Need help dog sick as hell with clostridia!!! - Page 2

Here a some web sites that may help.  Hope your dog gets well soon!

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=2239&S=1&SourceID=42

http://www.wellvet.com/diarrheadog.html

http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/digestive/c_dg_clostridial_enterotoxicosis

Here is what the Medscape article says re. treatment. It also says relapses are common, as you've already found out!

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/186458-treatment
 


Also, the information I've given is relevant to humans only. Here's another link that gives the veterinary point of view, which is pretty much the same: http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/dog/health/bacterial/Clostridium.php
 

 

 

According to the samples the vet took and looked at it is the kind that is best treated with Amoxicillin I started with Flagal and nothing it continued to get worse. I looked in the veterinary college  of science manual on line and it states it can take 1 month or more of antibiotics to take care of it.  Damn this is wicked stuff.

I'd change the antibiotic. It's obviously not working, if he relapsed. And the bloody diarrhea is something you can't ignore. It's a serious complication.

WRESTLEMAN I WOULD TAKE THE ADVISE OF SUNSILVER AND I WOULD TAKE IT ASAP!!! 

Clostridium difficile in dogs

Clostridium difficile will normally not cause problems, but antibiotic treatment can make it possible for this bacterium to overgrow other bacteria in the gut of the dog and cause pseudomembranous colitis. Pseudomembranous colitis is a serious infection of the colon. If a dog develops pseudomembranous colitis, treatment with other antibiotics must be stopped and the veterinarian must start giving the dog antibiotics capable of attacking Clostridium difficile, e.g. metronidazole, vancomvcin, fusidic acid, or bacitracin. Clostridium difficile is resistant to most antibiotics and it can therefore thrive when common antibiotics are used to treat other dog diseases.

 



 

I have treated quite a few human patients for C. difficile, and vancomycin is definitely the antibiotic of choice, and the veterinary website above agrees. So, once again, get the dog OFF the amoxicillin, take it to another vet if necessary, and get it on vancomycin. You are dealing with a very nasty bug here. The other members of the colostridium family are responsible for causing tetanus and gangrene, two other diseases that are life-threatening.

 

Yes it can take a while to clear up especially since it's not uncommon for the dog to pass it back to himself (which is why poop cleanup and other sterilization is important too).  I am not sure why one vet would use amox, that is what CAUSES this bacteria to get out of control if I am not mistaken.  Both the person and dog I know who had this both were treated with flagyl/metro (person had tried vanco and it didn't work).  It is NASTY in humans, not sure if it's as bad for a dog (my friend's dog did not seem as bad as the person I know who had it).

Thanks, Sunsilver!

And yes, there are alternative treatments to antibiotics, even for emergency cases, VKGSD, they help very quickly.

This definetly needs another vet to look at the problem, I hope you find a good one you trust,wrestleman.

She started vancomicin this morning one day she is good next off her food of chicken and rice. Her stomach just appears upset 24-7 she can eat more grass than a cow. no blood in stools for 2 days but not formed but not real loose .

If she's eating that much grass, I'd look into giardia as another compounding problem. It also tends to rear its ugly head under stress. And please don't listen to a negative stool sample- they're almost always negative, infected or not.