During the month of July 2009 Pearla had another round of hives show up. It was the usual so we were prepared like always. The hives are the size of a kernel of corn and are filled with clear liquid. We usually give her a couple Benadryl through out the days and within 3 to 4 days they are gone. There was one hive on her ankle that was the last to go away. Keep in mind that Pearla doesn't seem to be affected by the hives and she never really licks or scratches at them.
The hive on her ankle never quite healed because of all the hiking and playing she does with her friends. Like I mentioned above, she is very active. This hive turned into an infection because it was never given the proper amount of time to heal (which is the humans fault).
Weeks went by with no sign of her ankle getting better so we decided to go see the VET. Our first visit was on 8/14/2009 and was prescribed Temaril P tablets for inflammation and Baytril 68mg for the infection. After about a week the infection looked as if it was going away. The puss/blood was going away and it seemed like we were on the right track.
After we finished the Baytril a week later it looked as if the infection was coming back. It slowly creeped back up on us and before we knew it, it was a full blown infection again like what we had in the beginning.
Another VET visit on 9/22/2009 with the same prescription, 68mg of Baytril for for 2 weeks instead of 1 week. The infection did the same thing... it went away, but came right back weeks later.
Now with no success, we decided to take her back to the VETs to find out what the hell was going on. By this time, it was winter and all her hives were non existent but the ankle was still infected and for some reason did not look as bad. We continued to go hiking and spend lots of time out doors. On 1/4/2010 the VET recommended we do a culture and sensitivity test.
The tests came back with her diagnosis of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). At the time I didn't really know what it was but knew it wasn't good. Apparently the bacteria can cause infection when they enter the body through a cut or sore. The infection can be minor and local, for example a pimple or a hive and this is just what happened to Pearla.
We then found out that there are only a handful of medications to take for something like this. Baytril was definitely not one of them. The VET prescribed three (3) 150mg CLINDAMYCIN 2 times a day for a total of 900mg/day. (This was recommended after a sensitivity panel was done)EDIT: This was changed to 525mg a day ONE time a day. I guess it's better to hit the infection all at once with 525 than 900 spread out throughout the day.
I purchased this medicine at Wal-Mart of all places for $52.62 while back at my VET they wanted to charge $350!!! For full disclosure though, my VET told me to buy it at Wal-Mart because it would be less expensive.
Pearla has started taking this medicine on 1/9/2010 and will be on it for 3 weeks. After the 3 weeks a follow up visit with the VET will happen.
If you would like a lot more information about the MRSA infection please visit
www.pets-mrsa.com (The Bella Moss Foundation). .jpg)
(Please keep in mind that MRSA was only found to be isolated on her ankle)
Pictures of her ankle with MRSA were taken on 1/16/2010
What you can not see is multiple areas (tiny holes) where the puss and blood will come out of. Pearla has 3 or 4 of them on the infected area.
Out of no where, she developed a "hot spot" on her belly... I'm a little suspicious of this medicine (CLINDAMYCIN) and have a feeling it caused it. From what I understand reactions like this do not happen, but she never gets hot spots like this, especially during the winter. The hot spot first appeared on 1/16/2010.
Pictures were taken on 1/19/2010.
Pictures taken on 01/23/10 (The hotspot has scabbed over and part of it has fallen off)
A new hot spot appeared behind her left leg above the carpal pad
Pictures taken on 01/25/10
Pictures taken of her ankle with MRSA and belly.
Pictures taken on 01/28/2010
It appears the MRSA infection is getting better... (fingers crossed)
Pictures taken on 02/04/2010
Here is a picture of the inside toe. She usually gets some redness in there and actually a hotspot showed up. I didn't document this at all during the blog but she's had it along with the other hot spots the entire time. This one doesn't appear to be betting better as fast as the other ones.
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