Another dog with strep...

[fightingmom]

So, my dog is sick and wound up in the ER today. Ironically, his major symptom was that he was urinating frequently and even peed on his bed! I took him in and he had a fever of 105.4 and they did blood work, urinalysis, took sample of yuck from inside his ear (recurrent ear infections are an issue for him).

 

In his ear, they found yeast and cocci. In his blood they found cocci and in his urine they found cocci, which were specifically listed as: "cocci chains" AND "rods spores". They said cocci is either strep or staph -- and the rods are bacillus. So, I looked these up:

 

Under a microscope strep usually looks like a chain of cocci while staph looks like a cluster of grapes formation.

---Well, that's just great. So it's strep.

 

genus Bacillus contains a very large number of nested taxa and majorly in both 16S and 23S it is paraphyletic to Lactobacillales (Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Listeria, etc.),

---I will admit, I had to look up the word paraphyletic. And, it seems that it's basically saying it's related to these other bacteria.

 

That's a little unsettling, no? I also have a cat that has stomatitis - I had posted about it here. It can be caused by strep.

http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=16861

 

My son has not been nearly as bad as he was prior to abx, BUT his behavior has been amping up a bit the last week. Makes me wonder if this is related.

[bulldog24]

Did they test the dog for lyme too? They shoud have.

 

my gut is that a lot of pets are carriers.

 

Are they gonna culture it?

 

Clavamox is doggie augmentin.

[fightingmom]

Did they test the dog for lyme too? They shoud have.

 

my gut is that a lot of pets are carriers.

 

Are they gonna culture it?

 

Clavamox is doggie augmentin.

 

No they didn't, but it's funny you asked because I almost asked them too. Though, I think i made them think I was a little nutty already by asking specifically about the types of bacteria and asking them to give it to me on paper for my son's doctor. Bahaha.

 

They did not plan to culture it, but I have to take him to the regular vet next week anyway. He is really sick, had some kidney values come back abnormal, specific gravity a bit low, high BUN, high GLOB, high RDWa/RDW% AND abnormal WBC distribution. Other numbers indicate he's anemic as well. He's on amoxicillin and cipro, as well as antibiotic some drops for his ears -- and flagyl as they said at the ER he had some nasty foul smelling diarrhea. I was disappointed by the plain ole amoxi instead of something with clav acid, but maybe I'll try to get the vet to change it too.

 

I think I'll ask them to culture the crap in his ears and also do a lyme test at the vet next week.

Edited May 5, 2012 by fightingmom

[bulldog24]

the lyme test is easy. You get accurate results in 10 min. Lyme causes A LOT of kidney issues in dogs. Babesia can cause anemia I would do it asap. They can do it in the hospital results in 10 min and its prob around 70 bucks. (also checks for anaplasma and heartworm

 

They prob cant culture anything now because hes on abx.

 

dont worry too much about the amoxi. Cipro will kick some butt

[fightingmom]

He is home now. His temp went down after IV so they said he could come home as Long as he eats and drinks normally. So, I can't have them do it now.

 

I'll take him to the vet tomorrow and ask them to do it. Thanks for all the help!!

Edited May 6, 2012 by fightingmom

[tpotter]

Yes, unfortunately, pets can be carriers. Your DS was probably reacting. My vet is totally aware of my childrens' autoimmune stuff, and he actually "gets it" better than most human doctors around here. He gives us absolutely no trouble with abx when we suspect the dog has something.

 

Your DS will probably be better now that the dog has been treated. And, yes, I would also test for lyme.

[fightingmom]

Does it ever end? I swear.

 

Was looking this up a bit ago. Found a study in different strains of streptococcus pneumonia found in animals vs humans:

 

. The isolates found in mastomys, mice, rats, cats, dogs, gorilla and dolphins are most likely identical to human pneumococcal isolates. Isolates from guinea pigs and horses appear to be specialized clones for these animals. Our data redraw attention to the fact that pneumococci are not strictly human pathogens. Pet animals that live in close contact to humans, especially children, can be infected by human isolates and also carriage of even resistant isolates is a realistic possibility.

 

http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0008286

 

 

I'd really love to find something showing the specific serotypes found in dogs and cats and compare them to our titers...just out of curiosity.