OK - so back in October I had Wes and Jerry both 'Tick Tested' through GPI ... They had a panel of 6 tests done each (Babesia Canis, Ehrlichia Canis, Lyme Disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Valley Fever and E Equi (Anaplasmosis). Although - Valley Fever is not a 'tick disease' but a fungus ... it is one of the tests that could be included in the panel. I wanted to have the whole panel done because the fact that they could have been bitten by a tick before I got them earlier this year (May / June respectively). Also, when Al-E (my previous greyhound) was sick and we were trying to figure out what the growths were in her lungs - it was either cancer or Valley Fever. Oh what torture it was waiting to find out which it was. Thus, if Wes and/or Jerry were positive for any of the above - I was going to be able to treat them right away rather than waiting until any signs or symptoms surfaced.
So .... test results came back all negative except for Babesia. Wes was a definite positive and Jerry was a 'suspect' with a titre of 1:40. Wes' titre was 1:320. Difficulty being that Imizol is not available in Canada for treatment. Also, my vet nor my previous vet was / is able to treat for Babesia .... So 'road trip'! to Lynden, Washington. The treatment with Imizol is 2 injections (1 injection 2 weeks apart) with the vet monitoring the patient for 4-5 hours after the injection. Wes' threw up and was salivating quite a bit after his first injection - and later that night. Nothing major .... and then 2 weeks later after our return for his section injection he had a little more salivating but no throwing up that time. Done ... treatment 'finito' for now. We will test both the boys again at the next Tick Testing Clinic that GPI does.
A few notes about the Imizol shots off the top of my head ...
- best to have the injection intramuscular (rather than subcutaneous). It does hurt more but less chance of skin lesion at the injection site
- the vet administered something (can't remember right now but will include when I check the paperwork) to ease Wes' effects of the injection
- after drawing up the required amount of Imizol in the syringe - the needle should be changed with a new one for administering to the dog
Note on Jerry's 'suspect' - with such a low titre - he could have that titre if their Mom had Babesia. So, this is something I will monitor and retest to see how his numbers are...
There's the update on Babesia ...
Next post - shall I update on the 'black-bellies' ... yeah!! Stay tuned to see how the boys bellies are looking!
