Herr Eisenheim and Laura, thank you for your input.
I did not know, you, Herr Eisenheim were a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. Please forgive me. I am not clear, for the moment, about how my dogs got the Ehrlichiosis Canie infection. However, it is also not clear to my current competent Vet and the Veterinary University Researchers at CSU Fort Collins, the University of Cornell, the University of Oregon and Washington. I should not have posted without more clarity and a more complete objective research and data gathering process. I do, however, take offense at the suggestion that I am making this up as I go. So I will start from the beginning for the benefit of all levels and maybe something could be added here that would be helpful.
1. I have 2 twelve year old, as of today, Rhodesian Ridgebacks who are littermates, sister and brother. This litter of 10 was born of champion breeding in California. We moved to the Colorado foothills at 7,000 ft on 1/1/2008. At this altitude there are no tics or fleas, which can carry the bacteria/virus known as Ehrlichiosis Canie. There have been some reports of fresh trout being infected with the parasite to bacterial process similar to the northern pacific coast type but it is rare in the literature so far.
2. I began feeding them Arcana Pacifica about 1 ½ years ago, which is a fresh fish mostly salmon based dog kibble from Champion Pet Foods based in Canada. This food is high in protein and expensive. My thinking was to give my dogs more omega3 oils to help their aging process and health. Kibble feeding is convenient and my dogs loved it. Just add a little warm water and feed them.
3. The company’s salmon fish source comes from the Pacific Northwest costal areas. These areas are prone to the fresh fish poisoning or Salmon poisoning in dogs highly prevalent on the northern pacific coast. When a dog eats a fish carcass on the beach or wherever, that is infected with the (rickettsial pathogen), they become very ill usually die within a short time.
4. This area on the Northern Pacific Cost has also experienced a tremendous increase in mining over the last two years, which dumps heavy metals into the fresh and sea waters, which the salmon and herring used in the dog food company’s fresh fish protein source are increasingly exposed to. Thus, the heavy metal toxicology testing I am having done just to rule that out.
5. Champion Pet Foods, Inc. processes the fresh salmon without it being frozen or baked. Their process is to take the fresh fish from their vendor sources with out prior freezing and mix it with the other ingredients of (see their list). This mixture is then pushed through an extruder with holes the size designated for kibble. This kibble is then put through a steam cooking process on trays and exposed to cooking it by steam at no less than 97 degrees centigrade. Out comes the unbaked kibble with a moist center. It takes 2 weeks to kills the rickettsial pathogen found in the snail encyst in the fish tissue according to all the literature I have read. So, I began on the path of finding the answer to my dog’s illness in the food they were eating since they both got sick.
The time line of chronic to acute illness in my dogs
1. My dogs are very old for their size and breed. I observed many chronic symptoms and thought well they are just getting old. However, these symptoms can also be attributed to a chronic infection. These infections would take a greater toll on an older dog. Further, female dogs are more prone to UTIs than male dogs. So, I did not put this piece together until they both became ill with the same infection, which was confirmed by the current results of urinalysis culture and blood analysis data on them as of 4/1/11.
From Herr Eisenhiem
Ehrlichia canis is not bacteria but something called Riketssia which we classify somewhere between bacteria and viruses as it displays morphology of bacteria but lives inside the cells like viruses. Certainly nothing to do with E.coli which is part of normal micro-flora. Ehrlichia canis is transmitted to dogs almost exclusively by ticks. It can be treated nicely with doxycycline ( it has to be given for at least 3 weeks) which is least toxic of all tetracyclines. Sometimes dogs own immune response will cause chronic osteoarthritis.
2. They both have an Ehrlichiosis Canie infection. This was first recognized as a cause of canine disease in Algeria in 1939. Since then, other species of Ehrlichia that cause disease in dogs have been identified. Classification of these ehrlichial species has been reorganized, diagnostic testing options have increased, and additional manifestations of ehrlichiosis have been recognized in a wider geographic area. In the mid-1980s, an ehrlichial species was recognized as a cause of disease in humans in the United States; since then, various other species have been found to infect humans as well. Some ehrlichial species that infect dogs can also infect humans (through tick bites), leading to concerns about the role of dogs in harboring a disease that may be transmitted to humans. (The Increasingly Complicated Story of Ehrlichia University of Missouri-Columbia Diane E. Preziosi, DVM, DABVP* Leah A. Cohn, DVM, PhD, DACVIM) Please refer to this article for more detailed information. Below are some pieces of the review article and I would be happy to send a pdf of this article, if you would like one:
a. Piscirickettsia salmonis, recognized in 1989, is the first rickettsial pathogen of fish to be fully characterized. This impact is becoming increasingly apparent, as growing awareness has led to the discovery of rickettsial diseases among diverse species of fish from different geographic locations and aquatic environments. The source, reservoir, and mode of transmission of these agents, as well as appropriate methods of disease prevention and control still has to be established. The earliest report of a rickettsialike organism in fish occurred in 1939 during examination of diseased Tetrodon fahaka from the Nile River in Egypt.
