discussion about dogs and strep

[bulldog24]

Here is my 2 cents for what its worth....

DOGS can be carriers of Strep! When my son didnt seem to be getting better after being 100% and going down hill, I had a gut feeling that my dog was an issue. I had my dogs throat cultured under anesthesia. My gut was RIGHT. She had culture positive STREP in her throat! She had no symptoms. We treated her for 10 weeks total. About 5 days into treatment my son got back to 100%! IMHO if you can give all the abx and IVIG in the world to your child, but if fido is a carrier and sleeping with your kid, its not going to work. After the one dog got diagnosed I treated all my dogs (and my cats on my own). If you are looking for a cause talk to your vet. get a dog cultured. If one hasit, they probablly all do, so treat all of them. If you are broke, and cant afford to have your dog put under, then explain

the situation to the vet and see if they will do treatment without the culture. I have to be honest. I had never done a culture of a dogs throat in my vet tech experience. Even the vet I knew looked at me funny when I asked her to do this. But she said it was possible. Its reverse zoonosis. We(humans) give the bacteria to the dog and they carry it. Its no different than if your spouse was a carrier. They can also be rectal carriers. I am not saying that you should get rid of the pets. But be aware, investigate mention it to the doctors your children see. I am happy to talk to anyone further including docs, vets, etc. (not that they want to talk to a lowly tech) I plan on sharing this with all PANDAS doctors. Some are aware including the NIH, but I think they need to get on this issue

[beeskneesmommy]

I thought of testing our dog when DS had the acute onset post T&A. There are several docs that have told me about this, but they have also said it is rare. My son has gotten SO much better over time, so if the dog was an influence, I guess he isn't now. I also understood that cats are not a carrier issue...this is not correct? Good to hear that you have found the culprit! I have often thought of testing the dog just for the heck of it - I know that when I go on Augmentin for 30 days my son looks stellar, so I am aware that he and I pass Strep back and fourth as my titres elevate when he has a flare...

[bulldog24]

I dont see why a cat couldnt be a carrier especially if the cat shares a water bowl with a dog that has it. I say if you have a few bucks test the dog! Dont know how long your dog has been in your life while your son has been battling, but I would venture to guess if its been a few years, your dog has been on abx for something in that time!

[bulldog24]

http://www.vetmed.wisc.edu/pbs/zoonoses/Streptococcus/streptdogs.html

[cobbiemommy]

The great news is that veterinarians seem to be more understanding than human doctors. They just seem to get it.

[airial95]

When my son went for his T/A last year, I wanted to leave no stone unturned...my son was already on abx, was given IV abx pre-op and abx were increased post-op. My hubby, daughter and myself were all on abx for at least 1 week pre-op and 3 weeks post-op, and I won't even describe the Lysol bombing that happened in our house at that time (including all new bedding/mattresses). We contacted our vet about getting our dogs checked, b/c we had heard it may be an issue. Our vet told us that testing required them to go under -which was a risk (both dogs are AARP eligible), and that strep testing on dogs can be unreliable at best. BUT - after hearing the issues (and also "getting it") she put the dogs on 3 weeks of abx - in her mind, it could hurt- 1 week pre-op/2 post.

 

My son was 100% for the first time in over 2 years!!! 6 weeks later, he backslid - and was positive for strep. He and his sister have had multiple + strep tests since. Dr. B has figured out my hubby's titres are high, but with him being gone for work the last 3 months, and my son being on 250 mg Azith/ 500 mg Augmentin 2x daily - he still tested + last week. (My daughter has tested + 2x since school has started, however, there has been an average of 2-5 cases in her class weekly since school started -it's CRAZY here!!)

 

I'm wondering if it wasn't the WHOLE family (including the dogs) being on abx that wasn't the reason for improvement

 

Bulldog24 - may I ask why you treated the dogs for 10 weeks? Our vet told us 2 weeks would be sufficient - and still gave us 3. If I had a reason for a longer treatment - I have no doubt our vet would oblige me...

[thenmama]

Our vets are really cool about it, too-- they actually advised that it was easier/better to just treat the dog to be safe, I think it was b/c they said culturing a dog was more difficult and expensive than it is for running the human labs. When our common-sense-deficient schnauzer stuck his beard where it didn't belong recently and something stung the end of his snout, and then that started to look infected-- the vet put him on abx that would also cover strep, as a bit of extra reassurance for the family's humans. So it is definitely worth asking your vet about either testing or treating for it.

