Clostridium botulinum (Botulism)

[skip11]

My 11.5 months old pup has been diagnosed with potentially botulism from the bacteria clostridium botulinum although still cannot be 100% sure. He's in veterinary care but I figure I wanna ask some of you guys here that may have experience with the disease. Any tips/suggestions?

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Ok so my 13 old pup just got botulism again. I'm cooking/boiling all his food now (chicken, chicken feet, organs, veggies). He was healthy for a month than all of the sudden last thursday he got the exact same symptoms again. I'm still a proponent of raw feeding, but just make sure you get good quality stuff.

[BRICKFACE]

Clostridium Botulinum (Botulism)

WHAT IS BOTULISM?
Botulism is a rare but potentially life-threatening bacterial illness. Clostridium Botulinum bacteria grows on food and produces toxins that, when ingested, cause paralysis. Botulism poisoning is extremely rare, but so dangerous that each case is considered a public health emergency. Studies have shown that there is a 35 to 65 percent chance of death for patients who are not treated immediately and effectively with botulism antitoxin.

Infant botulism is the most common form of botulism. See below for symptoms specific to infant botulism.

Most of the botulism cases reported each year come from foods that are not canned properly at home. Botulism from commercially canned food is rare, but commercial canned chili products were identified as the source of a botulism outbreak in 2007.

SYMPTOMS OF BOTULISM
Botulism neurotoxins prevent neurotransmitters from functioning properly. This means that they inhibit motor control. As botulism progresses, the patient experiences paralysis from top to bottom, starting with the eyes and face and moving to the throat, chest, and extremities. When paralysis reaches the chest, death from inability to breathe results unless the patient is ventilated. Symptoms of botulism generally appear 12 to 72 hours after eating contaminated food. With treatment, illness lasts from 1 to 10 days. Full recovery from botulism poisoning can take weeks to months. Some people never fully recover.

In general, symptoms of botulism poisoning include the following:


Nausea

Vomiting

Fatigue

Dizziness

Double vision

Dry skin, mouth and throat

Drooping eyelids

Difficulty swallowing

Slurred speech

Muscle Weakness

Body Aches

Paralysis

Lack of fever
Infant botulism takes on a different form. Symptoms in an infant include lethargy, poor appetite, constipation, drooling, drooping eyelids, a weak cry, and paralysis.

LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF BOTULISM
The majority of botulism patients never fully recover their pre-illness health. After three months to a year of recovery, persisting side-effects are most likely permanent. These long-term effects most often include fatigue, weakness, dizziness, dry mouth, and difficulty performing strenuous tasks. Patients also report a generally less happy and peaceful psychological state than before their illness.

BOTULISM DIAGNOSIS
If a patient displays symptoms of botulism, a doctor will most likely take a blood, stool, or gastric secretion sample. The most common test for botulism is injecting the patient’s blood into a mouse to see whether the mouse displays signs of botulism, since other testing methods take up to a week.

Sometimes botulism can be difficult to diagnose, since symptoms can be mild, or confused with those of Guillan-Barre Syndrome.

TREATMENT OF BOTULISM
If found early, botulism can be treated with an antitoxin that blocks circulation of the toxin in the bloodstream. This prevents the patient’s case from worsening, but recovery still takes several weeks.

PREVENTION OF BOTULISM
Since botulism poisoning most commonly comes from foods improperly canned at home, the most important step in preventing botulism is to follow proper canning procedure. Ohio State University’s Extension Service provides a useful guide to sanitary canning techniques.

Further botulism prevention techniques include:

Not eating canned food if the container is bulging or if it smells bad, although not all strains on Clostridium Botulinum smell
Storing garlic or herb-infused oil in the refrigerator
Not storing baked potatoes at room temperature
To prevent infant botulism, do not give even a small amount of honey to an infant, as honey is one source of infant botulism.

REFERENCES
Mayo Clinic. (2010). Botulism. Available at http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/botulism

[BRICKFACE]

Interesting disease thanks for sharing!

Sounds like a spore forming bacteria similar to c.diff but with servere neurological effects. One thing to note about these spore type bacteria is that they are hard to get rid of and can survive in previously contaminated areas. Once a host is infected the mode of transmission is through fecal mater containing the spores.

In a hospital setting we bleach everything that could possibly become contaminated and isolate patients. Bleach is the only thing that can effectively kill the spores unfortunately since we are talking about dogs we have to look at his living area, if which is a chain spot, may be contaminated by spores living in the soil.

I would isolate the dog if possible in a kennel setting with concrete bottom and clean up stools ASAP, and bleach the area like no other to avoid transmission to your other dogs. If you are thinking it was caused by a raw diet the initial infection may have been, but reinfection could very well have come from previously contaminated areas on your yard.

[S_B]

Wow, that sounds like a sucky diagnosis and disease to deal with.

Skip, what did they do for your pup as far as treatment? Did they have any ideas as to why he became sick in the first place? And what is their long term thought on his quality of life?

Along with what Brickface suggests I wonder if supplementing your pup with high quality probiotics would help? Seems his immune system is shot.

S_B

[BRICKFACE]

For treatment of c.diff we do vancomycin or flagyl in oral solution

[BRICKFACE]

TREATMENT OF BOTULISM
Foodborne botulism - If diagnosed early, antitoxin should be administered to block the actions of the exotoxin. If respiratory failure has set in, mechanical ventilator and intensive care is required.

Infant botulism - Remove the contaminated food by inducing vomiting and enemas. Good supportive care is further required for recovery.

