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Dr Doug - ever seen a case of Valley Fever? -- update!

corgi-traveler
Explorer
Explorer
Short version of the story...we were supposed to be traveling this weekend but I came down with the flu Wednesday. So we were at home Saturday morning when Diva started coughing, gagging, and wheezing. Took her in to the vet (on emergency hour rates), they did a blood panel and Xrays. Vet calls me back, shows me the X rays, and says he thinks it's Valley Fever, but needs to send another blood sample out for a titer to confirm. Says if the lesions we see on the X ray are not Valley Fever it's probably cancer. Blood panel came back normal, including a normal white cell count.
Vet sends us home with some antifungals to get a leg up if it's Valley Fever, some antibiotics in case it's an infection without the raised blood count --which he said was pretty unlikely, and some carprofen to try to make her more comfortable and bring her fever down (103)

Now I took Diva to the clinic I always take her to, but because it was 7am on a Saturday she saw the vet on call, not our regular vet. No worries, it happened to be "the old guy", 35+ years practicing in the area. He's seen his share of Valley Fever cases, commented how it was a lucky thing we were not traveling, as a vet outside the endemic area probably wouldnt' have seen a case before.

Diva slept most of Saturday, but by mid-day she was breathing normally and not in any obvious distress. By Sunday evening if I hadn't seen how sick she was, or seen the X ray, I wouldn't believe she had been sick. She was a little quiet today, but comfortable.

My understanding, which could be wrong, is that the antifungals take 5-7 days to start working. Which means that if any of the meds were helping her feel better, it was the Baytril. Except her blood count showed no infection.
We probably won't get our titer back till the end of the week. If it's positive, it's a lengthy treatment, but doable. If it's negative, and she's still doing OK, I'm not sure if I want to ask for another set of X-rays before we do anything else or not.
Samantha (the poster)
Tim, DH and driver of the CorgiMobile
Dexter and Dora - Pembroke Welsh Corgis
Gone but never forgotten -
Beth 1/11/94-6/3/09
Pippin 3/16/05-11/4/15
Buddy 11/7/05-10/24/16
Diva 1/9/09 - 8/20/20
7 REPLIES 7

colliehauler
Explorer
Explorer
Congratulations that Diva is doing well.

dturm
Moderator
Moderator
Wow, amazing good news. Those negative findings sometimes are the BEST.
Doug & Sandy
Kaylee
Winnie 6 1/2 year old golden
2008 Southwind 2009 Honda CRV

corgi-traveler
Explorer
Explorer
Diva had her followup X ray today. All clear! No sign of any lesions or masses in the lungs. She was seen and the Xray read by her regular vet today as opposed to the on-call vet who saw her when I rushed her in originally.
She thinks it was most likely a severe allergic reaction, severe enough to cause a hematoma in the chest.
I agree that the symptoms, sudden onset, and equally sudden departure of symptoms supports the allergic reaction. I just wish I knew what she had gotten in to, so I could keep her away from it.
Very grateful my sweet Diva girl is going to be OK.

To celebrate, we ran a track, and I used my GoPro to take video of the track -best watched with the sound off.
Diva Tracking
Samantha (the poster)
Tim, DH and driver of the CorgiMobile
Dexter and Dora - Pembroke Welsh Corgis
Gone but never forgotten -
Beth 1/11/94-6/3/09
Pippin 3/16/05-11/4/15
Buddy 11/7/05-10/24/16
Diva 1/9/09 - 8/20/20

corgi-traveler
Explorer
Explorer
Update - Valley Fever titers came back negative. On the phone the vet was saying..."and so it's likely cancer" I then tell him how she's showing no symptoms...active, no cough, no wheeze. He agrees that a follow-up X ray once the Baytril has run its course is the way to go.

That will likely happen some time next week.
Samantha (the poster)
Tim, DH and driver of the CorgiMobile
Dexter and Dora - Pembroke Welsh Corgis
Gone but never forgotten -
Beth 1/11/94-6/3/09
Pippin 3/16/05-11/4/15
Buddy 11/7/05-10/24/16
Diva 1/9/09 - 8/20/20

corgi-traveler
Explorer
Explorer
dturm wrote:


Just keep talking to your vet, I would have recommended another X-Ray in a couple of weeks (or earlier if no improvement) to rule out cancer.


Thanks. I thought it was a long shot, but maybe a case where the animal had been traveling.

Our follow-up visit will be scheduled when we get the results back for the titer... didn't make sense to make an appointment before we had the results. But yes, I think if it comes back negative for VF, I'll want another X-ray after the Baytril is finished before we do anything else.
Samantha (the poster)
Tim, DH and driver of the CorgiMobile
Dexter and Dora - Pembroke Welsh Corgis
Gone but never forgotten -
Beth 1/11/94-6/3/09
Pippin 3/16/05-11/4/15
Buddy 11/7/05-10/24/16
Diva 1/9/09 - 8/20/20

bob213
Explorer
Explorer
rockhillmanor posted this link last week:
valley fever
You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality โ€“ Ayn Rand

dturm
Moderator
Moderator
I'm not going to be able to help on this one. I've never seen a case as this is endemic to an area well away from the Midwest.

We do have our share of fungal infections, histo, blasto though. Very often there is secondary bacterial infection, that may be why the Baytril helped. Sometimes the WBC hasn't had a chance to catch up with the infection, I've seen roaring pneumonia with little lab work to support it.

Just keep talking to your vet, I would have recommended another X-Ray in a couple of weeks (or earlier if no improvement) to rule out cancer.
Doug & Sandy
Kaylee
Winnie 6 1/2 year old golden
2008 Southwind 2009 Honda CRV