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Blastobase

@blastobase

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World's largest #blastomycosis resource center. Helping pets & vets
Awareness • Research • Edu • Case Tracking
Learn • Share • Support
EST. 6.2026

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🫁 B = Breathing Problems

A cough may seem minor, but with blastomycosis, changes in breathing can be an important warning sign. Because dogs typically inhale Blastomyces spores from the environment, the lungs are commonly affected. Signs may include a persistent or worsening cough, rapid breathing at rest, labored breathing, shortness of breath, or suddenly tiring during walks and play.

These symptoms can resemble pneumonia, kennel cough, bronchitis, allergies, heart disease, or lung cancer. While breathing problems alone do not mean your dog has blastomycosis, they become more concerning when combined with other B.L.A.S.T.O.™ symptoms such as lethargy, appetite loss, skin changes, trouble walking, or ocular issues. (Sadly, Sabo was misdiagnosed as having kennel cough then lung cancer, when other blasto symptoms and environmental factors were present.)

💙 Save this post as part of your B.L.A.S.T.O.™ Symptoms Checklist, and follow @Blastobase as we help pet owners recognize the signs.

#BLASTO #Blastomycosis #DogHealth #PetHealth #dogsofinstagram taken in Roscoe Village by @blastobase

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3 months ago

Lethargy is one of the first and most common signs of blastomycosis. If your dog seems less interested in its typical activities, is unusually tired/sleepy, and in some cases, is moving to a different sleeping spot, along with one or more of the other symptoms in the B.L.A.S.T.O. framework have you vet consider blastomycosis testing. The best way to be well informed about blasto in your area is following our account and case map (free now). Why? Because vet practices rarely communicate with one another so one vet may have experience treating blasto while another has never seen it or heard about it.

#pethealth #doghealthtips #blastomycosis #blasto #dogsofinstagram taken in Chicago, Illinois by @blastobase

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4 months ago

Blastomycosis can cause dogs to eat less, skip meals, lose interest in their favorite food or treats, have difficulty keeping food down, and gradually or rapidly lose weight. A decreased appetite is your dog’s way of telling you something isn’t right. While appetite loss alone doesn’t mean a dog has blasto, alarm bells may start to go off when it’s accompanied by one or more of the other symptoms in the B.L.A.S.T.O. Symptoms Checklist. Early recognition and testing by veterinarians can lead to an earlier diagnosis and help improve outcomes. For Sabo, he had so much pressure on his lungs and esophagus, it was difficult for him to eat. When he did eat, excessive coughing, and often vomiting followed, making him want to eat even less. Bone broth and some favorite human foods (chicken, rice, beef) helped sparingly. Please follow along to learn all the common symptoms of blastomycosis.
#blastomycosis #blasto #pethealth #petlovers #dogsofchicago by @blastobase

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4 months ago

🐾 S = Skin Changes
Blastomycosis doesn’t just affect the lungs. As the fungus spreads through the body, it can cause draining sores, lumps, open wound, crusty skin growths, and swelling around the face or paws.
These skin changes are often mistaken for infections, cysts, insect bites, or tumors. These can appear anywhere on the body including a noticeable place like the nose/snout or very hidden at the bottom of a dog’s paws. Depending on the lesion, your veterinarian may recommend a fine-needle aspirate (FNA) or skin biopsy to help determine whether blastomycosis or another condition is the cause.
Remember, these signs don’t necessarily mean your dog has blastomycosis—but when they occur alongside other B.L.A.S.T.O.™ symptoms, they deserve prompt veterinary attention. This disease should not be taken lightly.
Follow @Blastobase as we reveal the next letter of the B.L.A.S.T.O.™ Symptoms Checklist, helping pet owners recognize the signs before their pet needs them. Share this any pet owners in the Midwest or Canada whose dogs have recent changes to their skin/fur.
#blastomycosis #DogHealth #PetHealth #VeterinaryMedicine #dogsofinstagram taken in Rosco Village by @blastobase

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4 months ago

Blastomycosis can spread from the lungs to the bones and joints, causing pain and lameness. These signs can be mistaken for arthritis, a sprain, or an orthopedic injury. If your dog develops a persistent limp or unexplained pain, especially along with one or more of the other symptoms, consult a vet or specialist right away. Each symptom can have many causes and do not necessarily mean your dog (or cat) has blasto. A urine antigen test is the best indicator for presence of blastomycosis.

