Urgent - histoplasmosis familiarity?

Thank you Celeste - that's exactly where I will go. I really appreiciate
the referral!

Laurie

Spot wrote:
> I suggest you join the following group if anyone can point you in the
> right directions for dealing with the combination of this and a tick
> disease it's the people on the tick group.
> They have tons of experience with tick borne diseases. There are
> lots of links to information but the
> group can help you the most.
>
> http://saluqi.home.netcom.com/ticklinks.htm
>
> The very top link on the page is where you subscribe
>
> Celeste
>
> "Laurie" <laurieTHE_t.TakeThisOut@verizonTRASH.net> wrote in message
> news:LxxAj.1924$HA3.924@trnddc02...
>> Hi all - I'm new to this group and while I have a dog and I'm rabbit
>> and cat experienced, I'm not a dog expert and need some help for my
>> bf's 5 yo terrier mix. After 2 mo of chronic diarrhea and various
>> diagnoses beginning with possible food allergies, a super regional
>> specialist has finally given a diagnosis of GI histoplasmosis
>> subject to a lab review based on his view of slides from bowel
>> scraping. Stewart is about 5 years old and is a spayed female diagnosed
>> with
>> tick-borne illness at age 2 prior to being adopted by bf. He has
>> treated regularly with Frontline and periodic doxycycline course to
>> manage erlicchia (sp?). Last vet JUST prescribed 100mg doxycycline
>> 2x per day which specialist just reduced to 1x per day.
>>
>> In last week, dog has become progressively weaker and is now
>> vomiting and experiencing back end weakness. No respiratory distress
>> or findings. Abdominal sonogram found nothing. All blood work is
>> within range EXCEPT for severe anemia (count about 23) doctor does
>> not feel warrants transfusion quite yet. Last night he put her on
>> cottage cheese/white rice/chicken diet 3-4x per day and 1/2
>> immmodium a-d tablet 2x/day. Concern: After yesterday's testing she
>> seemed to rebound
>> emotionally and ate first bland meal about 7. Had runny bm in
>> bathroom between 10 and midnight and then woke up bf about 1 to go
>> out again. Came in and threw up first rice/cottage cheese and then
>> about 30 min later threw up chicken. Of course bf is trying to get hold
>> of specialist etc to see what to
>> do as now she seems worse than ever. Questions: does this sound like
>> a "going to get worse before she gets better thing after changing
>> diet" thing? Does anyone have experience with severe GI
>> histoplasmosis treatment that might be helpful?
>>
>> TIA - Laurie
>>
>>
>>
>> --
 >> Stay informed about: Urgent - histoplasmosis familiarity? 

HOWEDY Laurie,

I almost forgot. Your veterinary malpracticioner SHOULD
have put the dog on probiotics, AS ALWAYS, following
antibiotic treatment:

Doxycycline may cause side effects. Tell your doctor
if any of these symptoms are severe or do not go away:

diarrhea
itching of the rectum or vagina
sore mouth

Some side effects can be serious. If you experience any
of these symptoms, call your doctor immediately:

severe headache
blurred vision
skin rash
hives
difficulty breathing or swallowing
redness of the skin (sunburn)
yellowing of the skin or eyes
itching
dark-colored urine
light-colored bowel movements
loss of appetite
upset stomach
vomiting
stomach pain
extreme tiredness or weakness
confusion
decreased urination