b. In addition to ticks, other known vectors of ehrlichial infection include snails and flukes. E. risticii, the causative agent of Potomac horse fever, is transmitted through the ingestion of snails and can cause infection in dogs as well as horses. Although not often thought of as an ehrlichial species, Neorickettsia helminthoeca, the causative agent of salmon poisoning disease, belongs to the same genogroup as E. risticii. During a complex life cycle, it is transmitted to dogs through the ingestion of flukes harbored in certain types of fish. They are the vectors of some ehrlichial species that affect dogs.
c. Salmon who spend their lives in coastal streams and rivers in the Pacific Northwest can be infected with the virus-like organism Neorickettsia helmonthoeca. The life cycle begins when the eggs of the fluke Nanophyetus salmincola are released in the feces of the host mammal or avian. Those eggs may find their way into a freshwater snail, Oxytrema silicula, found only in coastal streams and rivers. Inside the snail these forms reproduce many times and encyst in fish tissues, which, if eaten, can cause illness in canines.
d. Most ehrlichial species rely on arthropod vectors for transmission, although the specific vectors are not well described for every species of Ehrlichia. The geographic distribution pattern of various ehrlichial species is related to the distribution of the relevant vector(s). The predominant vector for E. canis is the brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus), which is found worldwide. Accordingly, E. canis has been reported in dogs from Africa, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the United States.
e. In addition to ticks, other known vectors of ehrlichial infection include snails and flukes. E. risticii, the causative agent of Potomac horse fever, is transmitted through the ingestion of snails and can cause infection in dogs as well as horses.1
f. Although not often thought of as an ehrlichial species, Neorickettsia helminthoeca, the causative agent of salmon poisoning disease, belongs to the same genogroup as E. risticii. During a complex life cycle, it is transmitted to dogs through the ingestion of flukes harbored in certain types of fish. The vectors of some ehrlichial species that affect dogs remain incompletely defined.
Symptoms To Watch For:
If not treated, fish disease is usually fatal within two weeks after exposure. The symptoms of fish disease are similar to other gastrointestinal diseases such as canine parvovirus. If infected, your dog would likely show some or all of the following symptoms about 6 to 10 days after ingesting fish which were carrying the bacteria: 1) Listlessness or weakness 2) Vomiting 3)Lack of appétit 4)Fever 5) Diarrhea 6) Swollen lymph nodes 7) Dehydration
1. The disease is diagnosed with analysis of a fecal sample to detect the parasite's eggs or by detecting the bacteria through a needle sample from a swollen lymph node. Treatment involves administration of an antibiotic to kill the bacteria and a dewormer to kill the parasite. If a dog is vomiting at the time of evaluation, it may need to be hospitalized for IV fluid administration. Many dogs respond to treatment quickly, showing improvement in just a few days. Once recovered, many dogs have a permanent immunity to the disease.
2. Since my regular vet and I were not aware of the type of bacteria causing their illness soon enough the fecal and lymph node sampling was not possible. They were all ready being treated.
3. The snag in this case was the incompetent vet I had to go to because my regular vet was out with an injury. She did the initial urinalysis and blood work on Roy and Kenya. Her own results of these tests showed they had a large amount of bacteria in the “free catch, mid-stream” urine samples she analyzed and the blood work confirmed an infection and inflammation. No kidney casts or crystals were present. She did not explain or even consider her own urinalysis but instead sent the dogs home with only a global Homeopathic immune system remedy. Roy and Kenya’s obvious UTIs raged on for over 2 months.
4. I became frantic because they got slightly better with diet change to organic boiled meat, rice and pumpkin. We have always consumed pure ionized osmosis filtered water for drinking and cooking. We all take supplements full of vitamins as you suggested and I always include a digestive enzyme plus pro-biotic powder in their food.
