Mold Symptoms for Pets

MoldSprayers LLC
www.moldsprayers.com

Why are my pets
always sick?

At MoldSprayers LLC, we care about you and your pets health and wellbeing!

Click here for the
reason We Do
Not Use Mold
Dogs and Neither
Should You.

Controlling Pet and Animal odors . . .
Pet area odors are very difficult to control. In residential homes, veterinary
offices and kennels ozone generators can treat odor holding surfaces and
make the presence of animals hardly noticeable. The use of high ozone
"shock treatments" helps remove foul pet odors. Disinfecting pet areas of
molds, and bacteria is beneficial for pets and their owners alike.

Controlling Insects and Vermin. . . Insects and vermin are driven away from
high levels of ozone. Ozone not only helps remove their odors it keeps
them from coming back. Ozone used in a basement can retard mold
growth, as well as keep insects and mice out. Ozone used in the attic can
keep birds, squirrels or other critters out of your house.

The number one place mold can be found in your home is usually your
carpeting!

*Note: After your mold remediation is complete, Moldsprayers LLC
treats your home with a high ozone "shock treatment".

Moldsprayers LLC carries a Million Dollars in Mold Liability Insurance.

Animals have
mold problems too!

Minnesota State
University
Moorhead
Department of
Environmental
Health & Safety

WHAT ARE THE
PET-ANIMAL
SYMPTOMS OF
MOLD
EXPOSURE?
What is an Allergy?

An allergy is a disease
in which the immune
system over reacts or is
hypersensitive to
everyday substances.
The substances are
called allergens and can
include dust mites,
pollen, grasses, molds
and certain food or
chemicals.

What Are the Signs of
an Allergy?

The signs vary with the
individual animal Dogs
typically scratch, bite
and chew their feet,
flanks, tail area and
face. Cats usually lick
excessively. Both cats
and dogs will develop
rashes, skin infections,
sores and scabs. It is
common for dogs to
develop repeated ear or
paw infections. Severe
allergies are very
uncomfortable for your
pet.

-Allergy is not a curable
disease. It is only
controllable or we can
only control its
symptoms.

Blastomycoses: A Dangerous Pet and Human Fungus Among Us
Pet Column for the week of November 1, 2004

by Kim Marie Labak
Information Specialist
University of Illinois
College of Veterinary Medicine

When your dog is coughing and has a fever, it could have pneumonia. Unbeknownst to
many, pneumonia is not caused only by bacteria and virusesit can also be caused by
fungi from the environment. Blastomyces dermatitidis, or "Blasto," is a disease-causing
fungus that can cause skin and respiratory infections in dogs, humans, and occasionally
cats. In some individuals it can spread to infect other organ systems.

Blasto is natural part of environment. According to Dr. Thomas Graves, veterinary internist
at the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Urbana, it is very common in
acidic soils of the Midwest and central south. The fungus exists as a mold in the
environment and becomes a yeast at body temperature.

According to Dr. Karen Campbell, a veterinary internist and veterinary dermatologist at the
teaching hospital, animals can get infected only by direct contact with mold spores:
spores can be inhaled or enter through broken skin when a person or animal rolls in
contaminated soil. An infected animal cannot spread the disease, since the yeast form is
not contagious.

Signs of blasto infection depend on the body system infected. The three forms of
blastomycosiscutaneous, respiratory, and disseminatedoften occur at the same time.

Cutaneous infection appears as skin lesions, resulting from spores entering the skin
directly through a sore or cut or as part of a disseminated infection that originated in the
lungs. The lesions are very itchy and wet. Although these infections can stay contained,
according to Dr. Campbell, they can seriously damage nearby muscle and bone tissue if
untreated.

The most life-threatening (and most common) form of blasto is pneumonia, since
respiratory infection, if left untreated, can lead to severe inflammation of the lungs and
eventual death. As with other respiratory diseases, infected dogs often cough, lose their
appetite, become lethargic, and have difficulty breathing.

In some individuals, especially those with weakened immunity, the respiratory infection
can disseminate to the kidneys, eyes, or skin, and occasionally the spinal cord and brain.

Blastomycosis is very treatable with antifungal drugs, and improvement is usually seen
within a few days, but the treatment can take a long time (up to six months) and gets
expensive. Treatment is most effective when the disease is caught early, however, so
proper treatment requires proper diagnosis.

Dr. Graves explains that when an animal is misdiagnosed with a bacterial infection and
receives antibiotics, the fungal infection is allowed to progress, and by the time the animal
is properly diagnosed with blasto, it may be too late, especially in pneumonia cases.

He explains that the best way to diagnose blasto is to look for blastomyces organisms in
the body. Discharge from a skin wound can be swabbed, the trachea or lungs can be
rinsed with saline, or fluid from organs such as lymph nodes can be extracted with
needle; these fluids can be then examined under a microscope to identify blasto yeast
cells.

Blasto is more common in larger dogs, males, young dogs, and sporting and hunting
breeds. Dr. Campbell and Dr. Graves suspect that these correlations may be due to certain
behaviors, since these dogs may spend more time outdoors, sniffing soil. Disease signs
may not show until 5 to 12 weeks after exposure to blasto.

While blasto infection is virtually impossible to prevent since the fungus is a natural part of
the environment--"You can't ask people to keep their dogs indoors all the time," says Dr.
Graves--blastomycosis can be overcome if diagnosed and treated early.

For more information about blastomycosis, consult your veterinarian.

Link to: VISIT THE
MOLD AND PET
HEALTH YAHOO
GROUP SITE

Moldsprayers LLC is
your pet's best friend.

Moldsprayers LLC carries One Million Dollars of Mold Liability Insurance.
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Licensed and Certified Mold-Home Inspectors & Mold Remediation Experts.
Call 850-499-2227

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Go to Pet's and Allergies page

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