On Mar 8, 10:38 am, "Laurie" <laurieTH....DeleteThis@verizonTRASH.net> wrote:
> Hi all - I'm new to this group and while I have a dog and I'm rabbit and cat
> experienced, I'm not a dog expert and need some help for my bf's 5 yo
> terrier mix. After 2 mo of chronic diarrhea and various diagnoses beginning
> with possible food allergies, a super regional specialist has finally given
> a diagnosis of GI histoplasmosis subject to a lab review based on his view
> of slides from bowel scraping.
>
> Stewart is about 5 years old and is a spayed female diagnosed with
> tick-borne illness at age 2 prior to being adopted by bf.  He has treated
> regularly with Frontline and periodic doxycycline course to manage erlicchia
> (sp?).  Last vet JUST prescribed 100mg doxycycline 2x per day which
> specialist just reduced to 1x per day.
>
> In last week, dog has become progressively weaker and is now vomiting and
> experiencing back end weakness. No respiratory distress or findings.
> Abdominal sonogram found nothing.  All blood work is within range EXCEPT for
> severe anemia (count about 23) doctor does not feel warrants transfusion
> quite yet.  Last night he put her on cottage cheese/white rice/chicken diet
> 3-4x per day and 1/2 immmodium a-d tablet 2x/day.
>
> Concern:  After yesterday's testing she seemed to rebound emotionally and
> ate first bland meal about 7. Had runny bm in bathroom between 10 and
> midnight and then woke up bf about 1 to go out again. Came in and threw up
> first rice/cottage cheese and then about 30 min later threw up chicken.
>
> Of course bf is trying to get hold of specialist etc to see what to do as
> now she seems worse than ever. Questions: does this sound like a "going to
> get worse before she gets better thing after changing diet" thing? Does
> anyone have experience with severe GI histoplasmosis treatment that might be
> helpful?
>
> TIA - Laurie
>
> --
 >> Stay informed about: Urgent - histoplasmosis familiarity? 

Thank you Jerry. That was some useful information and I have printed it to
enhance what has already been shared with me from this and other groups.
This dog may have been immuno compromised by either the ehrlicchia or
possibly IMHA (from another forum) since she is also severely anemic. Test
results should be informative tomorrow.

Laurie
 >> Stay informed about: Urgent - histoplasmosis familiarity? 

"Laurie" <laurieTHE_t.RemoveThis@verizonTRASH.net> wrote in message
news:LxxAj.1924$HA3.924@trnddc02...
>Stewart is about 5 years old and is a spayed female diagnosed with
>tick-borne illness at age 2 prior to being adopted by bf.
After 2 mo of chronic diarrhea <snip>
> a diagnosis of GI histoplasmosis subject to a lab review based on his view
> of slides from bowel scraping.

He has treated
> regularly with Frontline and periodic doxycycline course to manage
erlicchia
> (sp?). Last vet JUST prescribed 100mg doxycycline 2x per day which
> specialist just reduced to 1x per day.

........I'm confused here. Dog was diagnosed with Ehrlichia 3 years ago? I
hope you went to the Tick List that Celeste suggested as you need some
expert answers on this question. Periodic administration of doxy won't do
it I think. Dog needs at least a month or more on doxy at appropriate dose,
which apparently is much higher than a lot of vets realize. Then there is
the issue of whether or not the dog still has Ehrlichia. What does your
dog weigh?

http://www.minden.com/nowhereelse/canine_tick_disease.htm
*Important! Here is the treatment your dog should be given for
Ehrlichiosis or Lyme disease.
Doxycycline, a semi-synthetic tetracycline, is the drug of choice, the most
effective against Ehrlichiosis and Lyme. It is given at 10 milligrams per
kilogram (1 kg = 2.2 lbs.) of the dog's body weight every twelve hours for
six to eight weeks. Another way to figure this, on the basis of pounds, is
5 mg. per pound of body weight. The result for the dog is exactly the same
as doxy comes in 100 mg. tabs and the result of figuring in milligrams is
usually adjusted up accordingly. If nausea is a problem, you can divide the
dose further, as long as the dog gets what he needs in any twelve hour
period.

This is twice the amount recommended in the Merck Veterinary Manual and is
given for a longer period of time than the VMM recommends; however, vets who
deal with tick disease all the time say that the higher doses and longer
administration are successful far more often in treating this disease and
preventing its recurrence.*

> In last week, dog has become progressively weaker and is now vomiting and
> experiencing back end weakness. No respiratory distress or findings.
> Abdominal sonogram found nothing. All blood work is within range EXCEPT
for
> severe anemia (count about 23) doctor does not feel warrants transfusion
> quite yet. Last night he put her on cottage cheese/white rice/chicken
diet
> 3-4x per day and 1/2 immmodium a-d tablet 2x/day.

Questions: does this sound like a "going to
> get worse before she gets better thing after changing diet" thing? Does
> anyone have experience with severe GI histoplasmosis treatment that might
be
> helpful?

