I have a basenji girl about 2 years old that has had valley fever for about 1 year. I would like suggestions on treatment other than bloodtest every 3 months. She has been on meds. Her titer count has stayed about the same at 1:32 as of last sept. I would like to get her off the medication or at least all the bloodtest every 3 months. She also takes half of a vitiam C pill.
She shows no sign of vally fever execpt the first sign of the seizure. She has the tipical high energy and eats everything. Any suggestions.
LC
In general I would say talk to your vet - get more information from him/her first regarding the lack of signs.
More specifically, I never heard of valley fever (I'm not a expert on diseases though either) so could you provide some additional information on the indications for the rest of us so we could learn?
http://www.dlrrphoenix.org/vf.html
Here is a link to Valley Fever.
You may also want to try getting in touch with some breeders down in the Phoenix area…I know they've had experience with the disease.
Kathy from Khanis Basenjis (on the forum) also has had experience with Valley Fever.
You can email me off here at bennyburnerbono at aol dot com.
I had a boy that contracted VF while we were at the October 1999 BCOA National [go figured Mom brought home an AOM and all Benny got was VF!].
He succombed to Fanconi Syndrome in the end, but was plagued wtih serious bouts of VF from age 3 to age 11.
It is a horrific disease. My auntie [lives in Glendale, AZ] has it and told me years ago that 1 in 5 adults living in the SW has it. YUK is all that I can say!
Our Maxx was diagnosed with Valley Fever back in 2006. We had him on Fluconozole from that time until his death last month. We did not have blood work done every 3 months…usually once or twice a year (mainly because, at the time, we were fulltime RVers and saw our regular vet only during the winter in Arizona).
Unfortunately, most vets in areas other than the Southwest, where Valley Fever is endemic, don't know anything about Valley Fever. So people and pets who visit the Southwest and then return to their homes up north and come down with unexplained symptoms, have a long wait for the proper diagnosis (which was our case...we were volunteering at a National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon when the first symptoms appeared...didn't get the proper diagnosis until a few months later when a vet in Sutherlin, Oregon sent a tissue sample to someplace in Colorado).
Tanza's Valley Fever link is a good one...be sure to visit the link on that page to the Valley Fever Center for Excellence which is located in Tucson, Arizona.
The reasons for routine labwork while being treated for Valley Fever are varied but necessary and is really not something to mess around with or cut corners on. VF untreated can and will kill your dog.
1:32 VF titer tests is rather significant. Ideally you want 1:4 or less than 1:4 for a period of time before you can even THINK about weaning off the antifungal - even off the meds you would be wise to recheck the bloodwork - including a VF test about 3-6 months after stopping to make sure there is not a resurgence of the disease. If the titer remains high in spite of being on antifungals - time to consider changing the antifungal.
As for lack of symptoms - that is another reason for labwork - as the labwork can show us what the body is doing and how it is responding to the meds since the symptoms can be very subtle to begin with.
At our clinic - we first test 4 to 6 weeks after starting antifungal - we do Chemistries/CBC to make sure the antifungal is not wreaking havoc with the liver as they can be liver toxic.
Second test - about 3-4 months later - same reason as above (in addition to seeing if the proteins usually affected by the VF are changing/decreasing) only this time we would normally add on a VF titer test to see if there has been any positive change.
We would then usually rec'd labwork every 4-6 months while on antifungals until we get a negative result, resolution of symptoms with a 1:4 or less than 1:4 titer, or both. As long as you are on an antifungal - labs need to be done at least every 6 months or so as you do not want to kill your liver in the process or dmage it to a point of no return.
Sadly some dogs will have to be on low doses of anitfungals for life as their immune system can not build a proper response and heal itself - especially if it settles in the brain, bone or an organ. And yes - that means lab work at least once if not twice a year.
This is the first time I"ve heard of Valley Fever affecting dogs. When I worked ICU in California years ago I had 2 patients with VF neither of which survived it. It seems particularly prevalent in the earthquake zones of California when the dust is disturbed.
This is the first time I"ve heard of Valley Fever affecting dogs. When I worked ICU in California years ago I had 2 patients with VF neither of which survived it. It seems particularly prevalent in the earthquake zones of California when the dust is disturbed.
Valley Fever is not uncommon in dogs. I had an employee get Valley Fever, she did recover from it. It was during a very, very long hot spell with lots of wind and dust… no earthquakes however
Sadly, VF is very prevalant in dogs especially in Arizona.
Each week at work we probably diagnose between 2-5 cases of it.
It is beleived every human in Tucson has been exposed to it though we would never know it, writing it off as the flu. Not everyone shows signs or symptoms and most never need any kind of treatment. Not so with dogs. It knocks them to hell and back oftentimes.
Nasty, nasty disease. Thank doG for antifungals!
What a nasty disease, I have heard of it for years, and read about dogs very debilitated from it. I'll keep the gators and hurricanes, thanks, and stay away from the southwest!
Thanks Pat and Linda for great information.
