Diseases specific to Mexico and area??

by **AllisonPibbleLvr** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 7:29 pm

So I have two foster pups that flew in from Mexico nearly a week ago. This week I noticed one is much more laid back than the other and assumed it was just a difference in personality.

The past couple of days, Diego has been screaming sometimes when I pick him up. He's also a bit unsteady in the hind end. I thought he was just dramatic/frightened and clumsy. But to be safe, I had one of the doctors look at him. He's painful! His hind legs are quite sore.

The other two pups from another litter that came here are being empirically treated with doxycycline for possible ehrlichia/typhus/spotted fever but it doesn't say why they suspected they were ill.

We tested him with a 4Dx test and it was negative for heartworm, ehrlichia, Lyme and anaplasmosis. He's only two weeks so too young for pano.

Is there anything else that he could have contracted down there that we should be looking for?

Dora, his littermate, has none of the same symptoms.

by **BrokenAquarian** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 10:45 am

Does distemper cause symptoms like that?

by **jtalt7** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 1:37 pm

We frequently saw ecanis, bcanis and bgibsoni from Mexico. Also valley fever, but puppies that young should not have issues with vf yet. I guess anything could be possible.

by **AllisonPibbleLvr** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 1:42 pm

No I think distemper starts with runny nose/eyes then progresses to GI symptoms.

His CBC showed that there's definitely something going on. His platelets are low. We are starting him on doxycycline (it's the preferred treatment for many of these potential issues) and we will see how he does over the weekend. Poor little man is so stoic.

by **jtalt7** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 5:55 pm

How old?

by **jtalt7** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 5:56 pm

Sorry just saw 2 wks ??? Is that right?

by **Leslie H** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 6:35 pm

I think she meant 2 months, there's a thread in General about them in which she mentions 9 weeks old.
I hope the doxy turns things in the right direction for Diego.

by **AllisonPibbleLvr** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 8:11 pm

That's right, sorry. They are just over nine weeks old.

Now the little girl has started with a bit of a wet sneeze.

by **Mooresmajestic** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 8:25 pm

Did they test them for parvo? A heavy parasite load maybe? A URI?

by **AllisonPibbleLvr** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 12:40 am

No parvovirus symptoms. The sneeze just came up today. The main symptom is joint/bone pain in the male.

by **jtalt7** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 11:50 am

Id run a complete fungal panel for the sw region and tick panel including babesia. Valley Fever (coccidiomycosis) is everywhere down there but typically not seen that young. My pup was the youngest people had heard of at 5mos back in 06.

by **jtalt7** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 11:51 am

Blasto could be a possibility too but Ive only seen it in the midwest, more of a river delta type fungus

by **AllisonPibbleLvr** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 1:13 pm

Thanks jtalt7. I'll look into that. I never like sending pups to a new home without solving any medical mysteries so the family can know what they're getting into.

He seems to be much less painful today after his third dose of doxy.
I can pick him up without him yelping or crying.

Otherwise, they're both doing great which makes me optimistic.
They're eating very well, running around, playing, and have nice normal poops.