad yet. They started him on 2 capsules of Itraconazole (Sporanox) twice a day. His heart just gave out. 

I am so glad you caught this so early. Good luck to you!


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## ty823 (Feb 7, 2006)

Just read a stat that 85% of dogs that are treated for blasto early will survive. :crossfing I'm gonna quit reading about it now and let that stat stick in my head. 
They're runing a complete blood test today to check organ functions and stuff. Hopefully it comes out OK and we can start treatments on Friday. I'm just sick over the fact that I won't be there with her though.


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## ty823 (Feb 7, 2006)

Blood test came back completly normal.  

Next step: 300 mg of Itraconazole twice a day for 3 days, then 150 mg twice a day until were done. 

Her eyes still look perfect, and no sores or skin problems. She just acts tired and sighs a lot.


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## ty823 (Feb 7, 2006)

Kally76 said:


> I am so sorry your family is dealing with this. I lost my first golden and a black lab to this. This was not anything our vets were used to seeing. I took them over and over for open oozing sores they kept getting. When their breathing started getting really labored labs were finally sent off somewhere and came back as 'Blasto'. By this time my lab had gone completely blind. This was all in about a 6 week long span. My lab had really gone to the point of no return and I had him put to sleep. My golden hadn't gotten as bad yet. They started him on 2 capsules of Itraconazole (Sporanox) twice a day. His heart just gave out.
> 
> I am so glad you caught this so early. Good luck to you!


So sorry to hear about your two dogs. I can't believe how quickly it takes hold.


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## ty823 (Feb 7, 2006)

Day 2 of Itraconazole treatments is over, and she is doing fine. This morning, she was more perky and was acting like herself for the first time in 3 weeks. Tonight, he told me that her breathing was becoming a little more labored, probably because the spores in her lungs were really dying off now. He is going to keep her at his place through tomorrow for sure. 

The Itraconazole is supposed to be taken with fatty foods, so he has been giving her a half stick of butter with each dose. I'm sure that is helping to keep her in a good mood. :yuck:


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

glad to hear she's doing well! I've heard or read that once you are past the first few days, the rest is much easier and less risky.


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## magiclover (Apr 22, 2008)

I'm so glad that Lucy is doing well. I wasn't familiar with Blasto until I heard about it a few days ago from my breeder. She lost one of her beloved Goldens on Thanksgiving to this horrible infection.


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Lucy*

So very glad to hear your Lucy is doing well!


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## Kally76 (Jun 14, 2010)

Glad to here how well she is doing. Please keep us posted!


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## Braccarius (Sep 8, 2008)

If you have any idea where she picked it up you'd be well advised to inform the local establishments of interest. I know in Kenora they have a few beaches that they advise to aviod and put up huge notices. I asked my vet about Blasto last week to get a feel if this is a disease common in the Sault area and he's had one incident in the past 20 years.... pretty low chances in my opinion.


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## ty823 (Feb 7, 2006)

I'm sure she just picked it up around our cabin.  We're pretty sure the neighbors on one side of us lost a couple of black labs to it in the 80's before they gave up on owning dogs. But the neighbors on the other side have had little mutts and shelties for 30+ years up there and none of their dogs were ever affected, so it's definitely the hunting breeds that pick it up more.


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## ty823 (Feb 7, 2006)

Lucy is on day 5 of itraconazole treatments, and doing pretty good. She was doing some heavy breathing on day 3, but it seems like its almost back to normal now. This morning, she was rolling around with her squeak toy and licked her breakfast bowl clean. Still has a bit of a fever, but all in all, I'm feeling pretty good about things.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

hey that's great news! continuing to send good thoughts your way.


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