.......If this dog has Histo she needs to be on an anti-fungal ASAP. Doxy is
not going to take care of a fungus. When is the path report due? Any way
you can hurry it up? A bit of research below on various topics. Other
questions I'd have which I didn't research: long term off and on doxy -
what are the side effects?; any chance dog also has concommitant infection
with Babesia or other infectious non-fungal organism?; does GI histo presume
systemic histo? I'd also do a good search on the drugs used for histo -
side effects, etc. Apparently these fungal drugs can be hard on the liver,
so frequent chem panels might be in order.

This dog had ehlichia, Histoplasmosis and lymphoma. Not meant to scare you
(as I doubt lymphoma is an issue), but since it came up on an initial search
on Ehrlichia and I was wondering about Ehrlichia weakening the system enough
for fungal infections to occur.
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1800954
B-cell lymphoma in a dog with ehrlichiosis (Ehrlichia canis) and systemic
histoplasmosis (Histoplasma capsulatum)

Fungal infection in dog with Ehrlichia:
http://www.vetpathology.org/cgi/content/full/43/6/988

Top paper on this page says (in first few months at least) immunosuppression
is not a problem with Ehrlichia. Don't know if that holds true if the
Ehrlichia is chronic:
http://lib.bioinfo.pl/pmid:16169601

I was really wondering if there was such a thing as GI Histo. Apparently it
can be primary infection site in dogs:
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/51108.htm
Infection is commonly via aerosol contamination of the respiratory tract,
and the lungs and thoracic lymph nodes are the sites of primary infection,
although the GI tract may be a primary site of infection, especially in
dogs. The organisms enter the bloodstream from a primary focus and become
disseminated throughout the body;

I wonder if this dog still has Ehrlichia. The first paper I listed mentions
that due to antibody presence for a long time after infection , it's
impossible to tell from usual ELISA tests for this disease. It mentions
that systemic Histo and Ehrlichia can be definitively identified in the body
through bone marrow tests.

Or there is apparently a DNA test available. This site assumes lung
involvement.
http://www.healthgene.com/vet/d413.asp
Histoplasma capsulatum can be cultured from tissue specimens, fine-needle
aspirates, and body fluids by specialized laboratories but the process may
take anywhere from 7 to 10 days. The newest generation of DNA diagnostic
tests are much more rapid (2-3 days) then conventional methods, and avoid
the problems associated with serological testing since antibodies are not
used. A DNA test for the detection of Histoplasma capsulatum in a sample is
now available. This test offers veterinarians a sensitive, accurate and
rapid means of detecting Histoplasma capsulatum, and confirming infection

Here's a report of GI histo. I note that they say they find Histo like
organisms. I don't think a histopathology sample can definitively diagnosis
this without culturing. It can be highly presumed I guess:
http://www.tanuvas.tn.nic.in/tnjvas/vol2(4)/11.pdf
HISTOPLASMA COLITIS IN A DOG - A CASE REPORT*

Diagnosing bowel disease:
http://www.antechdiagnostics.com/clients/antechNews/1999/4-99.htm

Excellent paper describing Histo, symptoms, treatment. They cultured
fungus.
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1899848
The treatment of choice for disseminated histoplasmosis is itraconazole, but
ketoconazole can be used if the side effects of itraconazole preclude its
use. If the clinical signs are severe, debilitating, or life-threatening,
amphotericin B therapy can be combined with itraconazole for the first few
days for improved effect (4). Antifungal therapy should be continued for at
least 60 d, or until 1 mo past resolution of clinical signs (5). As with any
infectious disease, corticosteroid therapy is contraindicated in cases of
disseminated histoplasmosis, as the immunosuppressive effects of these drugs
may lead to worsening of the disease

A dog with cutaneous Histo took 6 months on anti-fungal meds to resolve:
http://www.ava.com.au/avj/may97/362.htm

Infectious causes of anemia (geez this vet's pix looks like a mug shot!):
http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proceedings.plx?CID=WSAVA2002&PID=2594

........Would appreciate your posting back and keeping us up to date on
findings and treatment. Hope you can get proper diagnosis quickly and meds
to take care of it. If Ehrlichia, dog may need different meds if she has
had it for 3 years.

buglady
take out the dog before replying
 >> Stay informed about: Urgent - histoplasmosis familiarity? 

