My sister’s dog, Hutch, just got over blastomycosis (he’s a purebred GSD). It was terrifying for them and Hutch was very sick for a pretty long time (about 3 months). Their biggest obstacle was getting him to eat. The problem is that the meds he was on made him so nauseous that he wouldn’t eat anything. He went from weighing 95 pounds to 65 pounds in just a few months. She tried everything to get him to eat, assorted canned food, people food, whatever it took to get some nutrition in him. It got to the point where they were buying steaks to cook just for him and hand feeding him. They also had to time his feedings just right so that he was being fed while the anti-nausea meds were the most effective. It is a nasty illness and poor Hutch had it so bad that they had to tap his lungs and remove the fluid several times, while we were waiting for the medications to take affect.

One of the problems was that their regular vet hadn’t ever treated the illness before and made a few mistakes in treatments initially. Their first diagnosis was cancer, but once they took fluid from his lungs and sent it in for testing, the diagnosis was blastomycosis and prescribed anti-nausea meds, lasix and Itraconazole. They were finally able to get in touch with a specialist and were told that lasix was contraindicated and that the fluid in his lungs would aid in the clearing of the fungal infection. Once the proper medication protocols were followed, we started seeing improvement in him, but he had to go in every couple of weeks for monitoring and to tap his lungs of excess fluid buildup.

Another problem is that the prescribed medication is very expensive – almost $1000 per month normally for a dog Hutch’s size. What was great is that Walgreens allowed them to enroll Hutch in their prescription savings club, which kept the cost of the medication down considerably. It has been a long arduous road, but Hutch is back to his old self and is feeling great. I don’t know if this is what your dog has, but I would definitely do some research so that you know the right questions to ask your vet when you see him/her next. If my sister hadn’t read that the Lasix is contraindicated and insisted they call a specialist for information, Hutch might not be here today.

Sending healing vibs your way.