Help Needed! Samson tested positive for MRSA

JAKEISGREAT

.................
Mar 25, 2011
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Southern California
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I believe MRSA can be picked up in the soil too.. Anyway the people one can. One of the reasons they say we should remove our shoes when we come inside.
 

Twice

My Bully Gave Me Wings
Feb 3, 2012
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Woodbridge Township, NJ
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Abby (my Sweetie Head 10.24.11-11.23.12) and Otis
[MENTION=574]TessaAndSamson[/MENTION]


Boosting the immune system and tea tree oil shampoo. I'm going to send you a link to a holistic site that I go to a lot. Try the shampoo. The results from the testing are astounding!
 

Jennifer Clark

I can handle the whiskey, if you can handle the nu
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Apr 16, 2013
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[MENTION=574]TessaAndSamson[/MENTION]


Boosting the immune system and tea tree oil shampoo. I'm going to send you a link to a holistic site that I go to a lot. Try the shampoo. The results from the testing are astounding!

Could you send me that link as well?

Love has a name and its name is Sheldon!!!<3
 

Libra926

Pistol Packing Bullyagrapher
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I was thinking that too, I was googling different probiotics, I've had one site recommended in the past so I'll probably just get them from there. Anything that helps! I had never even heard of coq10 until now.



Thank you so much for talking to them about it, I really appreciate it :) I had someone else recommend bactroban too but when I looked it up I found out it's not available over the counter :( I'll ask my vet if there is something similiar that I can get from them.


Tessa.....ask them for bactroban. Take it to Costco and have it filled. It's about $17.00 for a 22 gram tube. If you are a member and sign Samson up for the Costco Member Prescription Program, it will be cheaper.
 

Twice

My Bully Gave Me Wings
Feb 3, 2012
2,686
311
Woodbridge Township, NJ
Bulldog(s) Names
Abby (my Sweetie Head 10.24.11-11.23.12) and Otis
Could you send me that link as well?

Love has a name and its name is Sheldon!!!<3


Sure. It's in your inbox. Here is the article

Tea Tree Oil: Natural Treatment for Serious Skin Infections

By Kimberly Beauchamp, ND

Healthnotes Newswire (May 27, 2004)—Tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) preparations may be as effective as drug therapy for the treatment of certain staph (Staphylococcus aureus) skin infections, reports the Journal of Hospital Infection (2004;56:283–6). At this time in which increasing antibiotic use is giving rise to more resistant strains of bacteria, identifying treatments for infection that don’t depend on antibiotics is an important finding.

Staph is a bacterium commonly found on the skin and in the nose of healthy people. Though it mostly causes only minor infections, occasionally staph causes more serious diseases, such as pneumonia. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a type of infection that does not respond to methicillin (Staphcillin™), the type of antibiotic used to treat most staph infections. MRSA infections are usually mild and limited to the skin and nose, but they may also lead to life-threatening blood or bone infections that are very difficult to treat. Most MRSA is spread by direct physical contact with infected people. Hospitalized people known to have MRSA infections are isolated to help prevent spreading the infection to others.

Tea tree oil has been used historically to treat both bacterial and fungal skin infections. A natural antiseptic, tea tree oil has the ability to kill many bacterial strains, including MRSA. The new study compared the use of tea tree oil preparations with drug treatments for MRSA skin infections. Two hundred twenty-four people took part in the study. The participants were randomly assigned to receive either (1) standard medical therapy appropriate for treating the infection or (2) tea tree oil. For nasal infections, the treatment was either mupirocin 2% nasal ointment or tea tree oil 10% cream, applied to the affected nostrils three times per day. For wounds and leg ulcers, the treatment was a daily application of either silver sulfadiazine 1% cream or tea tree oil 10% cream. For widespread areas of infection, the treatment was a daily application of either chlorhexidine gluconate 4% soap or tea tree oil 5% body wash. All treatments were continued for five days. To assess the presence of MRSA, participants’ infected areas were swabbed before the study, and again on days 2 and 14 after treatment began.

The drug therapies successfully treated 49% of MRSA infections; tea tree oil cleared 41% of MRSA infections. The difference between these success rates was not statistically significant, which suggests that the tea tree oil was as effective as the drug therapy. Mupirocin ointment was significantly more effective than tea tree oil at treating nasal infections, but the tea tree oil preparations worked better on other skin sites and ulcers than the drug treatments. The tea tree oil treatments were well tolerated, with no adverse effects reported.


