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Toxoplasmosis - tell me your stories please?


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My 8yo bully has just been diagnosed with Toxo  after 2 weeks of hell and $9000 worth of tests and hospitalisation.  

It started with 5 seizures in a day and then loss of cordination followed on.  He had bloods, MRI, spinal taps,

ulttrasounds, you name it.   The initial blood test showed only a very slight rise in toxo, which is why they kept searching for other causes.  When his bloods were restested 2 weeks later, toxo registered as significantly higher and so treatment only commenced at that point.  

 

He's just been started on 3 lots of antibiotics, so I'm hoping for a miraculous, immediate cure!   

 

Can you please tell me your stories - the good and the bad so I know what's possibly in store for us?

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Hi ..sorry to hear about the diagnosis .

I am a long termer here on DOL , and from memory  there have been several posts about  people catching Toxo, and not dogs ! 

I  don't know if someone will share experiences .. and hope your boy recovers well :)

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A lot of mammals get Toxo a lot more often than is usually thought but frequently a healthy immune system will dispose of the parasite before it becomes a problem and because no symptoms are seen no tests are run and no-one realises that their dog/cat/neighbour was ever infected.
 

You can't catch this parasite from your dog - it is caught by ingesting cysts found in raw or under cooked meat or in cat faeces. It can pass through the placental barrier in mammals and causes spontaneous abortion if caught early or severe malformation of the young if caught later in the pregnancy.

Good news - more than half of dogs and cats showing symptoms of infestation can be treated and cured with medication. Bad news - if there is an underlying immune system deficiency  (FIV in cats for example) then killing the parasite might not be enough to return the pet to good health. Worst news - if the parasite has already done a large amount of damage there might not be any cure.  

The two main variables with recovery are how much damage the parasite has caused and how robust the affected animal's immune system is.

Praying that your boy will get that miraculous return to good health very soon! 

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