"Laurie" <laurieTHE_t RemoveThis @verizonTRASH.net> wrote in message
news:QnZAj.2683$HA3.2550@trnddc02...
> Thank you Jerry. That was some useful information and I have printed it

......If you're referring to the post by our resident troll, toss it out. I
don't normally see his posts as they're all filtered out, but had to look
this time. He quoted from the human Merck manual. Would have been more
useful to have quoted from the VET Merck manual, which, as I indicated in my
post, can have GI symptoms of Histo as it can be the primary infection site.

......Look at his other posts. They all say the same thing. Don't waste
your time with this repetitive abusive nonsense.

buglady
take out the dog before replying
 >> Stay informed about: Urgent - histoplasmosis familiarity? 

Wow - an AWESOME reply buglady, thanks!

I have been to the Tick list Celeste suggested and have gotten some helpful
info from the folks there.

Yes, Stewart was adopted with the Lyme (actually Ehrlichia) 3 years ago. I
guess it is chronic, although we are waiting to hear what the vet specialist
says after receiving her prior scores. The tick titer just came back with
her Ehrlichia score somewhere over 2300 with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
count also elevated (but not as seriously). She started vomiting on Sat
morning and we had to take her in for fluids - they suspect it was the
doxycycline that caused her to vomit. She has since been given an
anti-emetic injection and we are trying to get her to eat so we can start
the doxy again. The dosage was 100mg 2x/day from the primary vet that was
reduced to 100 mg 1x/day by the specialist. I think the ehrlichia is of
secondary concern to the histoplasmosis. He is going to get her prior 2
tick titers to see how the ehrlichia has progressed in the last couple
years. IV doxy is an expensive possiblity we would like to avoid.

Specialist also says we can expect the histo cytology tomorrow sometime (we
had. They do suspect disseminated histoplasmosis, her respiratory tract is
fine (thank God for that!) but some concern the fungus could have possibly
moved up the GI tract to small intestine and I get the impression MAYBE the
stomach as well. Not 100% sure as the vet talks non-stop on the cell and we
can't get a word in edgewise to clarify until he takes a breath! ;-) They
are saying the expect it to take 6-9 months to deal with the fungus
infection - maybe longer. I think we're looking at ketoconazole due to cost.
Ha - he said ONE of the treatments costs 3-4 thousand a month. We won't be
trying that one...

Good news is her reticulocytes are regenerating strongly so she is fighting
the anemia - that eliminates the AIHA (AUto Immune Hemolytic Anemia) that
one of the gals from the Tick-L list educated me about. Had Stewart had
AIHA, she would have needed prednisone to treat and that would have caused
the fungus to go crazy...in essence, a death sentence, so we are lucky
there. One of your articles referenced that situation. Doc also felt
lymphoma was not an issue.

Stewart had fluids again today and another anti-emetic shot (Cereria) and we
are tempting her with a variety of vet-recommended bland foods in hopes she
will eat and get some strength back. She weighs about 21-22# right now.

Lots of reading for me to do thanks to your references below - very much
appreciated. In the meantime, I feel that Stewart is in good hands with
these two vets since just about everything that you've raised has been
touched upon in our conversations with them.

Thank you again - I will let you know what comes with the comprehensive
diagnosis tomorrow!

Oh yeah - that vet's pic DOES look like a mug shot - scary!

