Any Veterinarians?

[roosterstraw]

My dog has a spot on the inside of her hind leg that I noticed 2-3 weeks ago. It doesn’t seem to bother/hurt her or slow her down. It’s approximately 3 inches in length and 1.5 inches in width. She has been to the vet twice but they are not sure what it could be. She has gone through two rounds of Cephalexin and almost one round of Fluconazole. Neither medicine has seem to help. Any ideas of what this could be? She is a 4 year old German Shepherd. She swims in the neighborhood pond almost daily and is often outside.

 

[sandbur]

Speaking only as a retired cow vet who has not looked at the lesion.

Always a good thing to trim the hair back around it and get air to it. Scrub it out and keep her out of the water. Vet might have a prescription product to scrub with.

Think of jock itch.

Keep an eye on it in case it is something else.


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[roosterstraw]

Speaking only as a retired cow vet who has not looked at the lesion.

Always a good thing to trim the hair back around it and get air to it. Scrub it out and keep her out of the water. Vet might have a prescription product to scrub with.

Think of jock itch.

Keep an eye on it in case it is something else.


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That’s a good idea. Thanks.

 

[Tree Spud]

You can find medicated shampoos at most pet supply stores. As sandbur said, let it dry out and keep her from licking it if possible.

 

[roosterstraw]

Turns out it is a rare form of fungus called Pythium. She recently had surgery to have it removed before it spread. She will now go on medication for roughly 12 months.

 

[WeedyJ]

Just now seeing this. I'm a vet and would have directed you to have it investigated. It looked like it had a deeper component to it and topical therapy would not help. Good for you for getting it checked out.

 

[roosterstraw]

Thanks Weedyj. Just hope we caught it soon enough as I have read it is a pretty nasty fungus. There are many cases of bad outcomes via google search. Have you ever heard of the fungus or of any positive outcomes?

 

[WeedyJ]

I was trying to think if I have had a case. I can't remember having one, and I think I would because of the rarity of it in my parts, as well as the fact that I have a suburb practice in Atlanta. Hopefully they got a wide resection. What meds are you on?

 

[roosterstraw]

It was a pretty big area they removed. However, we are still waiting on the results of margin. They have her on terbinafine. They also suggested itraconazole but it is extremely expensive and they couldn’t really say for certain if it would help or not, so we opted out of that medicine.

 

[WeedyJ]

So I did some reading this morning. You are right in that itraconazole is expensive, and still may not work, but that's what you want to do to go all out. Frustratingly low success rate even with it. I'll see what I can get it for, but probably not much better than your local vet. Can't tell from pic, but is she around 75-80 lbs? Apparently surgery is the best thing. Terbenafine dose most commonly quoted is 30 mg/kg body weight daily. Dr Amy Grooters at LSU is supposed to be the Pythium queen if your vet wants to reach out. Supposedly there is a vaccine but not that successful in dogs unless that's changed in the last few years.

 

[roosterstraw]

Thanks a lot for looking into it! She is around 85 lbs. I found itraconzale on chewy.com for a little less but not entirely sure its not a “you get what you pay for” kinda thing? The vet has actually already reached out to Dr. Grooters, he also referred to her as the Pythium queen lol. So you would recommend getting the itraconazole?

 

[bigbendmarine]

Lost a year old lab to pythium a few years back, but very different circumstances.

She had the intestinal form and by the time it was diagnosed it was far too late to try anything. Still haunts me a bit to this day as all of our dogs (had 3 at that time) chewed on hickory nut shells and I, as well as the vet initially, just struck it up as gastrointestinal distress from pieces of shell likely being ingested. I suspect the cause was standing water we had in an old fountain that wasn't running and didn't completely drain. That said, in Florida during hot rainy spells, swampy spots sure aren't hard to find, and from what the vet shared it's not uncommon for a single horse to contract it from drinking out of a contaminated water source while a dozen or more horses sharing the drinking hole won't contract it.
Prayers for a positive outcome with the cutaneous case!

 

[WeedyJ]

Strictly speaking, adding the itraconazole would be ideal. I wish I could tell you how much extra benefit, if any, it will give, but it may give you peace of mind to know that you did everything in case of an undesired outcome. I have seen so many clients second guess themselves over the years. So that's a call only you can make, because, in vet med, money vs results is always a big consideration.

 

[WeedyJ]

I'll message you with the info.

 

[roosterstraw]

Lost a year old lab to pythium a few years back, but very different circumstances.

She had the intestinal form and by the time it was diagnosed it was far too late to try anything. Still haunts me a bit to this day as all of our dogs (had 3 at that time) chewed on hickory nut shells and I, as well as the vet initially, just struck it up as gastrointestinal distress from pieces of shell likely being ingested. I suspect the cause was standing water we had in an old fountain that wasn't running and didn't completely drain. That said, in Florida during hot rainy spells, swampy spots sure aren't hard to find, and from what the vet shared it's not uncommon for a single horse to contract it from drinking out of a contaminated water source while a dozen or more horses sharing the drinking hole won't contract it.
Prayers for a positive outcome with the cutaneous case!

Sorry to hear. Never easy losing a dog, especially to something as nasty as this. I suspect our dog contracted it from one of the 3 ponds that are close to the house that she frequents. We had a very dry summer here.