Hepatozoonosis In Dogs?

[YoungBrit]

Hi all,

I was wondering if any dogs owners here had ever come across a blood disease called Hepatozoonosis. I am looking to take in a stray but my vet has done blood tests and has said he has this incurable disease. I had a few questions regarding it if anyone had any knowledge experience with it I would be very thankful to hear from them?

A few of the questions are:

1. I have been told that it is only transferable to our other 2 dogs by them ingesting an infected tick? How likely is that to happen if we follow all tick control measure?

2. Although incurable, I have been told it is manageable with daily medication. Is this true? How normal of a life is he going to have being in this medicine for the rest of his life?

I am desperate to give this lovely dog a home and am trying to find out as much info as possible about this disease. Proving difficult so far so any help/advice/info would be greatly welcomed.

Thanks in advance,

Paul

[Nienke]

From the pdf HEPATOZOON CANIS AND HEPATOZOONOSIS IN THE DOG by A. Ivanov*, I. Tsachev (See link below):

THERAPY AND PREVENTION
The primary drug used nowadays in the therapy of canine Hepatozoon canis infection is Imodocarb dipropionate. It is applied at 5-6 mg/kg, subcutaneously or intramuscularly at 14-day intervals until the disappearance of gamonts in blood. Usually, one or two injections are sufficient, but in severe infections, an 8-week or longer treatment could be necessitated (10).
In order to treat the possible coinfections transmitted by the tick vector, often Imidocarb dipropionate is combined with
Doxycycline at daily oral doses of 10 mg/kg for 21 days. The percentage of healed dogs with low Hepatozoon canis parasitaemia is high and mostly depends on other accompanying diseases. The prognosis in animals with high parasitaemia rates is guarded. In experimental studies, 48% of dogs with high parasitaemia are reported to survive
but after almost 2-month specific therapy (10).
The prevention of Hepatozoon canis infection is based upon the effective control of ticks on dogs and in the environment.

Hepatozoon canis prognosis: https://www.google.co.th/search?q=hepatozoon+canis+prognosis&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Hepatozoon canis treatment: https://www.google.co.th/search?q=hepatozoon+canis+prognosis&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#gs_rn=14&gs_ri=psy-ab&tok=NdcAjgSVAp7a9jBRnV9Z0g&pq=hepatozoon%20canis%20prognosis&cp=25&gs_id=ipz&xhr=t&q=hepatozoon+canis+treatment&es_nrs=true&pf=p&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aofficial&sclient=psy-ab&oq=hepatozoon+canis+treatmen&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.47008514,d.bmk&fp=2fc2536143b80f10&biw=1025&bih=447

Did you go for a second opinion already, such as the Small Animal Hospital or Ban Mha ka Meaw. as it is not necessarily incurable, reading from the above part of the report.

Did you ask the vet what kind of meds the dog is receiving?

[Cuban]

> How likely is that to happen if we follow all tick control measure?

You have to be effective and successful in your tick control at all times.

For transmission to your dogs the tick-route has to be successful just once.

The odds are against you, or rather against your current dogs.

> ....much info as possible about this disease. Proving difficult so far so any help/advice/info would be greatly welcomed.

Does this fact alone suggest that there is still a lot to be discovered about this condition.

Your motive is admirable indeed, but I question if emotion is displacing common sense here?

I suggest you are seeking to gamble with your current dog's well-being as your stake in a dice throw.

Unless you have some special status that makes you truly immune form the risk of having to leave Thailand and being able to oversee the care of this special situation and access to veterinary care that seems to be bleeding edge in the First World, you are making a rod for someone else's back.

I have zero experience in this illness, but from reading the symptoms and general condition of dogs with this illness I see that they are likely to be stiff, lethargic, and depressed with walking problems, muscle wasting etc. Will your dogs respond to this new-comer with welcoming paws or take the stance that an ill-dog is not welcome in the pack.

