Canine Neospora

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Cynthia

Canine Neospora

Post by Cynthia »

I have a 1yr. old weimaraner. My vet done an IFA test for neospora which came back positive 1:40. She has all the clinical signs including back end paralysis. It's been 7 weeks now on antibiotics with little improvement. I'm not quite sure that is what she has. I've been told the ELISA test is the best one for diagnosis and the IFA test is only positive if it's 1:50. My vet is for sure this is what she has and the titre is high. It is a terrible disease and i am unable to help her. I want to know it anyone else has a dog with neospora and there story. I would like to know if there is anything else I can do.
Annie

Re: Canine Neospora

Post by Annie »

Cynthia, I am so sorry to hear the news about your dog, the poor baby. Our dog had a FCE (spinal stroke) resulting in paralysis in the hind quarters. Fortunately, we experienced tremendous progress. If you need help on carrying for a paralyzed pet , let me know. Or you can find a lot of information about that here on the board. I did a search on this message board for canine neospora and I did not find any other related messages. I did a quick look on the internet and it appears that this disease is not very common in dogs. One article mentioned the use of sulfa compounds. I wish the very very best for you and your pet. I did try to put add a link where I find some information. I cut and pasted the treatment portion in case you can not use the link. Good luck in being able to cure her.
TREATMENT
· Clindamycin (Antirobe) [11-22mg/kg twice daily
· Potentiated sulphonamides (e.g. Tribissen Co-Trimoxazole) [15mg/kg twice daily]
· Pyrimethamine (Daraprim ,anti-malarial drug) [1mg.kg once daily]
Treatment should be instituted as soon as possible when neosporosis is suspected. Since the drugs have few side effects and are relatively cheap, this might even be before serological test results are available. If the dog is going to respond, there should be some improvement within a few days of commencing treatment Treatment should continue until the dog has fully recovered or no further clinical improvement is seen (2-9 weeks). Supportive treatment, e.g. aspirin like drugs, low doses of corticosteroids, plus good nursing care e.g. bladder expression and physiotherapy are also beneficial.
About half of appropriately treated dogs might be expected to make a full or functional recovery, although many are left with an odd gait, muscle wastage or roached back. Rigid hyperextension is the sign least likely to be reversed. If this hyperextension is unilateral, amputation of the affected limb may improve the dogs mobility. Peracute and very chronic cases are the least likely to respond.
There is anecdotal evidence that relapses may occur, but these generally respond well to a further short course of treatment
There is also evidence that some, generally more mildly affected, dogs make a spontaneous recovery.


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CarolC
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VetPet

Post by CarolC »

Hi Cynthia, You can see a posting by Critters about a website that might help you. Page back through this message board to the message JUST AT A LOSS posted by Stacie on 3/26/04. The follow-up to read is the one below it posted by Critters on 3/29/04. Also, I am only guessing, but it seems reasonable to assume your veterinarian or one of his partners may participate in sort of online forum or message board with restricted access where he can seek advice on difficult cases occasionally. If so, you might ask your vet as a favor to post about your dog's case. Even if not a lot has been published, there may be other vets out there with experience with the same condition in dogs, and they may have found something that worked better. Assuming he agrees to do this, take it upon yourself to follow up with him to see if he got any responses in a few days or a week if you don't hear from him. Mark it on your calendar. Get your courage up and be a good patient advocate for your dog, because you love him and so you won't have any regrets later. A couple of years ago when I had a tough decision to make, I asked my vet to do this. He was an oncologist, and my cat had already been FIV positive for 10 years when she got breast cancer. We didn't know whether it would be better to do surgery or not. He did post to see if anyone else had encountered that particular situation. I wish you the best in this.
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critters
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Re: Canine Neospora

Post by critters »

Try here-- http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index ... d=neospora You can also go to merckvetmanual.com and put "neospora" in the search box; seems like nobody knows too much about it. :(



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Cynthia

Re: Canine Neospora

Post by Cynthia »

Thanks Annie, for your response. The treatment you said is correct. She has been on that same treatment for almost 8 weeks now. She has shown improvement, but little to none now. Her prognosis is grave. We still fight everyday to just do normal things, but there's still hope in my mind. Hopefully it wont come to put her down, but when she lets me know that she's giving up then I will have to make that decision. I have done tons of research and there isn't much else I can do. That's the hardest thing, not being able to help her get better!
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CarolC
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USDA contact

Post by CarolC »

Hi Cynthia, I searched PubMed on NEOSPORA AND TREATMENT AND DOGS or variations thereof. I'm going to put a journal abstract at the end of this message which contains the email address of J.P. Dubey, the person at the USDA who seems to be the expert in the field, at least in the US. Dubey has been publishing on neosporosis since at least 1990. It affects cattle, and is also carried by dogs, so you're talking about the U.S. cattle industry and a lot of money. The USDA is probably working hard to learn about this disease. The abstract is from a professional medical journal in Korea, but don't be put off by that. The author has been publishing mostly in US medical journals. I chose this abstract because it appeared to be the most recent so the email address will hopefully be current. If you would print the abstract and give it to your vet, I hope your vet will email J.P. Dubey and request the latest information on treatment of neosporosis in dogs. And I hope the USDA will be prompt to reply. If I come up with anything else, will post later. Here it is:

* * * * *

Korean J Parasitol. 2003 Mar;41(1):1-16. Related Articles, Links

Erratum in:
· Korean J Parasitol. 2003 Jun;41(2):138. Dubey John P [corrected to Dubey J P]

Review of Neospora caninum and neosporosis in animals.

