In my post informing all you lovely people that Hazel had died in the early hours of Wednesday morning I included:
There has been so much interest and concern over her from you all that I wanted to post this without delay. We will be arranging to have the exact cause of death determined so that, too, may be shared with you all.
The background is that our vet, Dr. Jim Goodbrod, had been in touch with the appropriate health authority with regard to the risk of Coccidioidomycosis, the medical term for the fungal infection of Hazel’s lungs that was the first diagnosis of what was ailing Hazel. Reason why is that Coccidioidomycosis can be a danger to humans if the spores in a body are released following the corpse being open up.
The next step was that Oregon State University (OSU) expressed an interest in doing further research on Hazel’s body because Coccidioidomycosis was so rarely seen in Oregon. That would have entailed shipping Hazel’s body up to Corvallis in Oregon and then having her cremated up there.
In the end, we thought that the most dignified way of treating Hazel was to have her cremated by Stephens locally in Grants Pass. They have been very kind in keeping Hazel’s body chilled while we worked out the if’s and how’s of working with OSU.
We expect that by the end of today, Friday, our lovely dog will have been cremated.
On Saturday, I will be publishing a eulogy to Hazel and Sunday’s Picture Parade will be devoted to remembering the beautiful dog that she was.
The learning and healing journey continues with Hazel.
The title to today’s post came from Dr. Jim Goodbrod, DVM. When he and I were taking a walk yesterday Jim mentioned that diagnosing exactly what an animal is suffering from is as much an art as it is a science.
Jim and Janet are close friends and neighbours who live a couple of roads away. Jim also attends the Lincoln Road Vet Clinic on a part-time basis. Off his own volition he has been speaking with Dr. Codd (Russ) about the situation with Hazel and the pair of them are showing incredible devotion to getting to the bottom of what is happening.
So, like yesterday’s post, today is being offered to you in the spirit of information. Forgive me if I repeat the caution from yesterday. (This is being written at 4pm on April 19th, 2016.)
CAUTION: The following is offered by way of information reaching out to other loving dog owners. Please do not assume I have any specialist veterinarian knowledge and please do not take the following as a replacement for seeing your own vet.
Late on Sunday afternoon Hazel was becoming so weak and lethargic that Jean and I feared that she wouldn’t make it through the night. So it was wonderful to see that she was alive and still connected to the world at 6am yesterday; Monday. Nonetheless, Hazel had not eaten since Saturday afternoon and was only drinking very small amounts of water. We made the decision to ring the Clinic as soon as they opened on Monday at 8am. They recommended that Hazel be brought in to go on to an IV drip to boost her anti-fungal intake and also to receive an anti-nausea intake to help her regain an appetite. But there was the question hanging over everyone that if this was a fungal infection, as in Coccidioidomycosis, that is not present in the Oregonian soil but is found in the drier parts of the USA and Mexico then why had it been such a long time before it brought Hazel down?
Jean also had this suspicion that Hazel might be suffering from a form of ‘Tick Fever’ that is very common in Mexico.
So off we went to the Clinic again. There were discussions about the whole situation.
Dr. Codd (RHS) speaking with Jean at the Clinic.
Dr. Codd took a quick blood test and, bingo, it revealed that Hazel was showing that she had, or had had in the past, an Ehrlichia Infection; a tick-borne infection.
The lower of the left-hand spots is the indicator of a past or present Ehrlichia Infection.
The cure for that was a course of Doxycycline.
So now we are looking at battling two separate diseases.
The blood that was taken from Hazel last Friday, when she also had radiographs taken of her lungs, had been sent for a ‘titre’ that would confirm one way or another if her lungs were suffering from a fungal infection. Those results will be available on Wednesday or Thursday of this week.
One of the radiographs taken of Hazel.