I would expect it to cause stress to the infected dog as it attempts to be 'normal' among others, I've seen dogs walk on badly cut pads to "keep up" for fear of rejection. Where a dog is experiencing pain and needing to maintain a status I can't see an easy life ahead.

I'm sure you will have considered that the whole situation is greater than just the dosing of medication and the risk of cross infection. The integration of a new dog can be problematic, integration of a new dog with pre-existing condition that will only deteriorate with time seems less than wise.

[YoungBrit]

From the pdf HEPATOZOON CANIS AND HEPATOZOONOSIS IN THE DOG by A. Ivanov*, I. Tsachev (See link below):

THERAPY AND PREVENTION

The primary drug used nowadays in the therapy of canine Hepatozoon canis infection is Imodocarb dipropionate. It is applied at 5-6 mg/kg, subcutaneously or intramuscularly at 14-day intervals until the disappearance of gamonts in blood. Usually, one or two injections are sufficient, but in severe infections, an 8-week or longer treatment could be necessitated (10).

In order to treat the possible coinfections transmitted by the tick vector, often Imidocarb dipropionate is combined with

Doxycycline at daily oral doses of 10 mg/kg for 21 days. The percentage of healed dogs with low Hepatozoon canis parasitaemia is high and mostly depends on other accompanying diseases. The prognosis in animals with high parasitaemia rates is guarded. In experimental studies, 48% of dogs with high parasitaemia are reported to survive

but after almost 2-month specific therapy (10).

The prevention of Hepatozoon canis infection is based upon the effective control of ticks on dogs and in the environment.

Hepatozoon canis prognosis: https://www.google.co.th/search?q=hepatozoon+canis+prognosis&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Hepatozoon canis treatment: https://www.google.co.th/search?q=hepatozoon+canis+prognosis&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#gs_rn=14&gs_ri=psy-ab&tok=NdcAjgSVAp7a9jBRnV9Z0g&pq=hepatozoon%20canis%20prognosis&cp=25&gs_id=ipz&xhr=t&q=hepatozoon+canis+treatment&es_nrs=true&pf=p&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aofficial&sclient=psy-ab&oq=hepatozoon+canis+treatmen&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.47008514,d.bmk&fp=2fc2536143b80f10&biw=1025&bih=447

Did you go for a second opinion already, such as the Small Animal Hospital or Ban Mha ka Meaw. as it is not necessarily incurable, reading from the above part of the report.

Did you ask the vet what kind of meds the dog is receiving?

Thanks for this, I had not found this.

I havn't found out what meds the vet will recommend , I will be doing so when the vet opens at 9. I am also going to get a 2nd opinion. Thanks again, will post once I have more info.

A problem I am getting is conflicting info, like the vet has said incurable as has some info whereas the report above and other vets I have spoken to have said treatable with antibiotics for a period and then most are cured. I think it depends on how high the percentage of the infection is in his blood. That needs to be my next question I guess.

Thanks again

Young Brit

[YoungBrit]

> How likely is that to happen if we follow all tick control measure?

You have to be effective and successful in your tick control at all times.

For transmission to your dogs the tick-route has to be successful just once.

The odds are against you, or rather against your current dogs.

> ....much info as possible about this disease. Proving difficult so far so any help/advice/info would be greatly welcomed.

Does this fact alone suggest that there is still a lot to be discovered about this condition.

Your motive is admirable indeed, but I question if emotion is displacing common sense here?

I suggest you are seeking to gamble with your current dog's well-being as your stake in a dice throw.

Unless you have some special status that makes you truly immune form the risk of having to leave Thailand and being able to oversee the care of this special situation and access to veterinary care that seems to be bleeding edge in the First World, you are making a rod for someone else's back.

I have zero experience in this illness, but from reading the symptoms and general condition of dogs with this illness I see that they are likely to be stiff, lethargic, and depressed with walking problems, muscle wasting etc. Will your dogs respond to this new-comer with welcoming paws or take the stance that an ill-dog is not welcome in the pack.