Dubey JP.

United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Animal and Natural Resources Institute, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Building 1001, Beltsville, Maryland, 20705-2350, USA. jdubey@anri.barc.usda.gov

Neospora caninum is a coccidian parasite of animals. It is a major pathogen for cattle and dogs and it occasionally causes clinical infections in horses, goats, sheep, and deer. Domestic dogs are the only known definitive hosts for N. caninum. It is one of the most efficiently transmitted parasite of cattle and up to 90% of cattle in some herds are infected. Transplacental transmission is considered the major route of transmission of N. caninum in cattle. Neospora caninum is a major cause of abortion in cattle in many countries. To elicit protective immunity against abortion in cows that already harbor a latent infection is a major problem. This paper reviews information on biology, diagnosis, epidemiology and control of neosporosis in animals.

Publication Types:
· Review
· Review, Tutorial

PMID: 12666725 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

* * * * *

Annie

Re: Canine Neospora

Post by Annie »

Boy, that is the toughest thing, to love her so much while bearing that feeling of helplessness. Unfortunately it happens some times and fate is out of our control. All you can do is hope very hard (as we are hoping and wishing very hard for you and your pet)and love her to pieces. Keep things as normal as possible like you said, while giving her the extra attention she deserves. Animals are so intuitive. She knows you are doing all you can and she is comforted by your love. Keep the hope as long as you can. And as you said, if and when the fight is over, gain the strength from her love. Best of wishes to you and your pet.
Cynthia

Re: Canine Neospora

Post by Cynthia »

Thanks to all for the interest and insight! I have requested my vet to send another neospora test to a different lab for a second opinion. I have also found a weimaraner mailing list by a lady named Deloris. It's called the holistic weim list. This Deloris is a veterinary homepath that practices natural means of helping animals along with or after the vet has done all they can do. This is a great place to visit! I found a holistic consulting service Vet in Conway, AR named Pat Bradley. She can do most just over the phone. I recommend everyone check out the possibility of natural help when nothing else seems to be working. It's always worth a try! My Mariah still is unable to get up and walk, but she has started using the most problematic leg to scratch with, so this is some sort of improvement. We are still hoping and planning to try the holistic way.
Annie

Re: Canine Neospora

Post by Annie »

Hi Cynthia,
I am so happy that you have found another avenue to pursue. And scratching with a leg is very definitely a positive thing! We are hoping for you and Mariah and wishing you the best of luck with your holistic approach. Please keep us posted on how you and Mariah are doing!
Annie
Cynthia

Re: Scratch All Over

Post by Cynthia »

We do that scratching thing and her legs do try to scratch with me, It's so funny. The most impressive thing is, last night as I was letting her out to potty, I hollered for her to come in and she pushed herself almost all the way up a few times a stood for maybe 2 seconds. I almost came to tears, I was so excited! I was hoping she would just jump up and take off, but I have to be realistic. I'm just proud she's still trying. I have faith that she will regain some walking abilities.
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Scratch All Over

Post by CarolC »

Hi Cynthia, Well, at least you know you are pursuing all options. I'm sorry he didn't have more, but glad he got back to you so promptly. That is absolutely fantastic about the scratching. You might get a smile out of this. My dog was suffering from rear end paralysis (like yours, only from an accident) and her physical therapist described an exercise I could do with her. I call it Scratch All Over. You just get down with the dog and begin scratching her briskly all over her back, neck, etc., till you hopefully find an itchy spot and she starts pumping her leg in response. This is good exercise for the leg, and even when she doesn't begin kicking, it's still our funnest therapy! ;) One thing about rear end paralysis is that improvement can be very slow. You may not see improvement by days, you may not even see it by weeks sometimes, but I have seen it by months in my dog. It is simply up to us to recalibrate our inner clocks and adjust our expectations. If someone had told me back on September 23rd that I would not see my dog walk 4 steps until 6 months, and not have the thrill of seeing her run 3 feet till 6 1/2 months, I would have said, "OK, I can go with that." Instead, I was hoping she'd be standing at 2 months and got worried when she didn't. I expected her to begin walking at 4 months, and got stressed when she didn't. I'd heard if they aren't walking by 6 months you might as well throw in the towel. Fortunately, before 6 months rolled around I had readjusted my expectations to the pace I was seeing in her. I am still having to be patient, but we're gettin' there! Very best wishes to you as you work with Mariah. I hope your will *keep posting* on how she is doing. Her progress sounds good! :)
Cynthia

Re: USDA contact

Post by Cynthia »

I already have contacted Mr. Dubey. He has given me some info, but not much to go on. Thanks for your info!!!

Cynthia
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critters
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Re: Canine Neospora

Post by critters »

Sorry you didn't get a good response from VetPet. Unfortunately, sometimes it happens that way. :(
Annie

That's terrific news! Yeah for Mariah!

Post by Annie »

Keep up the great work Cynthia!
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Re: Scratch All Over

Post by CarolC »

Hi Cynthia, That is absolutely fantastic! Do you have some sort of sling you can put under her belly to help boost her to her feet and steady her? (Maybe you're using a sling to walk her outside?) There are slings and harnesses available through the homepage of this website or you can cook one up. At the vet they usually just use a towel under the tummy. Or you might manage with a king sized pillowcase. I've read you can use a canvas firewood carrier with a large dog. Honestly, if you have a canvas tote bag with good handles, I don't know why you couldn't just trim the sides out so it's flat and use that. With a sling you could practice a few sit/stands if she seems to feel up to it, or at least help her up after she potties. Good girl, Mariah! That's super!
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