Dog Community

Sassy and the continuing saga

Posted : 3/6/2006 9:33:56 PM

Some may remember the posts on the other board about Sassy and her infections (yeast, staph and pseudomonas) which started in Jan. They put her on Ketaconazale, Cipro and Clindamycin for 21 days. Her tummy area (staph & pseudomonas) and her vulva area (yeast) looked all healed. We went in for the one week prior to quitting antibiotics check and agreed it all looked good. Ended antibiotics and 3 days later the tummy area was inflamed again. They called in a refill on the Cipro and Clindamycin and she's been on another 21 day round of that just finished last night. A few days ago, I noticed that the vulva area was inflamed again, even worse than before. So today I had an appt with the lead dermatologist and she was pretty dismayed by what she saw. She did take a culture and it showed yeast, a tiny bit of bacteria, but mostly she said it showed a LOT of white blood cells. She also found that her back feet between the paws was pretty raw and irritated. So, her suggestion was to put her on 14 more days of Ketaconazale and Clindomycin (no Cipro) and a short-term course of steroids. She said she could do an injection but it stays in the system for 8 weeks and she doesn't want that. She wants to see short-term results to give her an idea of whether this is allergy related or ? Sassy will take 1 1/2 pills for 4 days and then 1 1/2 pills every other day for 3 days. She said she wants to see if that reduces the inflammation and from there we'll decide to go with allergy testing or Atopica. I asked which direction she would prefer to go and she said with the Atopica because allergy serums can take up to 8 months to see results and the reactions that Sassy's having could become quite problematic during that time. She also said that she actually "hopes" to see that this is an allergy related issue. I assume that's because if it isn't, there are less opportunities on how to address it. Honestly, by the time I left there I could hardly think. I feel like I've been thru 2 months of chasing this around and my head is overflowing with information. I trust this derm vet. She's one of only a handful here in Sacramento and is highly regarded. She lectures at vet conferences, etc. I stood at the counter, paying another huge bill, and thought "I wonder if I should go to a Holistic Vet" and then thought "I have no money to chase another possible cure nor can I keep asking for time off from work"....so, I guess we'll see what happens with the new round of drugs and hope for the best.

dyan

Posted : 3/6/2006 9:49:57 PM

Oh boy Cathy. Well for sure if she is all flared up again you have to clear it up and I'm sure the meds are the only way to do that! I'm not real sure of what your talking about when you say that she doesn't know if she wants to go with allergy testing or atopica! I guess I don't know what Atopica is, because I thought it was a condition.
This medication will no doubt clear her up again, and I hope that it stays cleared up. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree, but it seems to me that you need to know what she is allergic to.
Oh I feel so bad for you. I sure know how you feel.

cakana

Posted : 3/6/2006 10:05:13 PM

Dyan - I honestly don't know much about Atopica (Cyclosporine) other than it's a steroid type of drug but supposedly doesn't have the longterm drawbacks as steroids. I'd seen some other folks on the old site mention that their dogs were on it and doing well. It's not cheap though, but nothing's been "cheap" lately anyway. I'm homecooking for her every weekend and reading everything I can to get a handle on this, but I'm feeling pretty worn out tonight. On a lighter note - I cooked some pork chops for her yesterday but kept a couple out for my husband and I for dinner. When we were eating last night, he said "you're cooking this for her??? Oh my gosh, she's eating so much better than we are". I had to agree they were some pretty yummy chops [

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dyan

Posted : 3/6/2006 11:13:52 PM

Get some rest Cathy,,,,and keep your chin up! You have a good vet and he's going to help you. Don't loose faith, try not to let it get you down.
Most of all keep injoying Sassy, because she is happy and loves you guys back!!!
She'll get better!!!

jessies_mom

Posted : 3/7/2006 8:55:32 AM

Cathy, It sounds like Sassy is going to be feeling better with the treatments this derm vet is prescribing. IMO, your wise to work with her instead of trying more vets. From what you described about her, she seems well qualified. A good vet that understands skin and allergy problems, in my experience, can be hard to find, so I would work with her for awhile. Besides seeing the derm vet a year ago for Jessie's allergies I also changed regular vets last summer. The vet Jessie has now understands the effects serious allergies can have on a dog's health much better than our other vet. If we had been seeing him before, she would have been tested much sooner and wouldn't have suffered as much. We don't have a holistic vet in our area but I read three books by three nationally known holistic vets and tried their suggestions like frequent bathing, an expensive supplement called Moducare, a natural antihistamine called quercitin, topical treatments like aloe vera for hot spots, and many other things, but they weren't enough. It's also dangerous to treat a dog with herbs wiithout actually seeing a holistic vet since herbs can be very potent and must be used carefully, so I didn't want to overdo it.
I think you should relax a little now and have some confidence in this derm vet and her ability to help Sassy.[

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Keep us posted on how Sassy responds to the steroids and what the derm vet decides to do. You sure do deserve some good news for Sassy's problems.

Julie Beveridge

Posted : 3/7/2006 10:56:46 AM

Just a thought here, but could her allergies be something other than food? Like the laundry detergent, doggy shampoo, even the dish soap you use? Something on the grass you have her walking on? Sometimes I wonder if it is something other than systemic. I had a bassett once and she had horrible skin problems and I finally figured out she was allergic to my hand cream, and then I was petting her.
Just a thought.
Julie

dyan

Posted : 3/7/2006 10:57:01 AM

I agree with Jessies Mom! RELAX and see what happens for now with this vet and treatment!

