amphotericin

[dquaka at m9.sprynet.com]

you wrote:
>As requested, canine leishmaniasis is very difficult to treat. Most animals
>dies with the infection in 6 months, despite high-dose glucantime or
>association with allopurinol. Survivors presented relapses very often, more
>than 80%. 
     I'm no veterinarian or physician (though I am a dentist), but my dog was 
diagnosed with visceral leishmaniasis in June of 1994. We used only allopurinol 
to treat him. He's still alive and doing very, very well - in fact, he is a 
"competition working" dog. I keep him on the allopurinol about 80% of the time. 
Periodically I take him off the medication for a few months. But, it's been 
almost 4 and a half years since the diagnosis and I'm happy to report that he's 
very healthy, happy and with no evident relapses. Maybe I'm lucky or maybe 
there is something about just using allopurinol alone. It's been easy to find, 
easy to give, and very inexpensive.... with no side effects that I'm aware of.

Deb Quaka and my 4-legged friends
"The bond with a true dog is as lasting as the ties 
of this earth can ever be."  Konrad Lorenz
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/6125