Laurie

buglady wrote:
> "Laurie" <laurieTHE_t RemoveThis @verizonTRASH.net> wrote in message
> news:LxxAj.1924$HA3.924@trnddc02...
>> Stewart is about 5 years old and is a spayed female diagnosed with
>> tick-borne illness at age 2 prior to being adopted by bf.
> After 2 mo of chronic diarrhea <snip>
>> a diagnosis of GI histoplasmosis subject to a lab review based on
>> his view of slides from bowel scraping.
>
> He has treated
>> regularly with Frontline and periodic doxycycline course to manage
>> erlicchia (sp?). Last vet JUST prescribed 100mg doxycycline 2x per
>> day which specialist just reduced to 1x per day.
>
> .......I'm confused here. Dog was diagnosed with Ehrlichia 3 years
> ago? I hope you went to the Tick List that Celeste suggested as you
> need some expert answers on this question. Periodic administration
> of doxy won't do it I think. Dog needs at least a month or more on
> doxy at appropriate dose, which apparently is much higher than a lot
> of vets realize. Then there is the issue of whether or not the dog
> still has Ehrlichia. What does your dog weigh?
>
> http://www.minden.com/nowhereelse/canine_tick_disease.htm
> *Important! Here is the treatment your dog should be given for
> Ehrlichiosis or Lyme disease.
> Doxycycline, a semi-synthetic tetracycline, is the drug of choice,
> the most effective against Ehrlichiosis and Lyme. It is given at 10
> milligrams per kilogram (1 kg = 2.2 lbs.) of the dog's body weight
> every twelve hours for six to eight weeks. Another way to figure
> this, on the basis of pounds, is 5 mg. per pound of body weight. The
> result for the dog is exactly the same as doxy comes in 100 mg. tabs
> and the result of figuring in milligrams is usually adjusted up
> accordingly. If nausea is a problem, you can divide the dose
> further, as long as the dog gets what he needs in any twelve hour
> period.
>
> This is twice the amount recommended in the Merck Veterinary Manual
> and is given for a longer period of time than the VMM recommends;
> however, vets who deal with tick disease all the time say that the
> higher doses and longer administration are successful far more often
> in treating this disease and preventing its recurrence.*
>
>> In last week, dog has become progressively weaker and is now
>> vomiting and experiencing back end weakness. No respiratory distress
>> or findings. Abdominal sonogram found nothing. All blood work is
>> within range EXCEPT for severe anemia (count about 23) doctor does
>> not feel warrants transfusion quite yet. Last night he put her on
>> cottage cheese/white rice/chicken diet 3-4x per day and 1/2
>> immmodium a-d tablet 2x/day.
>
> Questions: does this sound like a "going to
>> get worse before she gets better thing after changing diet" thing?
>> Does anyone have experience with severe GI histoplasmosis treatment
>> that might be helpful?
>
> ......If this dog has Histo she needs to be on an anti-fungal ASAP.
> Doxy is not going to take care of a fungus. When is the path report
> due? Any way you can hurry it up? A bit of research below on
> various topics. Other questions I'd have which I didn't research:
> long term off and on doxy - what are the side effects?; any chance
> dog also has concommitant infection with Babesia or other infectious
> non-fungal organism?; does GI histo presume systemic histo? I'd also
> do a good search on the drugs used for histo - side effects, etc.
> Apparently these fungal drugs can be hard on the liver, so frequent
> chem panels might be in order.
>
> This dog had ehlichia, Histoplasmosis and lymphoma. Not meant to
> scare you (as I doubt lymphoma is an issue), but since it came up on
> an initial search on Ehrlichia and I was wondering about Ehrlichia
> weakening the system enough for fungal infections to occur.
> http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1800954