Jessies Mom brought up Moducare. I'm not positive if we talked about it but a poster here years ago used Mocuare and swore by it, said it was the only thing that helped. That was going to be our last resort with Ollie, I had the website ready to order it. And we didn't need it. But Cathy, there are other things to do IF this fails so don't feel at a loss,,, you and Sassy will be just fine! Enjoy her!

dyan

Posted : 3/7/2006 11:02:10 AM

Momtomany is right! A Dane in a family that my son knows finally got allergies under control, and all of a sudden they flared up again, and it took a while before they realized it was DIFFERENT AFTERSHAVE lotion that Jason used.

jennie_c_d

Posted : 3/7/2006 3:39:10 PM

Poor Sassy! I hope her new medicine helps and you can get her straightened out. I know it's rough.....

cindy Lachapelle

Posted : 3/7/2006 8:55:56 PM

Wow, do I feel stupid. For some reason I could not log on since the change. Cathy so sorry about Sassy. I haven't any suggestions except to offer support and say I hear you. Went to my Mom's for weekend with Brandy and well she is the little old lady that feeds everything. She cooks up animal body parts for the stray cats and the hungry dog next door. The neighbours no and don't care. Anyway she was upset with the food I have Brandy on and kept saying how sad it was that all of the strays get good food and poor Brandy couldn't have any. She was on the elimination diet for 3 weeks of vet food. Well she found a beggin strip, 2 actually and ate them and god knows what else off of the floor. Well she is at home now and still scratching. Can't honestly say any more or any less. Getting her clipped right down tomorrow to ward of the skin infections so I can keep her coat cleaner. This is so hard. Just wish I knew if it was food or not. Can't afford the $600.00? right now. At least I have been able to keep her from getting any infections. I really feel for you and Sassy. Keep us informed. Good luck, Cindy.

cakana

Posted : 3/7/2006 11:32:19 PM

Thanks for everyone's thoughtful replies. What a great support group this site is for times like this!!
I had to get up at 4 AM to catch a flight to Los Angeles for a meeting and had trouble sleeping. I sort of fell apart last night thinking about all that's been going on with Sassy and not feeling certain that we've yet got it under control. Just generally feeling helpless. I feel better today (despite a verrrryyyyyy long day [

]) and really want to relax a little and trust that this vet has Sassy's best interests at heart. She spent a long time chatting with me and going over what different directions we could go and what her hopes for an outcome were (regarding treatement). I liked her so much and trusted her, so I'm going to hang in for the next week or so and hopefully we'll get the infections under control and decide where to go from there.

Again - thanks all for your thoughtful replies. It really helps at times like this.

tashakota

Posted : 3/8/2006 12:58:32 PM

Just wanted to add my 2 cents worth. We have one of our dogs on Atopica, and it is a newer medication. It's not a steroid and safe for long term use. We went through LOTS of things with Pepper to find out what the issues are. We did have her tested and she's allergic to everything! Grass, trees, dust mites, pollen, etc. so we can't keep her in a bubble. She gets Atopica 3 times a week and it costs us about $85 a month to keep her on it. She's getting worse again cause it's springtime and things are beginning to bud around here. We tried allergy shots, which you can get after the tests, but we have since taken her off and we didn't notice any increase in her symptoms after ceasing that last summer. However, if we ever decreased her dose of Atopica, her symptoms got worse. She is also given a squirt of Omega-3 Fatty Acids that we get from the vet, on her food twice a day. This helps her coat shine and fill out.

I swear by Atopica. Before Atopica, she had to sleep in her crate downstairs by herself because she'd wake me up at night with her itching.

cakana

Posted : 3/8/2006 3:58:31 PM

Thanks Leslie. I was hoping to hear from someone using Atopica. I've read a little about it and I know it's considered safe. Heck, anythings got to be safer than all the antibiotics that still aren't doing the trick, right? Do you alter her doses (increase/decrease) based on symptoms? Have there been any downsides to the meds (weight gain, sleepy, etc.)? Cost wise - I'm thinking $85 dollars a month will feel like a bargain after what we've spent Jan-now. I'm pretty sure we're over $800 and we're still just trying to clear up the infections.

Mary

Posted : 3/8/2006 4:36:53 PM

Cyclosporine is an immune suppresant that inhibits T-lymphocytes. It is really important that the infection/yeast overgrowth gets cleared up before she starts on the med because it suppreses the bodies ability to fight off infections. Because of that too - it is really important to be careful about giving vaccines. In humans it causes a variety of issues, but in dogs I think the most common possible risk is vomiting and diarrhea. I'm unsure about long term though.
Hope Sassy feels better soon!

cakana

Posted : 3/8/2006 8:44:56 PM

Mary - thanks for the added info. I did some more research today regarding Atopica and you're right about the side effects. Ugh- quite common too. I also read about the vaccinations. Fortunately, we had Sassy vaccinated last summer and she's good for 3 years now. I wouldn't even want to have to put her thru that.