Originally Posted by
evolutionkennels
Buying Berenyl to treat Babesia Gibsoni is like using lemon juice and tonic water for malaria. It's ridiculous to go buy that dangerous a drug to treat a dog when the gold standard of azythromycin and atovaquone is so much cheaper. Don't be lazy irresponsible owners. Go to the vet get an Idexx 2828 test. And treat appropriately. You can get azythromycin for 38.00 and atovaquone (mepron) for under 100.00 at Walmart. Only idiots experiment with Berenyl.
My beliefs being what they are, I think that the only thing you take with you when you die is the effect you have on others. You can be a negative force or a positive force . I choose the positive side, as the negative hurts yourself more than the people you harbor ill will against. This article is to help the fellow American Pit Bull Terrier fancier. Please read it, it may save your dogs life. In my experience, the most important thing to do if your dogs life is on the line is to take the animal to the vet at the first sign of sluggishness, orange urine, or white gums. Imozol is a great drug to prevent your dog from dying. Doxycycline is a life saver as well. What I have found is that most dogs that get bitten by a tick and have one of these diseases have a co-infection of one or two other ones as well. The most deadly I have found is the Babesia Gibsoni. It can kill your dog within 5 days of the onset of the symptoms. There are vets who never see these diseases in their whole careers. You take your dogs in, they draw blood, and say lets wait a few days for the results to come in before we can give you a treatment. By the time the results come in, your dog will be dead. Then they'll say, I guess you were right. That however , wont bring back your dog. If the HCT (Hematocrit) of the dog is less than 25 in the bloodwork, do a blood transfusion immediately. An Imozol shot at that point can buy you time. Also, be FIRM with your vet, they have old manuals from when they graduated medical school that aren't up to date. Have them EARN their money and research what the latest treatments are at THAT TIME. I've sat there and argued with a veterinarian on treatment protocol, to later have them apologize and say, "you were right." A veterinarian, like any other doctor is only as good as how up to date he/she is with current illnesses and current treatments. What I recommend any responsible owner do is do a full tick-borne panel to cover :
Babesia Gibsoni
Babesia Canis
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (Rickettsia Rickettsii)
Anaplasmosis (Anaplama phagocytophilum)
Bartonella ( Haemobartonella canis) now called (Candidatus Mycoplasma Haematoparvum)
Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdorferi)
Ehrlichia
The reason you should do a full tick panel is because it is of the utmost importance to know exactly what diseases your dog has, in order to treat them effectively. Treating a dog blindly can have your dog undergoing long treatments for no good reason. Because most dogs have a co-infection, using the wrong antibiotic first will make the other diseases resistant. (See below referenced links)
Doxycycline is the starting antibiotic for most of these diseases. It on its own will kill off most of the diseases on the above list. There are a few of them that although it will weaken, will not cure. Bartonella and Babesia are the real tough ones. The treatments that I recommend are as follows:
Babesia Gibsoni :
Atovaquone (Mepron) 13.5 mg/kg PO TID (with a fatty meal) and azithromycin 10 mg/kg PO Q24 in combination for 10 days.
Babesia Canis
Imozol 1.25 cc /55 pounds
Repeat in 14 days
Bartonella Haemocanis Henselae
Doxycycline (5 mg/kg) and enrofloxacin
(5 mg/kg) Q 12 H for 6 weeks. Start Enrofloxacin 7 days after doxycycline for total 35 days only . (see #9 on 3rd article below)
Elrichia :
Doxycycline (5 mg/kg) 28 days
with 2 Imozol shots at 14 day intervals
Now, lets say that you have a dog with a Bartonella and Babesia co-infection. Then you would want to treat the Bartonella first before the Gibsoni.
The same applies for Elrichia and Gibsoni. Again, treating the diseases in the wrong order can make it impossible to cure the other one later on. DO FULL TICK BORNE PANEL, KNOW THE ORDER OF TREATMENTS, and be absolutely timely with the administration of the drugs. it's vital to the efficacy of the drugs.
As many people will read this article, I am not a veterinarian, This is based on my experience. Use these treatment protocols at your own risk, and do your own research. I hope it helps
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