Yes, I’ve been busy drafting the new Solstice Dragon book, redrafting said book, editing said book, approving covers for the new series, but my biggest endeavor for the last four months has involved FUNGUS. Yes, I know, all caps is screaming.
Fungus, I say!
It has taken over my sweet companion Cagney since just before Christmas. I could mention how it has kept us from all family visits, but though terribly important and frustratingly heartbreaking, that is a separate issue. (We haven’t see our daughter in six months!)
This is about the Battle of the Fungus.
It started a week before Christmas. That is, we realized there was a problem about a week before Christmas. In retrospect, it had made its advance into our lives at least two weeks prior.
Feral kittens and a curious dog. Need I say more?
Cagney was following the kittens under the house (pier and beam foundation).
I couldn’t find her in the backyard, and she was in such a hurry to get out from under the house and out of trouble with me, that she banged her back against the foundation beam and left a couple scrapes.
I cleaned the cuts with soap and water and thought nothing more of it.
Jump ahead two weeks with a plan to head south to visit the family for Christmas only a couple days in the future. Cagney’s hair is falling out in clumps where the scrapes were.
What the heck!?
It’s Friday evening, of course. We plan to leave Sunday for the trip. The vet is not open until Monday. I leave a message.
We get a return call early Monday, and they squeeze us in for a quick examination.
“Fungus. Your dog has fungus.”
Instructions: shampoo at least twice to three times a week. Keep her area clean, use bleach if possible. Wrap her bed in a sheet and change the sheet regularly. Give her these pills twice a day for 23 days. She should be good in three weeks, though some cases take longer.
Oh, don’t expose her to any animals or people until she is cured. Cured is when little hairs are growing where the skin is bare.
She’s highly contagious — To People and Pets!
No trip south.
Regimen #1
- Pill morning and night
- shampoo three times a week (approx. every third day)
- change sheet same day shampoo
- vacuum area every other day
- wipe down area with borax same day as shampoo
- no petting
- She’s not allowed to leave her designated area except to go outside
- escorted outside (no visits under the house allowed)
- lots of hand washing up to the elbows and wearing gloves when I bathe her
3 weeks: This fails miserably. The fungus is moving from her spine to her shoulders and ribs. She has completed the pills and is nearly out of shampoo.
Back to the vet. They shave her thick coat to about a quarter inch length, which by the way was called “a grooming” and looked like it was done with a hatchet and cost more than any haircut my husband and I have had combined.
I purchased another bottle of vet-recommended shampoo.
Regimen #2 (after the second vet visit and some internet research)
- shampoo three times a week (approx. every third day)
- change sheet same day shampoo
- vacuum area every other day
- wipe down area with borax same day as shampoo
- no petting
- she’s moved to a back hall 5×9.
- I wipe down walls, floors with borax
- escort outside
- I purchase more shampoo (brand I found at Walmart) along with a spray anticeptic/antifungal for between baths
- Purchase and install child gate for hall
- spray her spots with anticeptic/anti-fungal spray on days between shampoos
- hand washing like a crazy woman
She gets worse. Shoulders, neck, flanks, rear, belly and armpits are now infected.
I do further internet research, more thorough and highly motivated. We have now gone three months since the initial outbreak.
I learn the following:
- This can take up to six months to eradicate
- shampoos must contain Ketoconazole (1%) & Chlorhexidine (2%) (the brand we’re using has lower percentages of the medicine)
- area must be cleaned daily (bleach recommended)
- start with shampooing every day first week
- medicine (pills) should be taken for at least six weeks (not 23 days!)
- dogs with longer hair should be shaved at once
- change bedding every day
- fungus is carried in the fallen hair shaft
- pets often reinfect by rubbing furniture, food bowls, etc.)
Regimen #3
- shampoo every other day
- change sheet every day (wash and dry on allergy mode)
- vacuum every other day (she’s barely losing hair)
- wipe down area (floor, walls and gate) with Clorox bleach wipes
- spray with antiseptic/anti-fungal on day not shampooing
- vacuum on bath day: walls, floor, and bed beneath sheet
- purchase dog trimmer and shave her down to a quarter inch, maintain as needed. Clean shaver with soap and water (Can’t use stronger disinfectants on the working parts.)
- disinfect bowl and cone of shame (she has other issues) with bleach wipes every other day
- escort for outside breaks
- I’m a hand-washing maniac
She’s no better, but she’s no worse after two weeks. Maybe I see improvement in some areas. But there’s two spots which just won’t improve.
What am I doing wrong?!
I have this friend at school with whom I chat once a week about our dogs. She’s been in on this debacle since the beginning. We rehash everything that has happened since day one. We’re both feeling a bit frosty about my vet.
I mention how we had to wait an extra hour to pick Cagney up after her shaving because she had to be blow dried.
We both scream at the same time. BLOW DRIED!
That night I blow dry Cagney after her Monday bath.
It takes an hour and a half! I have grading up the yin yang to do, and I’m about to cry. But I blow dry her with my pink Conair on warm, high speed. Neither of us are enjoying the process.
By the way, I can crouch now for at least an hour without my legs cramping. Just sayin’.
Add blow drying to regimen #3.
By Friday she looks less raw.
By the next week (last week) she has baby hairs growing.
I shave her again. So much easier to shampoo and blow dry.
This picture was taken today. The spots are visible, though blurred. That’s the hair that is coming in making them look less defined. This picture is an accurate match to her colors.
Pink skin is showing in most areas, though there is some dark pigmentation. It will hopefully fade. Her ears have always been that color. 🙂 The fungus never traveled beyond the bend in her neck.
Today is bath day. It will take about two hours from start to finish. Maybe three weeks from now she’ll get to roam the house again and wait at the sliding glass door to greet us when we come home.
I really miss seeing her there perked up and pleased as all getout to have us home.
We threw out all her beds except the rectangular flat one because its easy to wrap in a sheet and was cleanable. I can’t wait to buy her a new comfy bed for the kitchen and another one for my office.
I’ll post an update when she’s cured. I hope this is useful for anyone else dealing with a pet with fungus.
UPDATE: She is still dealing with fungus. We did have one three-week period fungus free, but then her feet became infected. May 2020
UPDATE: Feet recovering, inner ears now involved. Aug. 2020
UPDATE: Feet had a relapse. Bleach water bathing of each foot, ear drops, pills, more baths, deep sanitation of the back hall, and…..drumroll……….She is fungus free! Sept. 2020.
Thousands of baths, clean sheets, and ten months.
UPDATE: Belly, right side of face and flanks now spotted with fungus. October 1, 2020. We went four weeks fungus free. That is our current record since December 2019.