> B-cell lymphoma in a dog with ehrlichiosis (Ehrlichia canis) and
> systemic histoplasmosis (Histoplasma capsulatum)
>
> Fungal infection in dog with Ehrlichia:
> http://www.vetpathology.org/cgi/content/full/43/6/988
>
> Top paper on this page says (in first few months at least)
> immunosuppression is not a problem with Ehrlichia. Don't know if
> that holds true if the Ehrlichia is chronic:
> http://lib.bioinfo.pl/pmid:16169601
>
> I was really wondering if there was such a thing as GI Histo.
> Apparently it can be primary infection site in dogs:
> http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/51108.htm
> Infection is commonly via aerosol contamination of the respiratory
> tract, and the lungs and thoracic lymph nodes are the sites of
> primary infection, although the GI tract may be a primary site of
> infection, especially in dogs. The organisms enter the bloodstream
> from a primary focus and become disseminated throughout the body;
>
> I wonder if this dog still has Ehrlichia. The first paper I listed
> mentions that due to antibody presence for a long time after
> infection , it's impossible to tell from usual ELISA tests for this
> disease. It mentions that systemic Histo and Ehrlichia can be
> definitively identified in the body through bone marrow tests.
>
> Or there is apparently a DNA test available. This site assumes lung
> involvement.
> http://www.healthgene.com/vet/d413.asp
> Histoplasma capsulatum can be cultured from tissue specimens,
> fine-needle aspirates, and body fluids by specialized laboratories
> but the process may take anywhere from 7 to 10 days. The newest
> generation of DNA diagnostic tests are much more rapid (2-3 days)
> then conventional methods, and avoid the problems associated with
> serological testing since antibodies are not used. A DNA test for the
> detection of Histoplasma capsulatum in a sample is now available.
> This test offers veterinarians a sensitive, accurate and rapid means
> of detecting Histoplasma capsulatum, and confirming infection
>
> Here's a report of GI histo. I note that they say they find Histo
> like organisms. I don't think a histopathology sample can
> definitively diagnosis this without culturing. It can be highly
> presumed I guess: http://www.tanuvas.tn.nic.in/tnjvas/vol2(4)/11.pdf
> HISTOPLASMA COLITIS IN A DOG - A CASE REPORT*
>
> Diagnosing bowel disease:
> http://www.antechdiagnostics.com/clients/antechNews/1999/4-99.htm
>
> Excellent paper describing Histo, symptoms, treatment. They cultured
> fungus.
> http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1899848
> The treatment of choice for disseminated histoplasmosis is
> itraconazole, but ketoconazole can be used if the side effects of
> itraconazole preclude its use. If the clinical signs are severe,
> debilitating, or life-threatening, amphotericin B therapy can be
> combined with itraconazole for the first few days for improved effect
> (4). Antifungal therapy should be continued for at least 60 d, or
> until 1 mo past resolution of clinical signs (5). As with any
> infectious disease, corticosteroid therapy is contraindicated in
> cases of disseminated histoplasmosis, as the immunosuppressive
> effects of these drugs may lead to worsening of the disease
>
> A dog with cutaneous Histo took 6 months on anti-fungal meds to
> resolve: http://www.ava.com.au/avj/may97/362.htm
>
> Infectious causes of anemia (geez this vet's pix looks like a mug
> shot!):
> http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proceedings.plx?CID=WSAVA2002&PID=2594
>
> .......Would appreciate your posting back and keeping us up to date on
> findings and treatment. Hope you can get proper diagnosis quickly
> and meds to take care of it. If Ehrlichia, dog may need different
> meds if she has had it for 3 years.
>
> buglady
> take out the dog before replying
 >> Stay informed about: Urgent - histoplasmosis familiarity? 

