Know Valley Fever affects humans here, but does the fungus do something strange to dogs? (Tucson: environment)

[sweetmebri23]

Hi All,

I have gotten a lot of help on this forum. I wanted to ask any dog owners if this has happened to your pets? I know they say the fungus in the soil affects humans and causes Valley Fever, but my dogs have a weird thing going on and I am wondering has the fungus affected them.

I have 5 Chihuahua's, 2 adults (Momma and Daddy) and 3 pups that are about 7 months old. Prior to coming here they all had nice pink bellies except the Daddy dog and his belly was just a pale tan color. Once we got here, I noticed that they had started developing these darker pigments on their bellies that looked sort of like black freckles. First one got them, then eventually all of them got them. Everyday I would check them and they seemed to be spreading and getting more and more of them. Now their bellies are completely covered with them. The Momma and Daddy dog are a couple of years old and never had this before moving here so I think it has to be something in the environment here that made them get these spots. Sorry if this sounds stupid, but I really wonder what could have caused this!

I took them to the Vet to rule out any sort of disease process and the Vet did tests and said they are all completely healthy. The Vet said "This is the strangest thing I have ever seen" and didn't offer me any explanation beyond that! She did ask me had they gotten into anything in the yard. I told her they use the doggy door and go in and out as needed. I know on occasions they have eaten grass, leaves etc. Anyway, they have no other symptoms except these pigment changes on their bellies. Has this happened to any of your dogs? If so, what caused it?

Thanks so much!

Bri

[22Bananas]

Yes, just "google" Valley fever dogs...here is one of the sites:

http://www.thepetcenter.com/gen/fungal.html

Cats can get it too and there is a test for it...

Good Luck!

[AksarbeN]

Yes animals are affected by the valley fever! Have they lived here long it may also be just the “heat”? I’d keep them inside as much as possible. You may also want to check with one of the large pet centers and see what other dog owners are dealing with.

[sheena]

Yes Valley Fever is horrible and it effects humans and dogs alike. If your dog gets it, it could die and if it doesn't die they will be on expensive meds probably for the rest of their life. Please don't leave them outside long. Also remember the heat is very dangerous to them.
I had Valley fever years ago.

[elfyum]

Can someone please explain what in the world "Valley Fever" is??? I lived in Tucson a long time ago & never heard of that... Thanks!
I hope all your doggies are ok by the way!!!

[eddie gein]

Valley fever is some sort of fungus that lives in the soil in the southwest.

I moved to Tucson in July of 1981 as a 23 year old distance runner. I was running 10-15 miles a day at the time and got Valley Fever within 6 weeks of moving to Tucson.

The first symptom was a horrible full body rash. This was followed by complete exhaustion (slept for 2 weeks straight only getting up to eat and use the bathroom. Didn't know the difference between night and day). After that there was about 3 weeks of pleuresy in which it felt like a dagger in the chest when breathing. After that, about a month of coughing uncontollably when trying to exercise.

Finally all symptoms disappeared after about 3 months. If I had not been in the prime of life and in the best shape of my life I don't know how it would have been. Ironically, it was all that running through the desert that probably caused it in the first place.

[elfyum]

Thank you for the explanation & sorry to hear about your illness!
Wow! I lived in Tucson from '90 - '93 & I used to speed walk 7 miles a day - I never had a problem...! And like I said, I never even heard about it! Is it common? I mean, you can get west nile from mosquitos too but that' s pretty rare!

[Sean_Harrington]

Originally Posted by sweetmebri23

Hi All,


I have 5 Chihuahua's, 2 adults (Momma and Daddy) and 3 pups that are about 7 months old. Prior to coming here they all had nice pink bellies except the Daddy dog and his belly was just a pale tan color. Once we got here, I noticed that they had started developing these darker pigments on their bellies that looked sort of like black freckles. First one got them, then eventually all of them got them. Everyday I would check them and they seemed to be spreading and getting more and more of them. Now their bellies are completely covered with them.
Bri

My 1/2 Chihuahua had something like that. I never lived in southern Arizona, but I thought he got the large freckles on his belly from laying in the sun. That's what my vet thought it was. The dog lived to past the age of 15.

[HAMMERHEAD46]

Originally Posted by eddie gein

Valley fever is some sort of fungus that lives in the soil in the southwest.

I moved to Tucson in July of 1981 as a 23 year old distance runner. I was running 10-15 miles a day at the time and got Valley Fever within 6 weeks of moving to Tucson.

The first symptom was a horrible full body rash. This was followed by complete exhaustion (slept for 2 weeks straight only getting up to eat and use the bathroom. Didn't know the difference between night and day). After that there was about 3 weeks of pleuresy in which it felt like a dagger in the chest when breathing. After that, about a month of coughing uncontollably when trying to exercise.

Finally all symptoms disappeared after about 3 months. If I had not been in the prime of life and in the best shape of my life I don't know how it would have been. Ironically, it was all that running through the desert that probably caused it in the first place.

Sounds like you had almost as much fun as I did, I was 15 at the time and I had all of the problems at the same time (full body rash, complete exhaustion, pleurisy, and phenomena!) my mother took me to the Doctors office and he gave me a massive shot of penicillin and we started to left, my mother got about a block from the Doctors and looked over at me as I was sounding strange, she then covered the 2 miles to the Hospital in Mesa in about 1 min or so (RAN EVERY LIGHT HORN BENT THROUGH THE STEERING WHEEL) and into the emergency room.
The next thing I knew it was (3) three weeks later and I hurt all over and had a very sore throat I was in the Hospital for another week before they let me out. This was in 1961 and I have had no problems with Valley Fever since, they say you only get it once. You either don't know you have it or you manage to live through it.

[kallista]

Been here in phx for almost 4 years, had valley fever 2 times now, and i am very healthy. The dogs get it bad and many passed away from it.