Quote: betty landercasp

.... Sarcocysts are a protozoa, a tiny little guy, that lives in muscle, where it forms a cyst. ... Top of the food chain type predators like dogs and cats are the final hosts. They free the sarcocyst from it's nest in the muscle and put them back into an infective state on the ground, where they are free to be consumed by another grazing critter. ... these bugs live in cattle, sheep etc, in their muscle tissue -- they are eaten by dogs -- after they pass thru the dog they are infective for cattle again. ... Something to worry about? Is Cody "infected"? Not likely, but whatever he ate last was, and he is "liberating" infective material into the environment. I wouldn't want him to defecate in my cow's hay. ... I'd find another source for his raw food. ... To my knowledge, it does not occur in chicken.

THANK YOU, Dr. Betty.

This is very succinct (and also exactly what I read everywhere authoritative, including vet manuals, only phrased better by Dr. Betty).

Some forms can be a problem for puppies under 6 months of age and in adult dogs with preexisting immunosuppression. (And then the primary symptom, for all the forms that can cause illness in the dog, is diarrhea.)

Ditto Betty!

For the humans, even though this wasn't the O.P.'s question:

IMO, folks picking up their dog's poop and whose kids may be around the dog poop and even its picked-up remains may want to be careful about their raw-meat sources.

"Least cost" probably shouldn't be the only concern in sourcing a raw diet (as Dr. Betty and others have pointed out here in other contexts) for those whose dogs live as family members and who have aged or infant humans in the house.

As she has pointed out, the DOG has evolved to eat carrion, but the humans in an immaculate house with antibacterial wipes used on the counters and a spotless bathroom, etc., are probably not equipped to cope with all the fallout of carrion-poop cycles. That is, modern urban humans may not have the immunity for this.

I think that everyone here is cautious about this and very careful about handling, storing, and sourcing raw meat, and doubly cautious about game, etc., including the protocol about the dog's poop, and kids washing hands after handling the dog, and so on.

Still, we do have lots of threads about game and other meat that requires extra caution (for the humans around the dog and his poop), and maybe we are not always careful to add the caveat about such exposure for humans.

Not a bad thing to stick in as a reminder every so often.

JMO

Good reminder.:smile: And I'm probably the one that needs this reminder the most.

Very unlikely to ever be a problem, but if you are the one that has that rare problem, you could care less about stats.

 Quote: Michael_Wise

... Very unlikely to ever be a problem, but if you are the one that has that rare problem, you could care less about stats.

I agree.



And actually, Michael, I don't imagine that you are someone who needs the reminder.

The weird .... I mean imaginative .... sources, maybe.

But as for care taken after you roll home your revolting wheelbarrow -- no, I don't think so.

I am not worried about what he said, because he didn't say it caused anything. He only reported the findings. And brought up what I was feeding him, because he knows I feed raw. I just want to know if it could be what caused cody's illness. So that is what i am going to find by research and out from the specialists.(Hopefully) My new regular vet just said it would pass through. He isn't a fan of raw diet and I got the impression he thinks I should eliminate that because this parasite is found in raw meat.

cody had no diarrhea. Just vomiting.

I am trying to be informed so when I talk to the specialists I know if they are in line or not. I have never heard of this before so, I needed info.

My source for raw is Costco. I feed human grade food. I do not buy meat from a raw provider from a slaughter house. So whatever he ate, I cooked and ate for us at home.

Sharon

TODAY-He is doing fine and has no symptoms because he is on meds, which by the end of the week will be gone and then we will see how he has progressed.

I have broken down his meals into 3- 2 0z portions to over tax his digestive system. It works fine. Right now he is on boiled chicken and rice. He is not supposed to have any supplements, or anything else but that. He is getting b12 injections each week to compensate for his deficiency (folate/cobalamine)

He is playful and his crazy self. He is a wild man!
He plays with the other two dogs on a 1/4 acre and is very active.

BEFORE-
Yes, one evening he just started throwing up, about 4 times and was not feeling well, and shivering. So we took him right in. There has been no blood in vomit or stool, no loose stools.

Then he started getting gurgly (stomach) in the morning before he woke up, ( I could hear it) and when he did get up he would rush out to eat grass or any other vegetation he could get to. I had him on a leash and kept him from eating anything. Then he would come in and throw up a little bile looking liquid.
If I fed him some breakfast- he did not throw up and his stomach stopped gurgling. You could tell he didn't feel well before eating, after he felt much better and was like his old self.

Like I said in another post, I get my meat from costco. What we eat he eats. Only his and the other dogs are uncooked. Chicken -ground, or breast chunks, chicken necks, beef-stew meat, sometimes hamburger, fish- salmon cooked, turkey- ground, white fish, buffalo patties, pork,(maybe once a month), duck. a couple times a week egg. His supplements are salmon oil 1 tsp, vitamin e 100 iu, calcium, 1/8 teas per pound of meet, kelp, 1/4 teas. cody eats approximately 6 oz of meat a day.
He also gets steamed veggies.( different ones different days) He loves spinach, (small amounts about 1/4 cup), squash 1/4 cup, carrots 4 baby carrots, celery, 1/3 stalk-not steamed, bell peppers-not steamed 1/4 cup, hmmm trying to think of the others. He gets about 2-3 tablespoons of non fat greek yogurt with his food.
I think that is it.
sharon

"Yes, one evening he just started throwing up, about 4 times and was not feeling well, and shivering. So we took him right in. There has been no blood in vomit or stool, no loose stools."




How long has been free of symptoms? (Or is he completely symptom-free now?)

Did the late-night snacks end the other issue (of bile vomiting in the early morning)?



eta
How are the folate injections going? Are you able to do them OK?








Edited by Connie Sutherland (03/15/2011 05:36 PM)
Edit reason: eta

From another thread:

 Quote: Sharon Empson

Connie: my latest find re the parasite. This parasite does not cause dogs any intestinal trouble.
Here is what I found would kill the parasite:
Intestinal sarcocystosis can be prevented by thoroughly cooking or freezing meat to kill bradyzoites in the sarcocysts. Sarcocysts in pig muscles were rendered noninfectious for puppies after cooking meat at 60, 70, and 100°C for 20, 15, and 5 min, respectively (45). Freezing at –4 and –20°C for 48 and 24 h, respectively, also rendered bradyzoites in pork noninfectious (45). Beef and beef products purchased from a supermarket reflected the laboratory results of cooking and freezing (28). Fresh chuck roast and round steak, as well as rare roast beef and hamburger, contained bradyzoites infectious for dogs. Cooked products such as beef bologna and beef frankfurters, as well as frozen hamburger and frozen flaked sandwich steaks, were not infectious for dogs.

My new vet sent me an email and he believes it is the raw diet where the parasite came from. I told him I freeze our meat. He stated the parasite may be dead, it may be dormant, but it will still be there. I guess he means passed through to the ground. We do not have any other domestic animals like cattle pigs or sheep, so there is not danger there.
The internist is going to call me today or tomorrow and i will see what she says.
I am going to send the regular new vet the info I have found.

So, if it wasn't the meat and it was brought in by skunk, racoon, or opossum, there is really nothing you can do. If my dogs find the skat first, they will probably eat it.

thanks again. sharon

from
http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=322109#Post322109

Yes. What I'm reading is the parasite in question is a moot point.