Tea tree oil is a viable alternative to antibiotic treatment for MRSA skin infections. This finding is especially important as bacterial resistance continues to increase and infections become harder to treat. As of this writing, there have been no reports of MRSA resistance to tree tea oil.

Kimberly Beauchamp, ND, received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Rhode Island and her Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine from Bastyr University in Kenmore, WA. She is a co-founder and practicing physician at South County Naturopaths, Inc., in Wakefield, RI. Dr. Beauchamp teaches holistic medicine classes and provides consultations focusing on detoxification and whole-foods nutrition.



I used tea tree oil to treat Abby's demodex. She had a reaction to the ivermectin they tried to give her. Her doctor said Abby tested negative for mites 3 weeks sooner than most of her patients taking the drugs.
 

Jennifer Clark

I can handle the whiskey, if you can handle the nu
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Apr 16, 2013
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Searcy, Arkansas
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Thank you I have been hearing as well as reading there are a great many uses for tea tree oil

Love has a name and its name is Sheldon!!!<3
 

sheshistory

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Jul 11, 2010
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A quick bump on this and I am sorry I didn't see it sooner. :-( Poor fella - did you hear or find out anything new [MENTION=574]TessaAndSamson[/MENTION]
 
OP
TessaAndSamson

TessaAndSamson

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May 7, 2010
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  • #40
Thank you so much everyone for your well wishes and feedback! This has been really hard for me so having you all here for us means so much! I am looking into all the suggestions because I would honestly do anything to get rid of this and keep it from coming back!!! I did get probiotics this week and I have started Samson on those. I am very happy to report his rash is looking better :2thumbs: For weeks his stomach and inner thigh area was covered in a bad red bumpy rash and flaky spots. As of yesterday is was ALOT less red, much closer to his regular piggy pink colored skin and alot less bumpy. Made me so happy to see! These antibiotics have definitely been helping, as of tomorrow we will be through our first week, we have one more then back to the vet for a follow up. I will keep you all updated. Here's a big Samson smile for all you :)

IMG_20130629_161719_541.jpg
 

bullmama

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Thank you so much everyone for your well wishes and feedback! This has been really hard for me so having you all here for us means so much! I am looking into all the suggestions because I would honestly do anything to get rid of this and keep it from coming back!!! I did get probiotics this week and I have started Samson on those. I am very happy to report his rash is looking better :2thumbs: For weeks his stomach and inner thigh area was covered in a bad red bumpy rash and flaky spots. As of yesterday is was ALOT less red, much closer to his regular piggy pink colored skin and alot less bumpy. Made me so happy to see! These antibiotics have definitely been helping, as of tomorrow we will be through our first week, we have one more then back to the vet for a follow up. I will keep you all updated. Here's a big Samson smile for all you :)

View attachment 50829

Good to hear he's improving! Such a cute smile!


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk :)
 

2BullyMama

I'm not OCD....now who moved my bulldog?
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Thank you so much everyone for your well wishes and feedback! This has been really hard for me so having you all here for us means so much! I am looking into all the suggestions because I would honestly do anything to get rid of this and keep it from coming back!!! I did get probiotics this week and I have started Samson on those. I am very happy to report his rash is looking better :2thumbs: For weeks his stomach and inner thigh area was covered in a bad red bumpy rash and flaky spots. As of yesterday is was ALOT less red, much closer to his regular piggy pink colored skin and alot less bumpy. Made me so happy to see! These antibiotics have definitely been helping, as of tomorrow we will be through our first week, we have one more then back to the vet for a follow up. I will keep you all updated. Here's a big Samson smile for all you :)

View attachment 50829


Thanks for the update and smile.... hugs to you both
 
OP
TessaAndSamson

TessaAndSamson

New member
May 7, 2010
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162
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Samson
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  • #43
UPDATE :)

