Hello all, I have a dog who has severe muscle scarring on his back leg caused by a horrible muscle parasite called neospora. Can anybody suggest any way to repair scarring, I am quite realistic about his future but would like to help as much as possible.
Thanks

Hi Jeff

Sorry to hear about your dog - Neospora is one of the things I am researching at the moment and would appreciate more information from you if you have time?

Do you know how your dog caught it, does he have access to farm animals, what is he fed, were any others in his litter affected or his dam?

TIA

[email kerioakdobes@btinternet.com]Christine [/email]

Hello there,
I will try to give you any info I can, Harvey was the only pup affected by the virus and neither the sire or dam have ever shown symptoms. I noticed it at 12 weeks and although he was on antibiotics (delvoprim) within 4 days, via a specialist as the first vet was unsure of diagnosois, the parasite left him with scarred muscle preventing him from flexing his back left leg properly. He is fed a mixture of raw and complete foods like the rest of the gang.
He does have access to livestock, again, with the rest of the gang. He is now seeing a holistic vet in an attempt to regain some flexion and this is having a small amount of success. Where he caught it is a matter for debate as he doesnt go anywhere the others don't and in fact my shessie goes to a number of places without the others. Best guess from my vet and others is that he caught it as well as my chessie but it affected him because he still had live vaccine in him from second injection at 10 weeks wheres my chessie, who is adult and fighting fit shrugged it off.
To make it worse I had waited five years for him!

Jeff - i'm going to send you a private message. if you click on messages - top right you'll get it.  :)

Jeff - I'm very interested in neospora. I have had first hand experience of it & seen both good & bad results of dogs with it. I'd love to know more about your dog. What excactly do you mean by muscle scarring?

Hello there,
Harvey first showed signs at 12 weeks, antibiotics didnt work quickly enough so, according to my vet this affected the muscle by attacking it leaving poor old (young) harv unable to flex his back leg properly.

how old is he now Jeff & how is he doing?

Hi there, the harv a larv is just over a year and he is doing fine, it is a testament to his temperament that he has coped so well (I am not biaised honest) everyone who meets him loves him but basically he just uses the bad leg for balance.

I've sent you a private message Jeff.  :)

Got it, thank you. replied.

Not got it :(
perhaps it's en-route?

Just a quick thank you, forgot to mention that neospore also affected his jaw muscles but doesnt seem to have caused any real problems, slight restriction but he is still finding it possible to eat my cornflakes while I type!

Bless him. Interesting, i've not known a pup with an affected jaw before. I've seen pups with N/S affecting their limbs & one pup with an affected shoulder/spine.
Good luck with your fella - I wish you all the best. Is he a Tibetan Mastiff?

Crikey! He is a Tibetan Mastiff, was that an inspired guess or have you met him?

Hi Jeff and Snoopy

Would you mind including me in your dicussions please - click on my name to get my email address.  In my "spare" time I am trying to put together a informational page/article on this disease and whilst I have a lot of information on the protozoa and cattle, I have not managed to speak to many people with affected dogs.

[email kerioakdobes@btinternet.com] Christine [/email]

Yep Christine - I'll send you an e-mail later (kids party to sort out now)

Hi Christine,
No prob, can do.
J

Tibetan Mastiff. ;)

I replied to a post some time ago about Neospora. I have a whippet who contracted it about three years ago.At the time he was only the fourth adult dog in the world to be diagnosed with it so I am really surprised by how often it now crops up. We have traced the cause of the attack to beef that he was fed whilst at stud in Belguim. He was totally paralysed down one side but thanks to human drugs has made an 98% recovery and is now 10 years old. I offered to supply info about this disease at least twice now and have received a total blank.
You may be interested to know that the bitch can harbour the disease but it cannot be passed on by the Stud dog. It causes abortion storms in cattle and is believed to be one of the main causes of fading puppy but because most breeders do not Post Mortem puppies it has not been confirmed, Jan

Hi Jan,
         Tahnks for your reply, I would be very grateful for any info you have, I had heard of it in Cattle although I had never seen it, even though I am from a farming background, but not in dogs. When Harvey was infected the first vet was unsure of his diagnosis although I was referrred and at a specialist vet within 24 hours.
I have since found out from another helpful CD poster that Guide Dogs test there brood bitches. I would like as much info as possible, although hopefully it will just be for discussion as I never want to go through this again. My main query is where he caught it?!
Thanks
Jeff

We believe but could not prove that he picked it up eating contaminated beef in Belguim.If you have access to a fax I can Fax you the paperwork that my vet obtained for me which has lots of references to look up. I have tried accessing the site myself but you need a password  Alternatively Email me, I am on the Champdogs breeder site under Italian Greyhounds with your address and I will copy it and send it to you, Reagrds JAN