Sandy has Leishmaniasis Desease

[sandymou]

My 8 year-old bitch was yesterday diagnosed with Leishmaniasis desease :-(
Apparantly is contracted thru sand flies. Some of the symptoms are loss of weight, long claws and skin problems. Sandy has all of these and i took her to the vet when i noticed scabs (growths) on her ears. He did a biopsy and blood test and gave me the result in 2 hours. We live in cyprus and apparantely it is quite common here, depending on the area you live in. Fortunately there are no cases here of humans having it, unlike some other countries. He told me it affects the liver and kidneys and she may not be strong enough to take the treatment :-(
I am waiting for the results of this today.
Does anyone know anything about this desease please?

 

[Boxerworld]

I am sorry to hear about it. This disease is unfortunately not rare in the Mediterranean area and I know some top breeders in Spain sending their boxers in Norway during the summer to prevent this risk. It affects 88 countries et 4 continents. There are mostly three kinds, two attacking the skin and one attacking the liver which is the most dangerous.
In the French riviera where I live, it is common especially if you live in some places at medium altitud like between 100 and 500 meters and at the beginning of the evening/late afternoon.
Good luck.

 

[sandymou]

treatment

Thanks for the info. The results showed she has cutaneous leishmaniasis. Thankfully her liver and kidneys are normal for her age. 4 days ago she had 1st of 20-daily injections and 40 days of tablets. She seems to have perked up already. The vet told me that 5 years ago they would have insisted she be 'put down' immediately because they were trying to rid cyprus of this desease, but now it's got so out of hand and is treatable in most cases, so they leave the decision to the owner. We had our other dog tested (15 month puppy we found) and he doesn't have it. Thankfully the vet recognised the symptons so quickly and the results are given almost immediately here.

 

[bommy]

Sending you healing vibes for Sandy.\

Jacqui

 

[Boxerworld]

I am glad Sandy was treated quickly, it is really a nasty disease and there is not much that we can do to prevent it. With my French bulldog Athlon, he's not allowed to stay out long in the late afternoon/beginning of the evening during the summer when you have the most bugs/mosquitos flying around...