buglady wrote:
> "Laurie" <laurieTHE_t.RemoveThis@verizonTRASH.net> wrote in message
> news:QnZAj.2683$HA3.2550@trnddc02...
>> Thank you Jerry. That was some useful information and I have printed
>> it
>
> .....If you're referring to the post by our resident troll, toss it
> out. I don't normally see his posts as they're all filtered out, but
> had to look this time. He quoted from the human Merck manual. Would
> have been more useful to have quoted from the VET Merck manual,
> which, as I indicated in my post, can have GI symptoms of Histo as it
> can be the primary infection site.
>
> .....Look at his other posts. They all say the same thing. Don't
> waste your time with this repetitive abusive nonsense.

We all have our residents - I did notice he was cross-posting, which I frown
on so I clipped the list. I did note it was the human manual but he did
suggest probiotics and a few other things that weren't necessarily bad.
LOL - I just wish I could destress my life as well as the animals' and avoid
all evil! ;-)

Laurie
 >> Stay informed about: Urgent - histoplasmosis familiarity? 

Thanks Celeste - I did join and have gotten some good info already from one
of the members who has been very sweet and suportive. I really appreciate
the reference!

Laurie

Spot wrote:
> I suggest you join the following group if anyone can point you in the
> right directions for dealing with the combination of this and a tick
> disease it's the people on the tick group.
> They have tons of experience with tick borne diseases. There are
> lots of links to information but the
> group can help you the most.
>
> http://saluqi.home.netcom.com/ticklinks.htm
>
> The very top link on the page is where you subscribe
>
> Celeste
>
> "Laurie" <laurieTHE_t.DeleteThis@verizonTRASH.net> wrote in message
> news:LxxAj.1924$HA3.924@trnddc02...
>> Hi all - I'm new to this group and while I have a dog and I'm rabbit
>> and cat experienced, I'm not a dog expert and need some help for my
>> bf's 5 yo terrier mix. After 2 mo of chronic diarrhea and various
>> diagnoses beginning with possible food allergies, a super regional
>> specialist has finally given a diagnosis of GI histoplasmosis
>> subject to a lab review based on his view of slides from bowel
>> scraping. Stewart is about 5 years old and is a spayed female diagnosed
>> with
>> tick-borne illness at age 2 prior to being adopted by bf. He has
>> treated regularly with Frontline and periodic doxycycline course to
>> manage erlicchia (sp?). Last vet JUST prescribed 100mg doxycycline
>> 2x per day which specialist just reduced to 1x per day.
>>
>> In last week, dog has become progressively weaker and is now
>> vomiting and experiencing back end weakness. No respiratory distress
>> or findings. Abdominal sonogram found nothing. All blood work is
>> within range EXCEPT for severe anemia (count about 23) doctor does
>> not feel warrants transfusion quite yet. Last night he put her on
>> cottage cheese/white rice/chicken diet 3-4x per day and 1/2
>> immmodium a-d tablet 2x/day. Concern: After yesterday's testing she
>> seemed to rebound
>> emotionally and ate first bland meal about 7. Had runny bm in
>> bathroom between 10 and midnight and then woke up bf about 1 to go
>> out again. Came in and threw up first rice/cottage cheese and then
>> about 30 min later threw up chicken. Of course bf is trying to get hold
>> of specialist etc to see what to
>> do as now she seems worse than ever. Questions: does this sound like
>> a "going to get worse before she gets better thing after changing
>> diet" thing? Does anyone have experience with severe GI
>> histoplasmosis treatment that might be helpful?
>>
>> TIA - Laurie
>>
>>
>>
>> --
 >> Stay informed about: Urgent - histoplasmosis familiarity? 

Hi Laurie,

My daughter is going through a very similar situation with her boxer,
who is only 2. SHe also had lyme disease about a year ago.. She is
at Tuft's in MA
SHe's been in and out of the animal hospital for IV fluids. Has even
vomited blood and blood in the diarrhea.
May have histoplasmosis or cyptococcos. These are very serious and
can be life threatening parasitic/fungal infections. The dog needs IV
antibiotics for about 2 weeks, and then long term antibiotics by
mouth. DOn't waste time, as the longer she is ill, the greater the
chances it will become systemic, and that is what can be life
threatening.
Good luck.


On Mar 8, 6:38 am, "Laurie" <laurieTH....RemoveThis@verizonTRASH.net> wrote:
> Hi all - I'm new to this group and while I have a dog and I'm rabbit and cat
> experienced, I'm not a dog expert and need some help for my bf's 5 yo
> terrier mix. After 2 mo of chronic diarrhea and various diagnoses beginning
> with possible food allergies, a super regional specialist has finally given
> a diagnosis of GI histoplasmosis subject to a lab review based on his view
> of slides from bowel scraping.
>
> Stewart is about 5 years old and is a spayed female diagnosed with
> tick-borne illness at age 2 prior to being adopted by bf.  He has treated
> regularly with Frontline and periodic doxycycline course to manage erlicchia
> (sp?).  Last vet JUST prescribed 100mg doxycycline 2x per day which
> specialist just reduced to 1x per day.
>
> In last week, dog has become progressively weaker and is now vomiting and
> experiencing back end weakness. No respiratory distress or findings.
> Abdominal sonogram found nothing.  All blood work is within range EXCEPT for
> severe anemia (count about 23) doctor does not feel warrants transfusion
> quite yet.  Last night he put her on cottage cheese/white rice/chicken diet
> 3-4x per day and 1/2 immmodium a-d tablet 2x/day.
>
> Concern:  After yesterday's testing she seemed to rebound emotionally and
> ate first bland meal about 7. Had runny bm in bathroom between 10 and
> midnight and then woke up bf about 1 to go out again. Came in and threw up
> first rice/cottage cheese and then about 30 min later threw up chicken.
>
> Of course bf is trying to get hold of specialist etc to see what to do as
> now she seems worse than ever. Questions: does this sound like a "going to
> get worse before she gets better thing after changing diet" thing? Does
> anyone have experience with severe GI histoplasmosis treatment that might be
> helpful?
>
> TIA - Laurie
>
> --
 >> Stay informed about: Urgent - histoplasmosis familiarity?