Best Defense for Caring for Dogs Is Watchful Eye
Pet Owners Should Watch for Signs of Blastomycosis, Tick Infestation
By Amy Polk

The best defense against two seasonal threats to dogs is a watchful eye. Knowing how to identify the signs of blastomycosis and ticks can also help.

Dog owners should not live in fear of blastomycosis, said Pickford veterinarian Dr. Clint Groover, but rather, know the symptoms and be familiar with the dog's activities and whereabouts leading up to illness.

"Be aware of the precautions and keep them in the back of your mind," he said.

Local pet owners should be inspecting pets for ticks, which have recently become common and are here to stay, Dr. Groover said. Once uncommon in the Eastern Upper Peninsula, and rarely reported 35 years ago when Dr. Groover and his wife, Barb, moved here, ticks seem to be everywhere now. This year's tick infestation seems to have started later than last year's because of 2008's colder, wetter spring; but the incidence rate looks comparable to last year's, with reports of ticks on dogs and humans coming in each week.

Blastomycosis Symptoms Can Mimic Pneumonia

Blastomycosis, known as "blasto," is caused by a fungus commonly found throughout several areas of the Upper Peninsula, but the Les Cheneaux Islands, Drummond Island, and places along the shore seem to be the local hot spots. St. Ignace veterinarian Mary Alban said she also diagnosed a case from Mackinaw City. Dogs that get the disease seem to have spent time in these shoreline areas, running through swampy ground and black, mucky streams, and digging in soil that has a lot of organic material and rotting wood. The fungal spores also seem associated with excavation and tree removal sites. Humans can get the disease under the same conditions and from the same areas, but not from dogs. Dogs are most susceptible because of their lifestyle, digging and romping through dirt and places where spores occur, Dr. Groover said. Certain breeds that tend to spend time in the water and enjoy digging are more vulnerable. Young, active, male dogs that are outdoors and dig a lot are more at risk, Dr. Alban added.

Dogs typically start getting sick within a few months of exposure, so summer visitors might not get sick until they return home.

He believes the incidence rate is not increasing, with local cases ranging from one to two in a good year, to as many as 13 in a bad year. He suspects the disease has always been around, but previously mistaken for other diseases. Pet owners also are now more willing to spend money on treatment than they were a decade ago.

As more homes are built on the waterfront in the affected regions, more people and dogs are exposed to the spores and are at risk for getting blastomycosis.

"The most important thing the visitors here need to know is if their dog gets sick and they were here, let their vet know," Dr. Groover said.

Explaining that the dog has been in a blastomycosis endemic region during visits to a veterinarian will help them consider blastomycosis as a possible cause for the illness. If the veterinarian is not familiar with blasto, it is important he or she understand the disease before treatment goes too far, Dr. Groover added. Steroids should not used to treat an animal that potentially has blastomycosis.

The most common symptoms tend to mimic pneumonia,but can show up as: a limp; lameness or soreness in joints; a wound that will not heal and is draining; temperature higher than 102.5 degrees Fahrenheit; soreness in the eyes; lack of appetite.

The disease is difficult to diagnose unless there are skin lesions, which contain the spores that can be seen under a microscope. Without lesions, a veterinarian may begin treatment when blasto is suspected because other diagnostic tests often take too long, and produce "false negative" results.

"Time is not always on the dog's side to come up with a definitive diagnosis before treatment its started," Dr. Groover said.

There are several new drugs for treating fungal disease that are now on the market, he added. They may have better results, but may cost a great deal more than traditional treatments.

One is a liquid that is administered intravenously, which Dr. Groover said is an exciting advancement because it is injectable and also can be used as an eye drop. Dr. Groover estimates that in 10% to 15% of the blasto cases, the infection will go to the eye. In 95% of those cases, the dog will lose its sight in that eye.

The traditional treatment is a course of pills. The dog's history, X-rays, wound cultures, and tracheal washes may be used to diagnose the disease.

"It takes a long time to treat it, but I think dogs today have a lot better chance [of recovery] than they did six to eight years ago," Dr. Alban said.

Check Outdoor Pets Daily for Ticks

Ticks are trouble, not only for their obvious parasitic nature, but also because they carry serious diseases like Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and tularemia.

Wood ticks are the insects most commonly being found in the Eastern Upper Peninsula, but deer ticks, carriers of Lyme disease, are also being found in the area. Last spring and summer, Dr. Groover's office collected ticks for a Michigan State University research project, and two of the hundreds of ticks brought in were positively identified as deer ticks.

"Last year, with the warm, dry spring, we had bad ticks by March, and last year was wicked for ticks," Dr. Groover said. "This year, we don't know yet how it's going to go, with a wet, cool spring, but use something to prevent ticks because once they've bit, it only takes 48 hours after the bite for a virus to transfer from tick to dog. All ticks have the potential to carry many different diseases."

Many tick repellent and insecticide products and treatments are available through veterinarians and animal supply stores. Most products need repeated application throughout tick season, and can come off in the water, so pet owners should still inspect pets throughout the season.

People who spend time or work outside should also inspect themselves and children after being outdoors, and especially after being in the woods. An area north of St. Ignace and south of M-48 and Rudyard has been reporting the most tick activity so far this year, Dr. Groover said. Several tick reports are also coming from people who were in the hardwoods areas north of Hessel and Cedarville and south of Taylor Creek Road in Pickford.

Dr. Alban has had some patients come in with ticks and has heard a few reports, but is seeing no more than any other year from the St. Ignace area.

"Deer yards, and areas where there are usually concentrations of deer, seems to be often where ticks are found," Dr. Groover said.

He does not recommend vaccinating for Lyme disease, but rather, using tick prevention methods to keep the insects from biting in the first place. Repellents and insecticides will also help keep ticks out of homes, since they will not be catching a ride on their host.

Dr. Alban also advocates tick prevention treatments, some of which carry the added benefit of flea and mosquito killers.

"I think it's very, very prudent to avoid tick bites," she added, to guard against possible disease.

Most of the ticks she has seen are wood ticks, which dogs and people have picked up after walking in areas with knee-high brush and scrub, and wooded areas.