Huntley's Mom Posted January 29, 2003 Report Share Posted January 29, 2003 Hey Y'all, a tragic death has occurred this past week. Our neighbors' female 4 year old lab died quickly from Cryptococcis Neoformans, a fungal infection of the brain. All the info I have found says bird droppings are the number one cause of exposure. The mystery is why a otherwise healthy young dog would die from this? All I have found is that unless your immune system is weakened, you should be able to fight it off, with little or no symptoms. As far as the autopsy could tell, she was a healthy dog. We are puzzled as is the vet. Hunt and Mags have lost a good friend, as we have. Our friends are devastated at Lisa's death, as they are very caring, knowledgable pet owners, and can't understand what they did wrong, and are concerned for their other two dogs. Everyone here is upset about her death. Any advice would be helpful to us. Sincerely, Patti Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sea4th Posted January 29, 2003 Report Share Posted January 29, 2003 A friend of mine showed Borzoi & had one of her bitches along a river where there was a lot of bird droppings. The dog must have had a cut in her pad. Within a month this 10 month old dog was dead. She had an infection which raged through her system, from bird droppings. I don't know the medical terminology for what she had, just that a friend who was devastated at losing her dog and the way she lost her. Whenever I do geese work with my dogs, I always check their pads for cuts or any other open wounds before we go to work. Vicki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sea4th Posted January 30, 2003 Report Share Posted January 30, 2003 Oh, yes, one other thing. When I trim my dogs' nails, it's when they are in for the night. Freshly trimmed nails can also provide an entry point for bacteria. I'm wondering about the possibility of spores from bird droppings being airborne & inhaled. And, BTW, so sorry about your friends' dog. Vicki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diane allen Posted February 3, 2003 Report Share Posted February 3, 2003 Vicki, great question about birds. Other than something like a West Nile virus, are there other diseases that can be spread from birds to dogs? Because we're in such a drought, even the little creek behind my house is dried up, and I see sparrows drinking from (and pooping and presumably urinating in) my dogs' outside water bowl. I clean and refill the bowl every day, but obviously there's some time overlap there. Thankfully, we got a bit of rain and snow yesterday. Yay! Patti, I know of another dog that got some kind of infection like your friend's dog - and that one died also. Apparently it isn't as uncommon as we think. Bad bugs out there! diane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntley's Mom Posted February 3, 2003 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2003 Thanks Y'all for the kind words, From what we have been told, the spores that cause this infection are airborne and are usually inhaled. The mystery question is why a supposedly healthy dog couldn't fight it off. She obviously had some weakness in her system that our friends and their vet were unaware of. We have learned a hard lesson, and I will be checking our dogs for cuts, scrapes, etc., when we are outside, which is always! I don't know how to stop breathing, so good luck to us all. Warmest Wishes, Patti Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G_Davis Posted February 5, 2003 Report Share Posted February 5, 2003 Personal theory only, but I believe it, and it applies to many creatures (including humans) and how they react to exposures. Resistance & immunity to things in the environment is acquired in alot of different ways, beginning in the womb and continuing. I think sometimes, for some reason, a normal resistance or immunity will be "missed" along the way by some people or animals -- wasn't part of the package, or wasn't incorporated or metabolized correctly. This is often when we see the sort of occurence Patti mentioned. We take our immunities for granted pretty much -- we are exposed to LOTS of threatening & even lethal stuff quite often, and it just passes us by. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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