Boy’s story & treatment from the U.S.
This story is about my Shar Pei Boy, his disease (FSF) and his treatment from the US. My name is Liesbeth, I am 37 years old, had 2 shar pei; Boy who became 8 years old and Luna who died of cancer at the age of 5,5 years. Herewith I would like to tell Boy’s story.
Boy came to us as a rescue dog when he was 7 months of age. Very soon we found out that he had fever attacks with swellings. It took a while before we found out what this was, because we were not familiar with this disease. We kwamen er al snel achter dat Boy koortsaanvallen had met zwellingen. After having contact with other people with Shar Pei we were told this could be FSF. Boy’s fever attacks at the time were every few months, sometimes with swellings, sometimes without. We had his blood checked and because of some blood values, we could no longer ignore that he had FSF, even if there is no official test to confirm this disease for 100%!! As many others we started medication like Tolfedine (this is a fever inhibitor and anti-inflammatory). It went all right for a while, until Boy didn’t respond to the Tolfedine. We discussed this with our vet and decided to replace the Tolefdine by Rimadyl (also a fever inhibitor and anti-inflammatory) This also worked for a while until the attacks increased and became more severe, so we found out that with Rimadyl we also couldn’t control this fever attacks completely. At that time the attacks were every 5 to 6 weeks and lasted longer and the fever got higher and higher. At that time he had attacks with 42 degrees fever. Far too long and much too heavy! It was then when Boy got an attack so severe that one night he couldn’t sit or walk. His legs were so swollen that we rushed to the emergency vet and they gave him antibiotics and a fever inhibitor intravenous. A very restless night followed and in the morning he finally laid down and fell asleep. That morning we discovered Boy laying in his dogbed with his skin completely torn up from his toes until his stomach. Fluid was dripping out everywhere from his body and I was complete in panic. We phoned a vet, known at the shar pei breeding club and he told us he knew what this was, but told us there was nothing we could do, except to give the Rimadyl and hope for the best. That was all the information I got and there I was: with a dog completely torn open and in severe pain. We went to our own vet and started working on his healing process: weeks and weeks we had to clean his wounds 3 times a day, giving anti biotic, setting alarms in the night to go and watch how Boy was doing. 3 times a week we went to the vet to check on his wounds and finally he was healing.
His legs were better and he was feeling fine again and even playing! Until about 2 months later the same process of wounds, cleaning and nurturing 8 weeks started again! At the third time in a row the same process we saw him getting worse every time. He didn’t play anymore, just laid in his bed, was eating bad and simply we saw he was doing miserable. My husband and I decided this couldn’t go on like this, this would be a sad life for our beloved dog. We decided that maybe to save him from more harm we might have to let him go. Day and night we were thinking about this, discussing it and having sleepless nights about this. Thank God it was than when I came in contact with a woman who had done research on treating FSF and had been in contact with Dr. Linda Tintle. Especially because in Holland she could not find information about treating this disease. On a Dutch message board she read our story and what we were considering in order to prevent Boy from suffering more and more. She asked me to not give up on Boy yet and told us that there was a treatment in the US that Linda Tintle prescribes for dogs with severe FSF. This put my world upside down, for in my heart I was already giving up on Boy, just wasn’t sure when to take the definitive step. I have send this woman all the information about Boy, the total history of his past, his attacks, the state he was in and she send this to Linda Tintle. Shortly after that I got a treatment plan that Linda would had given if I had visited her with Boy’s disease. I was so happy! Off course you always keep in mind that there is never a guarantee but at least there was hope again! During the start of this treatment I was in close contact with the woman who brought me in contact with Linda and she told me a lot about Colchicine. How to measure the Colchicine, how to give it, what supplements, vitamins etc. to give and what it would do in Boy’s body. All in consultation with Linda Tintle off course!
This is a quote from Linda’s site:
So, right now, I think a very good case could be made for giving a Shar-Pei with the auto inflammatory syndrome FSF the following: Treatment/supplements to consider:
Colchicine
Vitamin B12
High dose omega 3 fatty acids
Magnesium
Multi-vitamin and mineral supplement
Alpha-lipoic acid
Resveratrol
Curcumin
Boswellia
Vitamin K2 (menaquinone, MK7)
This was what she advised to give Shar Pei with FSF
So we started treatment; Colchicine is not just a medicine, the dog should be monitored very well in case he will react wrongly on this medicine or get diarrhea. So we started very carefully with the Colchicine, with half a tablet a day. Boy had no bad reactions so a week later we went on with 1 tablet a day. That also went ok, so 3 weeks later we were at 2 x 0.5 milligrams. He had no side effects at all! With giving the Colchicine we had to give vitamin b12, because Colchicine pulls down b12 in the body, which also can cause severe diarrhea. One day we gave vitamin B complex, the other day vitamin B12. We also started giving Curcumine, this is a yellow powder that supports the immune system. We also gave Boy vitamin C daily a 1000 milligram dose. One day with flax seed oil, the other day with salmon oil on his food. All together a great deal of medication and supplements that Boy was given daily.
Off course this treatment was no guarantee that Boy would never get fever with swellings again, we knew that very well and we discussed what to do if Boy would become worse than his disease already was? We agreed that if this would happen or in case it wouldn’t make a difference we would stop this treatment, because we wished a worthy life for our Boy.
Colchicine, what does this briefly do? Treatment with Colchicine has 2 aspects:
1) to lower the frequency of the syndrome caused by FSF.
2) to lower the inflammatory reaction and the side effects of this reaction
The 3rd benefit is to decrease the risk at developing amyloidosis but also secondary risks such as Vasculitis.
In consultation with Linda we also changed the treatment plan for fever attacks in future (should he had gotten any) or the swellings. Metacam would have been for the fever attacks, corticosteroids (prednisone) for the swellings.
Let me make clear that I am not suggesting with this story that every Shar Pei who has fever occasionally should get this treatment!! With a lot of them who have about 5 (light) attacks a year, they can be helped with an aspirin, Metacam or else and I wouldn’t advise to choose this treatment for them. However in severe (and hopeless) cases like with my dog Boy, it was this last possibility or letting him go……
Off course there are certain risks attached to using Colchicine; a possibility is for a dog’s body to refuse this medication (this was not the fact with Boy) or severe diarrhea. Boy reacted well to all of this, so we continued this treatment.
In case your dog’s fever attacks should be very intense, with swellings, bursting skin etc. do not simply use the medication I described using for Boy. Ask your vet to contact dr. Linda Tintle and let them make a treatment plan with or without Colchicine, so please do not experiment yourself! Colchicine can reduce the attacks of fever and the intensity of it.
This is dr. Linda Tintle’s site:
http://www.wvc.vetsuite.com/
163 SULLIVAN STREET
WURTSBORO, NY 12790
Phone: 1 (845) 888-4884
E-mail:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Finally our dearest friend Boy, could not win the battle against FSF; he got kidney failure and on 23th of December 2009 we had to decide to put him to rest. But we are most grateful that thanks to Linda Tintle’s treatment plan we were able to enjoy our Boy for 2 years without having fever, because after starting that treatment he was had no fever attacks anymore! This is why I want to share our story with the world, to let people know that FSF is indeed a terrible disease but you can always try to fight it and it can turn out positive! Boy, beautiful beloved friend, rest in peace!