I am really fed up with my veterinarian office so we went to Dr. Kraemer for our follow up on Monday. If you live in so cal, especially Orange County, I HIGHLY recommend him. He helps the southern california bulldog rescue a TON, knows SO MUCH about bullys and is just a great man. Dr. Kraemer said he didn't really feel that my vet prescribed the right meds, he said they were 2 very strong antibiotics and he didn't feel it warranted it. He also didn't think the diagnosis seemed right. Then he said he felt that I would be happier if I met with the dermatologist he knows then did my follow ups with him. He said he sensed that I was really frustrated and that I would feel better to get a diagnosis and treatment plan from someone that specializes in dermatology. So funny, he must read people pretty well because I have been incredibly frustrated but I didn't feel like I was acting like I was when I met with him LOL He didn't charge me for the visit which was awesome, I really liked him, I'll definitely go back. Luckily the dermatologist was just in the next town over and was able to squeeze us in for an appointment that afternoon, I live like an hour from that area where Dr. Kraemer and the dermatologist are so I was very happy about that. The dermatologist did an in house test that gave the same results as my vet but had results in 15 minutes. Only this time the results were explained in detail. He doesn't really have MRSA like humans get in hospitals, he basically has the dog version of staph. Yes Dave and I could in theory get it but the dermatologist said we would have to be seriously immune suppressed, like going through chemotherapy. She said our Beagle Loki, my husband Dave and I will be fine. The dermatologist prescribed more of one of the antibiotics that my previous vet had, 3 more weeks of it. Oh and that antibiotic, both the dermatologist and Dr. Kraemer told me, I was supposed to be wearing gloves when I handle it!!! Chloramphenicol can cause permanent damage to the bone marrow in about 1 in 10,000 people. For these people, even skin contact can cause permanent damage. Our vet never told me that and I've been touching it for 2 weeks! Luckily it doesn't have the same effects on dogs and I'm fine. Basically all these infections come down to allergies. The allergies are weakening his immune system leaving him open to opportunistic bacterias that are already apart of the natural bacteria that live on his skin, they take advantage of a weak immune system and cause an infection. The dermatologist said things like this get worse with age (Samson is 7.5 yrs old). The dermatologist offered 2 options to manage his allergies to prevent these infections. Allergy testing is one, they do a blood test, find out what he is allergic to then create a serium that is injected (to start with daily) that builds up his immunity to those triggers. Expensive to start with then once it gets figured out it's much more manageable BUT I'd be the one having to do the injections. I don't like that at all. The other is taking atopica forever which is a drug to help control his reactions to the things he is allergic to, it isn't a steriod but it does potentially have some serious side effects so they have to do blood testing every 6 months while he is taking it to identify if he is having any serious side effects like kidney and liver failure. Oh it's really expensive, like $200 a month expensive. There is NOTHING I like about all that. Now I'm not sure what to do with all that. After talking with my husband I want to try to control it the best I can, if I can. Partly by boosting his immune system, I ordered a supplement used to help boost the immune system and probiotics from a site that Sherry here recommended to me. Then just being diligent with bathing him in his medicated shampoo, also looking into the tea tree oil. If I can't control it we'll have to figure something out. I know he can't live with constant skin infections. I guess if I had to chose one of our 2 options suggsted by the dermatologist I would do the allergy testing, we'll see how he does first though. His skin does look MUCH better, almost back to normal but he has some bumps here and there still though. I'm really happy I sought out a new vet, I got alot of misinformation and just not enough information from our old vet. Took Samson there for 6 of Samson's 7.5 yrs of life but never again. I finally feel like we are on the right track :)
 
Last edited:

2BullyMama

I'm not OCD....now who moved my bulldog?
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Jul 28, 2011
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Chelios (Frenchie), Nitschke (2004-2011) Banks (2005-2014) and Lambeau (2014-2024)
UPDATE :)

