Pet Forum / Miscellaneous / Animal Health / February 2006

You all might remember me posting about Koko and Kady, Koko with herpes
( maybe not ) and Kady the stray ( now she is a big girl).   Well, it
has warmed
up a little here in Florida, so the doggie Gabby has been spending more
time
outside with us  as we clean up the yards.  Well, in the last couple of
days, we
have gotten 2 ticks off of us 2 footed creatures - we assume that Gabby
brought
them in the house.  The cats do go out on the pool deck , but only
outside in
the yard on a leash- they do not run 'free.'

All of the animals have been on Advantage for fleas since we have been
here,  and
Gabby is on Heartguard.  None of them are on anything specific for tick
control.
They obviously now need to be on some kind of tick preventative as
well - but - the cats
interact and hang around with the dog a LOT, so whatever we get for
Gabby also has to
be safe for the cats - they take turns sleeping in each other's beds-
playing zoomies
together, head butting, occasionally meatloafing together.

Koko had tests for herpes - negative, chlamydia - negative, micoplasma -
negative , and
bartonella - positive with a +3 ! The test was taken at a time when she
was not actively
showing any signs,  no excessive eye tearing, sneezing, etc. She also
had two courses of
Azythromycin in Nov 05 and Jan 06, and testing was done Feb 8, 06.  The
vet explained
that even tho the herpes test was negative, that she still could have
herpes, just that
the virus could be 'hiding' far enough back in the nerves that it didn't
show up in the test.
It will take several tests, over time, to prove whether she is
definitely negative.

Because she tested so highly positive for the bartonella, at a time when
she wasnt showing
a relapse, we are going to treat agressively for the bartonella, she
will be on Azythromycin
at 1.5 ml instead of 1 ml  ( she weighs 15 lbs ) for 50 days, double the
normal length of time
for a regular 'treatment'.  Kady is also going to be treated at the
normal dose for the normal
lengh of time, even tho she is not symptomatic- because it is highly
likely that she also is
carrying bartonella, because she was a stray and was SO infested with
fleas when we
rescued her.  Koko will not be resuming the herpes meds she was on
previously - if the AZ
doesnt seem to wipe this out, we will be doing more testing for herpes,
and also go to see
an internal medicine specialst for her, as well as the eye specialist.

So, there is all the background information....

I have been using the kitten dose of advantage for Koko- the day that we
use it on her, she sleeps
all day, even going to the vet, she isnt as 'wiped out' as the advantage
day.  Vaccinations also
tire her out a LOT.  I want to use something on her, and on all of them,
that will be the safest for
her, considering all of her other medical stuff - but also will keep
them from getting bitten by ticks
as well as fleas.  Frontline ? Frontline PLUS?  Should I use a different
preventative for Gabby - the
oral meds ?

Any ideas greatly appreciated, thanks!!

laurie

koko,kady,gabby

www.richandlaurie.com