From Herr Eisenhiem
As for the urinary infection in my experience very often this is the result of wrong diet, high in carbohydrates, which precipitates formation of micro crystals in the urine causing micro-lesions on the lining of urinary tract and opening the doors for secondary infections. Streptococci are ubiquitous microorganism and they will cause the problems when the equilibrium on the mucus membranes is disturbed. Very good prevention to formation of urinary crystals and stones is regular addition of vitamin C, which acidifies urine and also protects the mucous membranes by promoting micro-circulation.
5. Finally, 2 months later Roy was so sick, I called his regular vet, who was now back to work, to come and euthanize him. Dr. Terry and his vet tech came to do just that. But after he arrived I showed him the stand in Vet’s reports. He immediately said, if I was willing, he did not want to put down but wanted to take him back to the hospital ER. They carried him out on the stretcher alive and not dead. Kenya and I followed and by the time we arrived he had done a new urinalysis and blood work.
6. Roy had a raging fever of 104, his breath smelled but it was not due to diabetic complications and his urine was full of bacteria. So much so that Dr. Terry said he did not even have to look through the microscope to see it. They put him on IV fluids and antibiotics and sent a urine sample for culturing. The results of the culture came back positive Eschericihia coli in both dogs and Beta-hemolytic Streptococcus in Roy.
7. Roy stayed in ICU for 5 days and then came home. Kenya was not as acutely ill and so I cared for her at home.
8. They are now on Tetracycline and Amoxicillin. My vet decided not to use Doxycycline because Roy had already been on it in late September for 4 weeks with a UTI that I suspect was caused by the same bacteria. For a while they were both on Baytril, until the cultures came back.
To summarize:
1. My dogs did not eat any fresh fish or fish carcass, as I mentioned above, they are always on leash and eat only what I feed them. They both displayed the symptoms of a virus infection like fish poisoning. Although at the time, I did not put their symptoms into this category.
2. I also cannot, nor can the vets, attribute their symptoms to a similar scenario of Ricketsia caused by ticks because there are no tick or fleas up here at this altitude.
From Herr Eisenhiem
It is very likely your dog contracted Ehrlichia from ticks, all it takes is one unnoticed tick which stays on animal longer then 6 h.
3. The question becomes what do they have and where did they get it. My theory is still high on the probability that it came from the kibble they were eating.
4. The best treatment is prevention.
5. Control what your dog eats while on fishing trips.
'Leash your dog at the beach or river so that you can monitor its activities.
6. Wrap garbage, especially fish entrails, and dispose in well-secured cans.
7. Don't feed raw fish to your dog. Cook fish thoroughly or deep-freeze it for a minimum of 2 weeks to destroy the parasite before feeding it to your dog.
http://www.oregonvma.org/petowners/fishdisease.asp
8. What do both dogs do the same? They eat the same food. The same Arcana Pacifica kibble. When I took them off of it and feed them the rice, pumpkin and boiled meat diet, they both got increasingly better and discontinued at least the diarrhea, blood in the urine and dehydration cycle. It makes sense now why they got better with the feeding change but did not get completely well. For two months I was under the impression they did not have a bacterial infection because of the stand-in incompetent vet I had to use. Roy was much more affected than his sister for some reason.
From Herr Eisenhiem
All the evidence suggests dogs are carnivores and not omnivores as it is increasingly being suggested these days (mostly by commercial food producers and their puppets in academia) therefore it may be worth considering feeding more meat and meaty bones and less carbs such as rice, pumpkin and yams you mentioned. Well at least this is my professional opinion based on some research and experience FWIW.
Finally, The jury is still out on the question of how and what caused these infections. The food company is working with me but my gut still goes to their processing of the fish they use. If not, so be it and maybe we will never know. I have increased the protein to carbohydrate ratio in the diet now that they do not have diarrhea and their stools are firm. I will probably add one thing at a time to their intake of anything but ingestible DMSO is on the list. I have a great source for it here.
In closing, I have been bashed and beaten up over the last 8 years and lately even more. It took me quite awhile to do this more complete timeline of events for you all because I have been under so much pressure on all fronts. I want to contribute and post on the forum but I simply cannot take anymore bashing. I admit I am fragile and for anyone to suggest that I make up stuff as I go was extremely hurtful. I need a little more TLC at this time. I suspect there are others like me. So for the time being, I will just continue to lurk and not post. When I am stronger emotionally and financially maybe I can give more but for now I can’t. I do not know any of you personally and you do not know me, so I am sorry if I did not consider the responses with more respect or post with more clarity and completeness.
Wow, HE, thanks for all of this info. I knew that commercial pet foods were bad, but did not know this additional info.