Wound botulism - Administration of antitoxins to neutralize the exotoxin, surgical debridement and excision of the effected area, followed by the required supportive treatment.

[S_B]

For treatment of c.diff we do vancomycin or flagyl in oral solution

Would vancomycin be your last choice?

Interesting article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2942055/

Canned foods seem to be a common denominator among dogs, as well as rotting a carcass. Hell I can't even tell you how many rotting carcasses I've seen dogs find and eat over the years.

S_B

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@S_B and BRICKFACE:

Luckily, I only have 1 dog. Last month he had a lung infection as well, either a side effect from the botulism or from streptococcus but after 1 week he was back to his usual self (went back and forth to the vet for 4 straight days before getting him to overnight care for another 4 days, so 8 days of IV).

This time the symptoms are not as bad but still the same, no place for overnight care so we went back and forth to the vet for IV to help get his fever down and hydrate but only for 3 days. Well, the vet blamed the raw food he ate but to my knowledge I've never given him spoiled meat, carcass, or decaying veggie. He likes to eat cat poop during his walks (which I try very hard to prevent) but his toxo test was negative. So let's just say maybe I got unlucky and he did get the bacteria from his food (Although he's been eating raw since he's 4 months old). Now I just cook all his food except fruits.

The vet prescribed Doxy, med for the fever, and neurobion for the oral meds. I have him a chinese natural med called Pien Tze Huang which seems to help as well as I don't think the doxy does anything. For the injection he's prescribed Neostigmine for the tremors and paralysis symptoms. He's better since he's gotten the neostigmine shot yesterday (all the pharmacy was closed due to holidays here, I live in Indonesia). I think the neostigmine shots are continued for 7 days.

I asked about antitoxin but the vet said there's none, so I don't know. Maybe we don't have it here. His leukocyte was extremely high when he got sick again last thursday, 50,000. I really hope he makes full recovery. I did supplement with kefir so the probiotic front should be good.

[BRICKFACE]

For c.diff the first coarse of treatment would be vancomycin, unless the dog was allergic then flagyl would be the next option. This would be an oral solution, not tablets or IV.

Now in this case for c.botulinum it sounds like the first coarse of treatment would be antitoxin, which inhibits the production of the toxin produced by the bacteria. The toxin is what attacks the neurological system.

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This is him 1 day before he got sick. No signs of weakness, illness, nothing. The next day just suddenly.

https://scontent-sit4-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/19429737_10155441078806665_2248581233533323558_n.j pg?oh=10cba2fe7f024f2269031543481e7ec0&oe=59DC4F64

[skip11]

For c.diff the first coarse of treatment would be vancomycin, unless the dog was allergic then flagyl would be the next option. This would be an oral solution, not tablets or IV.

Now in this case for c.botulinum it sounds like the first coarse of treatment would be antitoxin, which inhibits the production of the toxin produced by the bacteria. The toxin is what attacks the neurological system.

They either don't have the antitoxin here or the vet thinks neostigmine would be better.

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I'll just post this again here, just in case you guys missed my reply.

@S_B and BRICKFACE:

Luckily, I only have 1 dog. Last month he had a lung infection as well, either a side effect from the botulism or from streptococcus but after 1 week he was back to his usual self (went back and forth to the vet for 4 straight days before getting him to overnight care for another 4 days, so 8 days of IV).

This time the symptoms are not as bad but still the same, no place for overnight care so we went back and forth to the vet for IV to help get his fever down and hydrate but only for 3 days. Well, the vet blamed the raw food he ate but to my knowledge I've never given him spoiled meat, carcass, or decaying veggie. He likes to eat cat poop during his walks (which I try very hard to prevent) but his toxo test was negative. So let's just say maybe I got unlucky and he did get the bacteria from his food (Although he's been eating raw since he's 4 months old). Now I just cook all his food except fruits.

The vet prescribed Doxy, med for the fever, and neurobion for the oral meds. I have him a chinese natural med called Pien Tze Huang which seems to help as well as I don't think the doxy does anything. For the injection he's prescribed Neostigmine for the tremors and paralysis symptoms. He's better since he's gotten the neostigmine shot yesterday (all the pharmacy was closed due to holidays here, I live in Indonesia). I think the neostigmine shots are continued for 7 days.

I asked about antitoxin but the vet said there's none, so I don't know. Maybe we don't have it here. His leukocyte was extremely high when he got sick again last thursday, 50,000. I really hope he makes full recovery. I did supplement with kefir so the probiotic front should be good.

[S_B]

Skip, he's a beautiful boy, gleams of health. I'm sorry to hear he's having these issues. If I were you I'd study up on what Brick posted and start asking the vet questions. In my experience when you ask questions while being versed in the subject a vet is likely to interact better with you. They kind of get all gitty! lol

As far as the kefir I'd chuck it and use a good quality probiotic personally. And possibly supplement with good quality enzymes also. I'd research it though, and discuss with your vet.


Good luck to you!
S_B

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@S_B: Thanks. He seems to be recovering well. I'm gonna visit the vet again on Friday and ask some more questions.

[SGC]

He's a fine looking young dog. I hope he is doing better and that the vet was more helpful.

I've only heard of dogs getting botulism from eating rotting dead deer carcasses they found in the woods and none of my dogs have done this so I have no experience with it.

Here is the link to the Merck Veterinary Manual page on botulism, it might have some helpful info for you --

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/generalized-conditions/clostridial-diseases/botulism

[skip11]

He's recovered now, thanks guys. He still got tremors sometimes but rarely. He lost about 1kg in about a week but somehow he got a lot stronger now lol.