I would expect it to cause stress to the infected dog as it attempts to be 'normal' among others, I've seen dogs walk on badly cut pads to "keep up" for fear of rejection. Where a dog is experiencing pain and needing to maintain a status I can't see an easy life ahead.

I'm sure you will have considered that the whole situation is greater than just the dosing of medication and the risk of cross infection. The integration of a new dog can be problematic, integration of a new dog with pre-existing condition that will only deteriorate with time seems less than wise.

Thanks for your reply, all valid points that are going through my head. I would like to stress that I cannot see that this dog is ill or in pain in any way. Apart from the skin conditions, until the vet did the blood tests she thought he was perfectly healthy. Of course like you said he might be hiding it.

Thanks again for all your points, I am bearing them all in mind.

Thanks again,

YoungBrit

[YoungBrit]

Just to give an update, I spoke with Dr Chatri (not sure about spelling) at Ban Ma kha vet and he said it is all dependent on the dog. I will take him there to see what he recommends to do.

Fingers crossed!!

YoungBrit

[Nienke]

Dr. Chakkrit has treated dogs with H. canis before and is a pretty good vet.
I hope that the dog not showing sx yet means the disease is in its early stage.
Fingers crossed you and the dog get more optimistic news from Dr. Chakkrit.
Wish you good luck!

Edited May 29, 2013 by Nienke

[YoungBrit]

Dr. Chakkrit has treated dogs with H. canis before and is a pretty good vet.

I hope that the dog not showing sx yet means the disease is in its early stage.

Fingers crossed you and the dog get more optimistic news from Dr. Chakkrit.

Wish you good luck!

Thanks very much. We got the result late last week. He has a strain that can be cured in a lot of cases so he is on antibiotics and we need to take him back in a another week to check his blood again.

Dr. Chakkrit was excellent! Thanks to yourself and everyone else that recommended him.

YoungBrit

[Nienke]

Dr. Chakkrit has treated dogs with H. canis before and is a pretty good vet.

I hope that the dog not showing sx yet means the disease is in its early stage.

Fingers crossed you and the dog get more optimistic news from Dr. Chakkrit.

Wish you good luck!

Thanks very much. We got the result late last week. He has a strain that can be cured in a lot of cases so he is on antibiotics and we need to take him back in a another week to check his blood again.

Dr. Chakkrit was excellent! Thanks to yourself and everyone else that recommended him.

YoungBrit

Oh, that's wonderful news! Now, keep on having my fingers crossed for some perfect blood test results next week.

[YoungBrit]

Dr. Chakkrit has treated dogs with H. canis before and is a pretty good vet.

I hope that the dog not showing sx yet means the disease is in its early stage.

Fingers crossed you and the dog get more optimistic news from Dr. Chakkrit.

Wish you good luck!

Thanks very much. We got the result late last week. He has a strain that can be cured in a lot of cases so he is on antibiotics and we need to take him back in a another week to check his blood again.

Dr. Chakkrit was excellent! Thanks to yourself and everyone else that recommended him.

YoungBrit

Oh, that's wonderful news! Now, keep on having my fingers crossed for some perfect blood test results next week.

Thanks very much! Me too. Although I would be very surprised if next weeks results came back negative. I think after 4-6 weeks is more likely.

Fingers crossed!

[YoungBrit]

Just wanted to come back and post that fact that this dog got the all clear yesterday. The initial 2 weeks of anti biotics wasn't successful. He was put on another 4 weeks and we went back yesterday for another blood test and he no longer has the said blood condition! Absolutely delighted for him!

Thanks again to everyone who recommended I took him to Dr Chatri. As I stated previously the first vet said he would have the condition for life and needed to be on medication for life! Just shows always pays to get a second opinion. Once again, thanks!!

Young Brit