Back to Hazel’s lack of appetite. One of the side-effects of Fluconazole is that it depresses appetite. Getting Hazel eating again was becoming a priority. It seemed to make sense that until we had confirmation of whether or not Hazel had a lung fungal infection, for which taking Fluconazole would be an excellent course of action, we should pause in her dose until the results were in. To speed up the return of an appetite Dr. Jim prescribed a short course of Mirtazipine.
So that’s about it for the time being. Except for Jean and me to say how much we appreciate the art and the science that is being so skillfully offered by the Clinic. (As of 19:00 PDT yesterday Hazel was eating again! 🙂 )
Great team effort!
Their “Special Love of Animals” comes over in spades!
CAUTION: The following is offered by way of information reaching out to other loving dog owners. Please do not assume I have any specialist veterinarian knowledge and please do not take the following as a replacement for seeing your own vet.
About three or four weeks ago we noticed that Hazel’s bark was changing, almost as though she had a sore throat. In every other way she continued being the happy, lively dog that she is.
Then very suddenly last Thursday she started sicking up white, foamy bile and went off her food. Hazel rapidly became lethargic and lacking any vigour. Last Friday we took Hazel to our local Lincoln Road Vet Clinic and she was seen by Dr. Russ Codd, DVM. He took xrays that showed that Hazel’s lungs were far from being as clear as they should be. Potentially, Dr. Codd said that we could be looking at one of three things:
Some form of bronchial pnemonia,
A fungal infection of the lungs,
Cancer.
In view of the fact that Hazel hadn’t been coughing that ruled out 1.
Dr. Codd forwarded the xray pictures to a specialist. Later came the information that the spherules in her lungs, as seen on the xray pictures, were not as would be expected with a cancer diagnosis. Dr. Codd concluded that Hazel was indicating a fungal lung infection. Especially as this is commonly found in hot, drier parts of the USA and Mexico. Hazel was an ex-rescue from Mexico and for a couple of years we lived in Payson, Arizona.
The medical term for the disease is Coccidioidomycosis and I republish a little of what may be read over on the Pet MD website:
Coccidioidomycosis in Dogs
Mycosis is the medical term for any disorder caused by a fungus. Coccidioidomycosis comes from inhalation of a soil-borne fungus which normally affects the dog’s respiratory system. However, it is known (even likely) to spread out into other body systems.
The fungus spores begin in the lungs as round spherules, and live in a parasitic stage in the lungs until they grow large enough to rupture, releasing hundreds of endospores, which then begin a parasitic stage in the tissues, growing and rupturing, spreading out (disseminating) into the body perpetually. Endospores can also take a faster route through the body by way of the lymphatic and blood vessel systems, resulting in systemic infection — meaning the entire body will be affected. Coccidioidomycosis sets in from 7 to 20 days after exposure, though some dogs can develop immunity and never show any symptoms, especially younger dogs.
Dogs that are susceptible to the infection can become ill from only a small amount of the Coccidioides fungus, and fewer than 10 fungus spores are needed to cause the disorder. And though uncommon, Coccidioidomycosis is a deadly disease that originates mainly in the arid, hot regions of the western and southwestern regions of the U.S., and in several Central and South American countries. Coccidioidomycosis affects many different types of mammals, but tends to occur more commonly in dogs than cats. This infection is also known as valley fever, California fever, Cocci, and desert fever.
The condition or disease described in this medical article can affect both dogs and cats. If you would like to learn more about how this disease affects cats, please visit this page in the PetMD health library.
Dr. Codd recommended getting Hazel on a course of antibiotics with Fluconazole being his first choice. That commenced on Friday afternoon.
Early today (Monday) Dr. Codd will be seeking to narrow down the diagnosis with further analysis of Hazel’s blood being undertaken because while he was confident that it is a fungal infection he wanted to confirm precisely the nature of the infection.
I will publish more information as it comes to hand and close with these photographs taken yesterday afternoon.
Hazel taking a very slow walk outside.
oooo
But most of the time she just wanted to be left on her own in our bedroom.
We are holding Hazel very close to our hearts just now.
Learning from Dogs 