Dogs & MRSA

[janice7920]

omigosh, the frightening experiences some of you have had. my heart goes out to you. I had what appeared to be a blemish on my stomach, a little off to the left side. I thought it was just a breakout, but the inflamed area around it kept getting larger and it became very painful. My husband laughed at me when I was thinking of calling the doctor, so I waited a couple extra days after he got me wondering if I was nuts. I had my boil for about 5 days before I went to an urgent care clinic where they lanced (?) it, took a culture and then packed it. I went through nearly 3 weeks of appointments where the doctor repacked it to keep it open so it could drain while on antibiotics. Its been closed now for nearly two weeks but I am constantly worried that its going to suddenly reappear. The doctor said it should stay away, that he had treated a number of people for community MRSA skin infections and had not seen any return, but still, I am scared about it!

Yesterday I was telling the vet that I had been on antibiotics in Fall 2009 for pneumonia, then late Summer-early Fall of 2010 for e-coli and now for MRSA. Prior to that, I used to be an occasional UTI victim off and on throughout the years but that was basically it. She told me that I was a high antibiotic user, and that I could be one of those people who developed problems with bacteria resistance to antiobiotics. Thats all I thought about last night and it had me scared. The vet said she had only been on antibiotics only once in 50 years and that was for a deep dog bite she had received while treating a patient. To be honest, I'm sure she lives a much healthier lifestyle than I do, I have had weight issues & bad eating habits over the years, etc. But it scared me anyway.

Thank you for sharing your experiences, and that of your dogs. We used the Quadritop fluid on the dog last night and this morning - glad she is only 12 pounds because she put up such a big fight, I'd hate to see us try to do it with a 50 pound dog :0) Hopefully, too, after her first season the vulva will pop out a little more. I appreciate the baby wipe suggestions - I have some of those so I will start using them.

 

[Jaynie]

That is close to the same surgery that my co-worker who gave me MRSA had. He ended up having the appliance removed and a new one put in because they couldn't clear the infection from the appliance. He was on a Vanc drip for like 6 months, and doxy for another year. His wound was still open from the second surgery when they let him back.

I was lucky enough to be allergic to the current MRSA drugs, so I got a new drug they aren't using yet, and it did the trick, but it was a $1700 prescription (that insurance paid all but $20 of, thankfully).

My wound was open for quite some time - it had just healed when I had to have a second surgery in 2007 (they went in from the front this time). I was only saved from having to have all the instrumentation removed because my surgeon was out of town. By the time he returned, the infection was responding to drug therapy. I did have to go into the OR to have the wound debris cleared. The constant packing/unpacking with bleach-soaked gauze was excruciating (I still can't smell bleach without feeling a little faint). I had a morphine drip for a couple of months. I was on vancomycin for what seemed like a year! I am highly allergic to most antibiotics, so choosing one that worked and didn't give me a reaction was tricky. I try not to take antibiotics at all - even the ones that work, just in case something like this happens again. I had a reaction to Biaxin (called Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, which causes your hair to fall out, as well as look as if you have leprosy) which I took for a simple case of laryngitis - so no antibiotics for me!

I feel that way about my dogs, too. Doctors (both human and animal) have been too quick to prescribe antibiotics for the last 30-40 years, and many bacteria strains have developed resistance to them - NOT GOOD.

As an aside, when I recently had the bedroom where I slept when I had the MRSA repainted, I found an additive that can be added to paint that makes it antimicrobial. I used this to repaint the kitchen, bathrooms, laundry, and "dog's room" as well. It's expensive and a special order, but well worth the peace of mind.