Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever- anyone with experience

[momof6]

Hey there,

My "Jersey" is a 5 year old border collie/St. Bernard mix who, in April, was diagnosed and is being treated for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. I am looking for anyone who has experience with the disease and treatment. We are just back 2 days from our 2nd hospital stay and I'm wondering if we can ever get my baby over this horrible illness.

Thanks for any info.

[rainbow]

So sorry to hear about Jersey. I don't have any experience with that horrible illness even though I live in an area with lots of ticks.

I just wanted to say Good Luck with her treatment.

In case you haven't read these already:

www.ulga.edu/ypp/clerk/otis/

www.petshealth.com/dr_library/rgmg.html

[OntarioGreys]

Because of the way greyhounds are kenneled, it is common to see occurences of tick diseases in them once they go to adoptive homes, some groups test prior like the one I fostered for. I have not had any dog myself with RMSF, mine had other forms

Because of this I did a search for greyhound with RSMF

Here is Posts about Egypt's diagnosis and treatment, That was almost a year and a half ago and Egypt is doing fine
http://bb.gpahouston.org/forum_posts.asp?TID=2188


This link has the treatment info, doxy is the most common drug used, you may want to double check that the vet is using a high enough dose, as the dose used for treating tick diseases is quite a bit higher than when used for treating infections.

So here it is
http://www.vet.uga.edu/vpp/clerk/otis/

Rainbow posted a similiar link but hers did not open when I checked it (missing the "vet" in the URL)

[rainbow]

So here it is
http://www.vet.uga.edu/vpp/clerk/otis/

Rainbow posted a similiar link but hers did not open when I checked it (missing the "vet" in the URL)

Thanks OG for correcting my mistake.


momof6....keep us posted with updates on Jersey.

[momof6]

Hey, thanks for the info. I have looked at about everything on the Web, and am still hoping to find someone else who has dealt with this.

Jersey is much better the last few days. Twice she has been on a downward spiral, basically dying, and twice my wonderful vet has brought her back to us. Once again, she seems to be responding well to treatment, but I'm leary since we have done this once before. Hopefully, no Kidney damage and she finally has her apetite back. Now if we can beat the anemia, and keep the RMSF at bay, she will finally be well. I have to admit, I would be soooooooo relieved, we've been treating her since mid-April - including cancelling all travel plans this summer - and it's all taken a toll on my energy and especially my emotions. Keep us in your prayers and thanks for the well wishes.