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Pet Forum / Miscellaneous / Animal Health / January 2005fever of unknown origin
Hi, I am posting this for a friend so the information may be sketchy. She has a 3 yr. old spayed Chow who spiked a fever of 104. She took her to the vet and they started IV fluids and did blood work. 24 hours later, the temp. returned to normal. Test results indicated platelet count was low and WBC "a little high." Autoimmune test was negative. Urinalysis was neg. Chest xray was neg. Spots that were shaved for blood work and IV now appear bruised. Antibiotics have not been given since the exact source of infection has not been found. Vet doesn't know what the problem is so is keeping her to monitor temp. and if it goes up again will do some specialized test (I don't know what it is). Does anybody have any thoughts about what could be wrong? Appetite had been good up until temp went up. Activity level was slightly depressed when temp was up. Thank you.  SignatureMargaret "Dogs leave paw prints on our hearts" spiked a fever of 104. She took her to the vet > and they started IV fluids and did blood work. 24 hours later, the temp. > returned to normal. Test results indicated platelet count was low and WBC [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Vet doesn't know what the problem is so is keeping her to monitor temp. and > if it goes up again will do some specialized test (I don't know what it is). .........did they run a full tick panel? I'd suggest giving doxy now and see if the dog improves. Tick tests take a while to get back. If it's tick disease, there's no time to waste. buglady take out the dog before replying > spiked a fever of 104. She took her to the vet > > and they started IV fluids and did blood work. 24 hours later, the temp. [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > buglady > take out the dog before replying I'd agree. Low platelets, bruising, and high fever = tick borne disease until proven otherwise in my book! Doxycycline is cheap (the oral form anyway), and sure won't hurt if it's not needed. A bit of prednisone might be worthwhile as well, in case it is something autoimmune -- tests aren't always 100%. Deborah, DVM > I'd agree. Low platelets, bruising, and high fever = tick borne disease > until proven otherwise in my book! Doxycycline is cheap (the oral form [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Deborah, DVM Thank you. I will pass this info along to her. I think tick borne disease is on the list of things to rule out but I'm not sure what tests have been done for that. My friend says there has never been a problem with ticks, but deer ticks are so tiny I'm sure they could be missed. Margaret A bit of prednisone might > be worthwhile as well, in case it is something autoimmune -- tests aren't > always 100%. .......isn't pred contraindicated though for ehrlichia? If it's tick disease doxy should show improvement pretty fast. Just out of curiosity do you see much of it in the panhandle? buglady take out the dog before replying > A bit of prednisone might >> be worthwhile as well, in case it is something autoimmune -- tests aren't >> always 100%. > >.......isn't pred contraindicated though for ehrlichia? Yes. > If it's tick >disease doxy should show improvement pretty fast. Not if it's babesia, and some cases of ehrlichiosis are refractory to treatment with doxycycline. > Just out of curiosity do >you see much of it in the panhandle? My experience is taking track Greyhounds from the panhandle, and TBDs are common in the panhandle. In the entire state of Florida, actually. Mustang Sally > A bit of prednisone might > > be worthwhile as well, in case it is something autoimmune -- tests aren't [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > disease doxy should show improvement pretty fast. Just out of curiosity do > you see much of it in the panhandle? I don't know about pred being contraindicated. Honestly it didn't used to be, to my knowledge, but it's been a long time since I've seen a clinical case of ehrlichiosis. Which should answer your second question -- no surprisingly I don't see very much of it. Honestly I've not seen a tick borne disease in the 2 years I've been in private practice here. I've suspected it several times, but it's always turned out to be something different. Deborah, DVM I don't see very much of it. Honestly I've not seen a tick > borne disease in the 2 years I've been in private practice here. I've > suspected it several times, but it's always turned out to be something > different. .......yeah, I've asked the vet here (central FL) and he hadn't seen much of it either. Though there's lots of people who only bring their dogs in to die in the exam room....... ;-( buglady take out the dog before replying > I'd agree. Low platelets, bruising, and high fever = tick borne disease > until proven otherwise in my book! Doxycycline is cheap (the oral form [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Deborah, DVM Doxycycline has been started. I think 2 tests for tick disease were done (or 1 test repeated) and one was borderline and one was negative. She is currently acting OK in terms of energy and appetite. The plan is to try the doxy for 3 weeks and if she tolerates it, use it for 6 weeks. Still no official diagnosis. Vet said he could refer them to a specialist but my friend is going to hold off on that for now. Margaret > Doxycycline has been started. I think 2 tests for tick disease were done > (or 1 test repeated) and one was borderline and one was negative. She is > currently acting OK in terms of energy and appetite. The plan is to try the > doxy for 3 weeks and if she tolerates it, use it for 6 weeks. Still no > official diagnosis. .you might take a look at this page. The dose of doxy is higher than normal for ehrlichia and Lyme. There's a lot of other info on tick disease here also, plus a link to a list: http://www.minden.com/nowhereelse/canine_tick_disease.htm buglady take out the dog before replying |
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