January 2010

 

Derby is a 7 yr old male Dalmatian who came to us from KY with a cough. Our vet treated it as kennel cough with Doxycycline. A week went by and he started to deteriorate so our vet put him on stronger meds (Batrim) . After a week of antibiotics his foster mom was starting to panic. He was not recovering – he was declining.

 

As luck would have it, was late at night when he took a turn for the worse.  The only vet open was the ER vet. They put him on IVs - stronger meds (an antibiotic they use for horses). They tested him for a fungus called Blastomycosis. It is a fungus that grows along the river banks of the Ohio River Valley. Animals inhale it and it affects their lungs and other organs. He was negative.

 

He was not responding to treatment. He continued to lose weight and was unstable on his feet. The vet wanted to euthanize. We wanted to continue to try. Our vet put him on Clyndamyacin and we moved Derb to another foster home who could be with him 24/7.

 

As a last ditch effort we called the KY shelter to find out “what” they had going on there in the way of upper respiratory infections, and if they could lend us some guidance. They had a dog a few months ago with “bad” kennel cough and had wonderful success treating him with Clyndamyacin (300 mg a day) and Chloraphenicol (3000 mg a day) Yes, 3000mgs. The Chloraphenicol is dangerous to humans so his foster mommies had to wear gloves to handle the stuff.

 

We figured we spent a lot of time and energy trying to keep him alive and as weak as he was his tail was still waggin so we shouldn’t give up. It took two of us to give him the meds. We syringed baby food chicken into him every two hours. It was a tough few days but within 48 hours he was eating on his own and even looking for food. (please don’t think we are saints, or a rescue angels. Truth be told we are stubborn old women….and ok, he had the saddest eyes.

 

There is light in them now. He still has a way to go but is slowly rebuilding muscle tone. He is just a big lug of lovable Dalmatian.