Valley Fever in Dogs: Signs, Treatment, Medication and Care at Home

Is Valley fever contagious?

No. This is the question owners ask most, and the answer is clear:

• The University of Arizona's Valley Fever Center for Excellence calls it "a noncontagious disease." Coughing can't spread it between animals or people.
• The CDC says Valley fever "does not spread from person to person or between people and animals".
• The Merck Veterinary Manual describes it as a "dustborne, noncontagious infection" that isn't contagious between animals.
• When more than one pet or person in a home gets sick, it's because each one breathed in spores from the soil, not because they caught it from each other.
• Spread through open wounds is considered very unlikely. Still, the Valley Fever Center suggests bandaging draining sores where you can, changing the bandage daily or every other day, and washing your hands after handling them.
• If someone in your home has a weak immune system, is pregnant or has just given birth, or is a baby or young child, the Valley Fever Center suggests they ask their own doctor about a dog with draining sores.

Sources: 2, 5, 7, 8, 9

Which dogs get Valley fever

• Dogs catch it mainly in the low deserts of Arizona, New Mexico and southwestern Texas, and in California's central deserts.
• About 6–10% of dogs across Maricopa, Pinal and Pima counties combined get sick with it each year. Rates in other areas aren't known.
• In Arizona, dogs get it about ten times as often as people do.
• About 70% of dogs that breathe in spores fight them off quickly, never show signs, and are likely immune afterward.
• Digging, walking, construction and wind break up the fungus in the soil and put spores in the dust.
• Dogs that travel to or spend the winter in these areas have about the same risk as their owners.

Sources: 1

Signs to watch for

Early signs (infection in the lungs):

• Coughing. Some dogs have a dry, hacking or honking cough
• Fever
• Weight loss
• Eating less than usual
• Low energy

Some dogs have no lung signs at all.

If the infection spreads beyond the lungs:

• Limping or a swollen leg. This is the most common sign, because the fungus often infects leg bones
• Back or neck pain, sometimes with weakness or paralysis
• Seizures
• Soft swellings under the skin, or swollen lymph nodes under the chin, in front of the shoulders or behind the knees
• Skin sores that don't heal and ooze fluid
• Red, painful or cloudy eyes
• Heart failure in a young dog, without another explanation

Merck also lists intermittent diarrhea and swollen joints. About 20% of infections in dogs spread beyond the lungs.

None of these signs is specific to Valley fever, so your vet uses tests and X-rays to confirm it and rule out other causes. If your dog has traveled, tell your vet where.

Sources: 2, 6, 7, 8

How vets usually treat it

Your vet chooses the treatment. Here's what to expect:

• Testing. Your vet may use Valley fever blood tests (often called a "cocci test" or "titer"), other blood work and X-rays. Blood tests can be negative early on, so they may be repeated in 3–4 weeks.
• Antifungal medicine by mouth, as pills or capsules, usually once or twice a day.
• For many months. Treatment usually averages 6–12 months. Dogs whose infection has spread to the bones, skin or organs often need longer, commonly 12–18 months. Some dogs, especially those with brain or spinal cord involvement, need medicine for life.
• Pain medicine for dogs with bone infections can make them much more comfortable.
• Hospital care for dogs that are very sick, too sick to eat or drink, or in severe breathing distress.
• Rechecks: an exam, blood tests and sometimes X-rays. They may be frequent at first, then about every few months once your dog is stable. Regular blood tests also check the liver, because the medicine can raise liver enzymes.

Keep giving the medicine until your vet says to stop. Your vet decides that from your dog's blood tests. Stopping too early can bring the signs back.

Sources: 3, 4, 6, 7

Caring for a dog with Valley fever at home

Give every dose as prescribed. Treatment is long, and the daily routine matters for months. Some of these medicines must be given with a meal and others work better on an empty stomach, so ask your vet how to give each one.

Watch for side effects:

• Eating less. This is the most common side effect, and it can be severe
• Vomiting or diarrhea
• A lighter coat color, especially in red or golden dogs
• A dry or thin coat, or dandruff
• Drinking and urinating more, or leaking urine during sleep
• Skin sores
• Short-term infertility in male dogs

Most side effects go away when the medicine is stopped. Talk to your vet before you change or stop anything.

Keep a simple log for your vet: each dose given, how much your dog ate, and any cough, limping, vomiting or diarrhea. These are the signs and side effects the Valley Fever Center describes, and the free kit below has a page for it.

Cut down on dust. There's no sure way to prevent Valley fever short of avoiding the areas where it lives, but the Valley Fever Center suggests:

• Avoiding activities that raise dust
• Discouraging digging and sniffing in rodent holes
• Keeping your dog indoors more
• Using ground cover that keeps dust down, such as grass or deep gravel

Draining sores: see the bandaging and hand-washing advice in "Is Valley fever contagious?" above.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

Food and appetite

• Talk to your vet about nutrition, especially if your dog is eating poorly. Vets may suggest hand feeding or a medicine to help appetite, or, rarely, a feeding tube.
• Ask your vet whether each medicine goes with a meal or on an empty stomach.
• A dog that won't eat or drink at all needs a call to your vet (see above).

Sources: 3, 5

What to expect over time

• Most dogs recover. "Most dogs, with adequate antifungal therapy, do recover from this disease," says the Valley Fever Center. It estimates more than 90% of dogs respond and recover, though no formal statistics exist. Merck describes the outlook as "guarded to good".
• Dogs with infection only in the lungs have the best outlook and usually respond fastest.
• Dogs whose infection has spread usually respond well but need longer treatment. A small number need medicine for life, and a small number die despite treatment.
• Signs can come back. Relapse is "not uncommon" in dogs, though the exact rate isn't known. Restarting medicine usually helps, sometimes for several more months. Dogs with repeated or severe relapses may need lifelong medicine.
• Can a dog get it again from the soil? It isn't known whether dogs can be reinfected.
• Vaccine: a dog vaccine is under development but not yet available.

Sources: 1, 4, 5, 7

Find a vet or specialist

• Your own veterinarian is your first call for anything about your dog's Valley fever.
• Your vet can get advice too. The University of Arizona's Valley Fever Center for Excellence has veterinarians who help other vets with a dog's case.
• Board-certified specialists in internal medicine and neurology can help with dogs whose infection has spread or is hard to treat. Search by ZIP code on VetSpecialists.com, the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine's directory.
• In an emergency, go to the nearest emergency animal hospital.

Sources: 12, 13