#blastomycosis #blasto #pethealth #pethealthtips #dogs taken in Chicago, Illinois by @blastobase

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4 months ago

👁️ O = Ocular Issues
One of the most devastating complications of blastomycosis is its ability to affect a dog’s eyes.
The fungus can trigger severe inflammation inside the eye, leading to conditions such as uveitis, retinal detachment, glaucoma, and ultimately vision loss. In some cases, removal of the affected eye(s) may be necessary to relieve pain and prevent further complications.
One challenge is that many primary care veterinarians do not have the specialized equipment needed to fully evaluate the retina and other structures inside the eye. If blastomycosis is suspected, consultation with a veterinary ophthalmologist may help identify eye involvement before irreversible damage occurs.
In Sabo’s case, inflammation and pressure caused both retinas to detach, resulting in permanent blindness.
That’s one reason O = Ocular Issues is part of the Blastobase® B.L.A.S.T.O.™ Symptoms Checklist.
The best chance to protect vision is early recognition, diagnosis, and treatment.
🐾 Save this post.
🐾 Share it with a fellow pet owner.
🐾 Follow Blastobase® as we continue revealing each letter of B.L.A.S.T.O.™
#blasto #blastomycosis #DogHealth #PetHealth #VeterinaryOphthalmology Letter O for Ocular Changes by @blastobase

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4 months ago

Taras, like many dogs and cats who develop “blasto,” became sluggish and stopped eating. Those seemingly ordinary symptoms eventually led to extensive testing, a lung biopsy and a diagnosis of blastomycosis.

This fungal disease is typically contracted by breathing in microscopic fungal spores from the environment - typically, moist or disturbed soil in the Midwest, Canada, and east of the Mississippi River.

After surviving the illegal exotic animal trade and a war, blastomycosis gave Taras another fight for his life. Fortunately, with intensive veterinary care and aggressive antifungal treatment, he responded well and was eventually able to rejoin his pride.

While researching animals infected with blastomycosis, we discovered something else. Taras wasn’t the only big cat recently affected by blasto. Ginger, a white tiger at a Wisconsin wildlife sanctuary, died from blastomycosis earlier this year.

A lion. A tiger. Dogs. Cats. Humans.

Blastomycosis doesn’t discriminate by species or size. And when it isn’t considered early, valuable time can be lost.

That’s why awareness matters.

At Blastobase®, we’re working to increase awareness, track cases and build a growing research library to help pet parents and veterinary professionals better understand this potentially deadly fungal disease. Every week, we add two new articles, studies, case reports or other resources about blastomycosis. Thank you to the folks at @wildcatsanctuary in Minnesota for sharing Taras’s story and taking such good care of him. (Link to his bio in our bio and the article that got our attention.)

The more that is understood about this disease, the more lives can be saved.

Know the symptoms and areas of exposure.

Follow @blastobase and visit www.blastobase.org to learn more.

#blastomycosis #blasto #pethealth #lions #dogsoﬁnstagram taken in Chicago, Illinois by @blastobase

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17 days ago

Labor Day weekend. Most people were enjoying the fruits of their labor. We went to work. (We had some fun too.)

500+ miles. 10 veterinary practices. Chicago to Louisville to Nashville and back.

Two years ago, after blastomycosis nearly took this dog’s (i.e., Sabo’s) life and left him permanently blind, I made him a promise: we would turn what happened to him into something that could help other pet owners, their pets, and the veterinary community.

So this Labor Day weekend, Sabo and I visited 10 veterinary practices, shared resources, talked about blastomycosis and continued building relationships with the people on the front lines of recognizing and treating this horrible disease.

Because sometimes saving the next dog starts with one conversation. One flyer. One vet considering blastomycosis on their differential a little sooner.

There’s a lot more road ahead of us.

But every stop and mile is another step toward keeping that promise.

If you’re not familiar with blastomycosis, a potentially deadly fungal disease, take a few minutes to learn the B.L.A.S.T.O. Symptom checklist and common environmental exposure. Explore our account or visit www.blastobase.org. Knowing what to look for could save your pet’s life.

