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Tetanus In Dogs


openarms
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Has anyone here had any experience with it? At what stage of the illness is it untreatable? There is a dog currently at my vet she's a lovely little dog came in with a leg injury that was treated by the vets and had to have two toes removed. She got through and recovered from the surgery really well. It wasn't untill yesterday that she started showing symptoms of tetanus. Right now her ears are in a weird position her jaw is semi locked and her eyes are slanted. She hasn't had any seizures. They are able to get her to eat when they place food into her mouth and she's still rolling over for belly rubs the poor dear sweet girl :laugh: They have her on antibiotics right now. Is there any hope for her? Has anyone seen a dog at this stage of the illness pull through?

(She is homeless and is going into foster care if she makes it.)

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Yes we lost a foster through tetanus - well her new owner did

We had an mallie girl who got it about a week after going to her new home. Her owner raced her to the vet and the vet diagnosed tetanus immediately but sadly she passed away. Vet saihe he had only ever seen 2 cases of it and Alecia was the first death

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  • 3 months later...
Has anyone here had any experience with it? At what stage of the illness is it untreatable? There is a dog currently at my vet she's a lovely little dog came in with a leg injury that was treated by the vets and had to have two toes removed. She got through and recovered from the surgery really well. It wasn't untill yesterday that she started showing symptoms of tetanus. Right now her ears are in a weird position her jaw is semi locked and her eyes are slanted. She hasn't had any seizures. They are able to get her to eat when they place food into her mouth and she's still rolling over for belly rubs the poor dear sweet girl ;) They have her on antibiotics right now. Is there any hope for her? Has anyone seen a dog at this stage of the illness pull through?

(She is homeless and is going into foster care if she makes it.)

Openarms,

We currently have our boxer/mastiff X convalescing from Tetanus. First vet thought it was possible bacterial infection, took blood for testing, administered steroid injection and gave course of antibiotics. Tetanus was mentioned but discounted as unlikely due to being rare in dogs. Although to us, our Arnie looked like the Joker from Batman :D , vet did not think his face was showing rigis sardonicus. That was on the Wednesday 3 weeks ago. I googled on Wednesday night and contacted vet on Thursday am to say I thought that it was tetanus but it was recommended I wait until Friday for test results. Test results came back negative (which I have since found out it does not show) and our poor boy was getting worse and advised to continue antibiotics and wait and see. :laugh:

By Friday pm he was having difficulty eating, choking on each mouthful, drooling like a rabid dog and his eyes were on the side of his head like a goldfish. I had to go away on the Friday afternoon and left dog in my daughter's care. Sat am, when I was away from home, family contacted to say he was deteriorating, stiff through to tail and could no longer sit or walk properly. Had to desperately search for vet that could hospitalise him and treat (small animal vets don't necessarily keep antitoxin, something else I found out). Mercy dash to Canb Vet Hospital and vet recognised symptoms immediately. We were fortunate that it had not yet affected his respiration and he did not fit. 11 vials of antitoxin, antibiotic drip and 3 days hospitilisation later saw him through the worst and on way to recovery. He is almost back to normal, with no visible permanent damage, and we are so lucky to still have him with us.

The point of my post so long after the original is, that although uncommon, tetanus in dogs is possible and many vets may have never encountered it during their time in practice. Get a second opinion more quickly than I did :eek: We think that he may have contracted it 2-3 weeks earlier when walking on the local showground and a large thorn went into his pad and wound sealed over after it was removed (Like that doesn't happen on almost every walk?) :laugh: . On the weekend prior to first vet visit he was off his food which we just put down to him contracting kennel cough like all the others and he was limping which we put down to rough play as there was no obvious wounds. Do not ignore any facial changes in your dog. Rigis Sardonicus is only attributed to 2 conditions - Tetanus & Strychnine and one other form of poisoning. Once the facial change started he went down hill pretty quickly.

Edited by LOLAFOLATA
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That's really interesting Lola - I know that when Alecia was taken to the vet he took one look at her and knew straight away what was going on. It was sad that they were unable to save her, she was truly a gorgeous malamute

I'm glad to hear that your boy is recovering :laugh: It's quite a scary thing

Edited by Winterpaws
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ooohhh scary stuff, especially after Stevie ripped off a claw down to the quick the other day. She probably spent the day wandering around on the dug-up muddy grass, when she wasn't licking the bleeding bit.

Off to look at the websites a bit more!

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Further to my last post here are some comparative pictures. The botox look pic was taken on Thursday am before hospitilisation on the Sat and he was worse by Friday pm (eyes were pulled to side of head). Antibiotics alone are not enough and they must have anti-toxin. He has been on a course of antibotics since discharge and has a few more days to go yet.

post-20584-1209980922_thumb.jpg

post-20584-1209980935_thumb.jpg

It is a good thing he is a blobberchops which we think helped us notice it more quickly. :)

Edited by LOLAFOLATA
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Wow that's a sad and sorry looking dog. So glad he's on the mend for you. Your post helps make us all aware to be careful to note any change in our dogs whether its physical or temperamental as a sign of illness. Hope he makes a full recovery soon.

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There is a bigger risk of dogs ending up with tetanus if they live in an environment that also includes horses. Worth keeping this in mind for those that have both.

Ali Baba,

This is why we suspect the culprit was thorn in pad from showground. Plenty of horse poo in that dirt and perfect environment for the bacteria.

Thanks for kind thoughts all. He is almost back to his old self in looks and cheekiness :love:

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That's good!

Three mild cases in our family (well, our family's dogs!) in the 70s. Corgi, cattle dog, and a GSD. They lived on cattle properties with ready exposure to horses. There was a thought that spear grass barbs may have provided the entrance site.

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There is a bigger risk of dogs ending up with tetanus if they live in an environment that also includes horses. Worth keeping this in mind for those that have both.

Ali Baba,

This is why we suspect the culprit was thorn in pad from showground. Plenty of horse poo in that dirt and perfect environment for the bacteria.

Thanks for kind thoughts all. He is almost back to his old self in looks and cheekiness :laugh:

So glad that he has conquered this terrible ordeal. Many hugs for him :laugh:

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