[mdmom]

When I told our vet about the weirdo infections in our house (Babesia, Bartonella, Brucella, strep, mycoplasma), she did not hesitate to put our cat and dog on 8 week of abx. Not sure if it helped and I did have to clean up pet vomit occasionally because we treated with Doxycycline. But it gave me a little peace of mind.

[bulldog24]

I am not sure why it was 10 weeks. originally the positive dog was supposed to be 6 weeks. I had them increase it to 10 because after we stopped it at 6 my son flared again. so I assumed it was the dog. The dog that didnt get cultured was also too old to put under got 3 weeks. I gave the cats Bicillin myself.

 

I was supposed to have the dog off abx 2 weeks and recultured but I am too broke. It was about $400. but I am so GLAD that I found a reason.

 

I give the dog bicillin when my son has set backs or her skin looks bad.

 

Now after you treated the dog, and everyone tested positive for strep the dog could have picked it back up. Maybe invest in some Bicillin, or give the vet a call. I would retreat the dog. I will do some research as to why 6 weeks. I have a few emails out to a few vets and trying to find a Zoonotic researcher who might be interested in this!

 

I think its fascinating (and scary as ######)

[bulldog24]

arial- Dr.B was asking me about the dog stuff. keep chirping in his ear. I met another mom while getting IVIG there and her dog was + too.

 

If he hears it enough, maybe he can help somehow.

 

Where the heck do you live???UGH strep!I hate you. they cultured pos for strep on aug/zith combo? now that is frustrating and scary. Omnicef zith might be good just to mix it up.

[airial95]

We're in Tampa, and we just can't seem to escape it. My daughter's school has reported double digit cases in just K-1st grade every week since school started. Our pediatrician has said that they have been innundated with it too. We normally don't keep my daughter on proph abx (she's mild and flares resovle quickly with only 30 days of abx) - but our ped has her on them now just because of the amount of strep going around!!

[bulldog24]

That sounds awful

[airial95]

That sounds awful

 

You're telling me!! - and it continues to get worse. Yesterday, my daughter had one of her classic "brain stuck" meltdowns in Wal-Mart (freaking out because she wasn't sure if the hair clip she saw and liked was pink or purple...literally stressed and cried all around Wal-Mart wanting to go back and check again and again...didn't acutally WANT the hair clip - just had to check what color it was over and over)

 

I inwardly groaned and hoped it was an isolated incident. However, that night when I looked in her agenda book - the teacher had writen a quick note saying that all day yesterday she was withdrawn and said she "just wanted Mommy and to go home" and kept her head down most of the day. This morning - we started with the teeth brushing fears.

 

I still took her to school today, but walked her in to speak with the teacher (and deliver a farily large pumpkin for their class experiment). Teacher said that her handwriting went to heck yesterday too - she couldn't get her to write anything and she was having trouble even holding the pencils properly...

 

We'll see how she does today - she let me leave her at school without a scene, but she was chewing on her fingers (anxiety tell) as I left.

 

I just can't handle any more strep - it's ridiculous!! This would be her 2nd infection (3rd flare - one from exposure 3 weeks ago) since school started in mid August.

 

I'm not kidding anymore when I say that I'm putting my kids in giant hamster balls!!!

[mar]

Where can I order those hamster balls?? Like no joke I have though about that several times:) I swear when school starts my aniexty goes off like a time bomb bc I'm always like how will this year go with strep!!!!! Thank god this year is going okay with dd bc I had my share in kindergarten and 1st grade where I had to pull her out of car and that didn't work and basically had to go to I will be arrested!!!! Those times it was always something silly she freaked out about! It was only a couple weeks of craziness but totally stressful !!!! you wake up and just don't know how it's going to go all smiley and fake just to make sure you can get out the door without a breakdown!! It's interesting but I have noticed my child's handwriting go from good to what the ?? Is going on.

Like I said bring those hamster balls!!

Mar

[SurfMom]

With DD15 just completing her first round of abc for her first (noticeable) PANDAS exacerbation, considering the possibility that the dogs are carriers is most helpful as we have four in our family. This is a worthy bump.

 

On a side note, this is the first day she is returning to school. I dropped her off with a vat of hand sanitizer and have my phone clutched in my hand hoping for the best.

 

Back editing to say that we would never consider giving up our pets even if they were carriers. The reality is that strep is everywhere and with a twin brother in school who could also be a carrier, we probably won't get rid of him either. Call is into the vet to start the abx for the pups.

Edited November 13, 2012 by SurfMom