I am really fed up with my veterinarian office so we went to Dr. Kraemer for our follow up on Monday. If you live in so cal, especially Orange County, I HIGHLY recommend him. He helps the southern california bulldog rescue a TON, knows SO MUCH about bullys and is just a great man. Dr. Kraemer said he didn't really feel that my vet prescribed the right meds, he said they were 2 very strong antibiotics and he didn't feel it warranted it. He also didn't think the diagnosis seemed right. Then he said he felt that I would be happier if I met with the dermatologist he knows then did my follow ups with him. He said he sensed that I was really frustrated and that I would feel better to get a diagnosis and treatment plan from someone that specializes in dermatology. So funny, he must read people pretty well because I have been incredibly frustrated but I didn't feel like I was acting like I was when I met with him LOL He didn't charge me for the visit which was awesome, I really liked him, I'll definitely go back. Luckily the dermatologist was just in the next town over and was able to squeeze us in for an appointment that afternoon, I live like an hour from that area where Dr. Kraemer and the dermatologist are so I was very happy about that. The dermatologist did an in house test that gave the same results as my vet but had results in 15 minutes. Only this time the results were explained in detail. He doesn't really have MRSA like humans get in hospitals, he basically has the dog version of staph. Yes Dave and I could in theory get it but the dermatologist said we would have to be seriously immune suppressed, like going through chemotherapy. She said our Beagle Loki, my husband Dave and I will be fine. The dermatologist prescribed more of one of the antibiotics that my previous vet had, 3 more weeks of it. Oh and that antibiotic, both the dermatologist and Dr. Kraemer told me, I was supposed to be wearing gloves when I handle it!!! Chloramphenicol can cause permanent damage to the bone marrow in about 1 in 10,000 people. For these people, even skin contact can cause permanent damage. Our vet never told me that and I've been touching it for 2 weeks! Luckily it doesn't have the same effects on dogs and I'm fine. Basically all these infections come down to allergies. The allergies are weakening his immune system leaving him open to opportunistic bacterias that are already apart of the natural bacteria that live on his skin, they take advantage of a weak immune system and cause an infection. The dermatologist said things like this get worse with age (Samson is 7.5 yrs old). The dermatologist offered 2 options to manage his allergies to prevent these infections. Allergy testing is one, they do a blood test, find out what he is allergic to then create a serium that is injected (to start with daily) that builds up his immunity to those triggers. Expensive to start with then once it gets figured out it's much more manageable BUT I'd be the one having to do the injections. I don't like that at all. The other is taking atopica forever which is a drug to help control his reactions to the things he is allergic to, it isn't a steriod but it does potentially have some serious side effects so they have to do blood testing every 6 months while he is taking it to identify if he is having any serious side effects like kidney and liver failure. Oh it's really expensive, like $200 a month expensive. There is NOTHING I like about all that. Now I'm not sure what to do with all that. After talking with my husband I want to try to control it the best I can, if I can. Partly by boosting his immune system, I ordered a supplement used to help boost the immune system and probiotics from a site that Sherry here recommended to me. Then just being diligent with bathing him in his medicated shampoo, also looking into the tea tree oil. If I can't control it we'll have to figure something out. I know he can't live with constant skin infections. I guess if I had to chose one of our 2 options suggsted by the dermatologist I would do the allergy testing, we'll see how he does first though. His skin does look MUCH better, almost back to normal but he has some bumps here and there still though. I'm really happy I sought out a new vet, I got alot of misinformation and just not enough information from our old vet. Took Samson there for 6 of Samson's 7.5 yrs of life but never again. I finally feel like we are on the right track :)

WOW... what an update! That hour drive will always be worth the peace of mind. Our vet is 45 mins away and I would drive 3 hours to get to him!

We did allergy shot with nitschke for about 3 years... I never really saw a difference and Banks we started but the drama from her was not worth it. Nitschke had staph many, many times and I opted to stop the shots and just deal with all the daily maintenance to keep him healthy... wiping paws, cleaning, bathing, and switched to raw feeding... he was in great shape and once we did all that his last two years of life we fantastic, no staph and little allergy issues (all environmental -- Benedryl helped him)
 

cali~jenn

..........
Mar 28, 2010
0
419
Southern California
Bulldog(s) Names
Cutty, Miila and Mugsy the pug :)
Oh Tessa, I also glad you got such great info from dr Kraemer and this specialist! Isn't it amazing the feeling of trust you have with him? I can't believe you weren't supposed to even be handling that medicine without gloves and they hadn't mentioned it! Dd you call and say something?! Thinking I would, that is insane! Imagine if you were Prego or something and giving it? Wow! Well, hopefully this med keeps getting him bett and maybe once he is, his system will rebuild enough to fight it off naturally. Hugs to sweet Sam! I am glad you can snuggle him now without worry and I know he must be in heaven now.
 

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