This could equally well apply to a dog not from a shelter, so please hang on to this information and pass it on. Share with your vet, in case they arent aware of it. This came out of Florida but I imagine it applies to other areas of the country as well. Thanks vk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you get a dog from a shelter that looks like it has a serious case of kennel cough and it doesn't respond dramatically within 3 days to clavamox or cephalexin antiobiotic, and/or if the dog has any of the following symptoms: 1. Bloodshot eyes 2. Bleeding or pale gums 3. Peteccia (red dots on tummy area or other area of skin) 4. Nose bleeds Or if you get a dog that gets very sick, seems to get better using regular antibotics and then crashes a few weeks later, running a high fever... (kinda like a strange cyclical thing) You may have some weird tick borne illness that is going around. The standard "snap test" may or may not show anything positive. Blood titers for E. Canis Ehrlichiosis may or may not show anything positive. A vet at Gainesville Vet Hospital (florida) suspects a new tick borne illness or possibly E. Platys Ehrlichiosis, which doesn't show up in the standard tick profile tests. A reliable way to see if your dog has this problem is to get the vet to run a blood test looking at platelet count. You don't need to necessarily check anything else. If the platelet count is low, possibly dangerously low, then you'll need antibiotics quick. Antibiotic to treat this is doxcycline. Nothing else works. Also you must use double dosage (10mg/kg) and they must be on this twice a day for 6 weeks. I suspected my basset might have had it when I first got her, because she wasn't responding to typical antibiotic treatment and amazingly got better after a few days on doxcy. Unfortunately I only kept her on the drug for 3 weeks and then discontinued it. She has now crashed on me again, and her platelet count is so low that the vet is amazed that she's not showing signs of peteccia and nose bleeds. Her eyes are severely bloodshot again, though. He's starting her back on doxcy and will test her blood in one week. If the platelet count has recovered, than that will confirm our suspicions. Joanne B----- also had this same problem with one rescue dog out of either SCAS or OCAS. It went to Gainesville and was tentatively diagnosed with E. Platys Ehrlichiosis. It was treated successfully. Later she noticed that several of her other dogs were acting lethargic and had that "I don't feel good Mommy" look about them. Sure enough, platelet blood counts showed that several of her dogs had problems. All of her dogs are now on doxcy. She's out of the state right now, but she called me the day before she left to report the problem. If your vet will write you a prescription you can get docxcycline from kvvet.com for 5.95 a bottle. Bottle contains 50 pills at 100mg. The max that kvvet.com will let you order is 3 bottles, so get the prescription to include 2 refills. Another interesting sidenote, this is the same drug that is used to treat anthrax, so that is why some pharmacies are limiting the amount of drug that you can purchase. ========================================================= "Magic Commands": to stop receiving mail for awhile, click here and send the email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20NOMAIL to start it up gain click here: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20MAIL E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for assistance. Search the Archives... http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ckcs-l.html All e-mail sent through CKCS-L is Copyright 2002 by its original author.
