October 25, 2018

White Dog blew air through her cheeks. "Boy, I did not see THAT coming!" I waved her to silence as I hung up the call and immediately dialed the vet's office. I left a terse message for Dr. Julia to please call as soon as she could then turned to look at the White Dog Army.

I had been nearly rude when Steve called, post doctor visit, to give me his news. Knowing his diagnosis I wanted to catch Dr. Julia and it was already 5:15pm. I needed her insight and to put a plan in place.

Steve has been struggling for a couple of weeks with itchiness that he attributed to dry skin. He has tried a plethora of creams and over the counter drugs for relief but it just got worse. This past weekend saw him inflamed, red, neck to ankle, and increasingly covered in red splotches.

It was bad enough that Monday he tried to make a doctor's appointment (noting available for weeks), then to see the Physician's Assistant (nothing until midweek). Even the Nurse Practitioner could not see him until end of next day. He went to Urgent Care where they gave him a Super Pac of Antihistamines and hydroxyzine pamoate; he made an appointment to see the NP for today (Thursday).

Steve has a severe case of ringworm We are pretty certain that it did not come from any of the White Dogs but it IS zoonotic making him contagious to all of us and all of us should we get it to each other. That is when I used my helpline.

Dr. Julia was immediately most concerned for Nilla and her already compromised skin. "I want to put her on an antifungal right away. She is pretty much isolated from the rest, right? Don't quarantine her but just don't encourage her to mingle." Roman, she felt was already dealing with too many issues."The first sign is that you are going to see hair loss," she said. "His tufts are, I am pretty sure, blowing coat and not being groomed. What you want to watch for is loss down to skin...on everyone. Most probably won't be affected." We decided to not treat Roman for now.

"You know it is very contagious," Dr. Julia reminded. "You are going to need to launder and wash down everything. It is caused by spores and spread by direct contact. Licking each other, poop eating, sharing sleeping spaces are all ways it can spread. And you and Steve must wash you hands like lunatics so you are not infected but also so you do not spread it between dogs." I sighed. "And no contact with outside animals for the Army...or you." "So we are on lockdown more or less?"

"Well, I am sure Steve will need to go to work but he will need to let everyone know; especially if his coworkers have pets. I will put together drugs for fifteen days for Nilla and I will also send a supplement that supports skin and anti-fungal protections. It should be fine after that."

Steve was sent home with a medicated body wash and must make an appointment to see a dermatologist. The NP advised his contagious phase should end in 3-5 days.

I turned to White Dog. "I did not see it coming either, Sweet Girl. But I am glad we are working on clearing things up." She nuzzled the top of my head. "I think I see 10 more grey hairs," she laughed.