In October 2007 we were asked to foster a very sick boy named Chopper. His former family had signed euthanasia papers. They couldn't afford to find out what was wrong with him, let alone pay for treatment. Chopper was suffering from weight-loss, dehydration and a mysterious lesion on his back right leg. He was unable to put any weight on that leg and the muscle had deteriorated. His coat was dry and brittle and he lacked that normal Boxer energy!
Mid-Iowa Boxer Rescue had a bone biopsy done on Chopper's leg. We knew it was possible that his disease might be sarcoma. If that were the case then we had to put him down. Sarcoma is a horrible way to die. We spent an anxious week waiting for the results. The answer was something completely unexpected. Blastmycosis. None of us had heard of it. Could it be fatal? Yes. Was it treatable? Yes. Our wonderful rescue vet, Dr. Anil Regmi of Urban Pet Hospital provided the answer. Blastomycosis is a fungal infection that lives in sandy river bottom soil in Illinois, Arkansas and Missouri. It is not usually found in Iowa. The most vunerable dogs are two year old un-neutered males. Chopper fit that bill to a tee. He turned two on October 22, 2007 and was neutered during the biopsy. The dog breathes in the spores and it travels from the lungs to the bones. It is fatal if left unchecked but it is treatable. Completely curable. Then we hit another snag. The medication to treat this illness was $400.00 a month. How could a small rescue afford to treat him. How could we not treat him? Once again Dr. Regmi came to the rescue. He made some phone calls and found that Central Iowa Compounding Pharmacy located in Urbandale would sell us Chopper's meds at their cost.
What wonderful people! We can't thank them enough.
Chopper was started on itraconazole immediately and his recoverly has been rapid. He started gaining weight immediately. He is using his back leg again and the muscle tone is returning. The best thing of all is that we fell completely in love with him and decided that he was already in his forever home. 
|