#blastomycosis #dogsofig #DogHealth #dogsofinstagram #VeterinaryMedicine PetHealth taken in Chicago, Illinois by @blastobase

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25 days ago

New construction can mean excitement about what’s coming. Or frustration about the noise, dust and traffic.

But there’s another reason it should give you pause: What are you and your dog breathing in?

Microscopic fungal spores called, Blastomyces, can live in soil and decaying organic matter. When contaminated soil is disturbed through construction, excavation, landscaping or digging, these spores can become airborne and inhaled.

So if you or your dog develop unexplained respiratory symptoms following potential exposure to disturbed soil, blastomycosis may be worth knowing about and discussing with a medical or veterinary professional. Knowing the symptoms and seeking urgent care typically improves outcomes, though, we’ve had cases where it didn’t matter. Blastomycosis can be deadly, quickly.

The research at the end of this reel includes documented cases involving humans and dogs, along with the largest documented U.S. blastomycosis outbreak at a Michigan mill, which the CDC identified as 162 positive cases, 18 hospitalizations, and one death.

And yes, our reels won’t always be perfectly produced. Sometimes awareness matters more than production value. We see something worth sharing, pull out a phone and hit record. We’ll choose authenticity and urgency over perfection and using AI imagery.

Visit Blastobase.org for the research behind this reel and more than 35 resources about blastomycosis. We post two new articles every Friday. We’re a work in progress, but we hope you’ll follow our cause and share our concern for this deadly disease that too often goes unnoticed.

Follow @Blastobase for more research, real cases and awareness.

Sometimes what’s being built isn’t the only thing worth noticing.

#blastomycosis #pethealth #dogsofig #dogsofinstagram taken in Chicago, Illinois by @blastobase

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a month ago

This photo means 1,000 words.

That’s Moose’s mom, Ellen, meeting our founder’s dog, Sabo for the first time. She’s giving him a treat while he blindly gives her his paw, with Blastobase flyers sitting on the counter at Ellen’s veterinary practice.

We live roughly 270 miles apart (Chicago and Louisville) and had never met before. Moose’s case was one of the first submitted through the Blastobase website, and last weekend, our road trip visiting veterinary practices brought Sabo and me to Ellen.

It was the first time I (the Blastobase founder) had met another blastomycosis pet parent through this research. Ellen, like many pet parents who have gone through a horrible blastomycosis experience has offered to help spread awareness.

Our dogs had very different outcomes but similar delays in accurate diagnosis and testing. Sabo survived. Moose sadly did not.

Behind every case we collect is more than a data point. There’s a dog. There’s a family. There’s a story. And every story can help us learn more about this devastating disease. For those of you new to our page, we recommend you read through a couple of our posts about the symptoms of blastomycosis, what this fungal disease is, and where it can be found, as well as reviewing cases and some articles on our website. This disease is not to be treated lightly.

Thank you, Ellen, for trusting us with Moose’s story and helping spread awareness for the dogs and families who have never heard of blastomycosis. For Moose. Thank you. ❤️

#blastomycosis #fungalinfection #dogsofinstagram #pethealth #dogsarethebest taken in Louisville, Kentucky by @blastobase

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a month ago

In the days, weeks and months following September 11, more than 300 search-and-rescue dogs worked at Ground Zero, searching for survivors, helping recover those who were lost, and providing an unexpected source of comfort.

They searched through smoke, dust and debris without respirators or protective equipment.

Veterinarians were there, too. Dr. Cynthia Otto, pictured here walking toward Ground Zero with search dogs and fellow responders, spent days caring for dogs working 12-hour shifts. But her work with these dogs didn’t end when she left New York. She and other researchers went on to follow 95 deployed search-and-rescue dogs and 55 nondeployed search dogs, studying their health for years. (Note, of the 300 dogs and their handlers, 95 handlers across 22 states agreed to participate in the study.)

When we first read this story, our assumption was many of these dogs got sick and lived short lives. But that’s not what happened.

Despite everything the dogs breathed and encountered, researchers did not find a significant difference in lifespan or cause of death between the deployed and nondeployed dogs. Median age at death was 12.8 years among deployed dogs and 12.7 among nondeployed dogs.

Yet their exposure was unmistakable. Pulmonary particulates were found in 42 of 44 deployed dogs examined after death.

Twenty-five years later, their story and service has left a lasting legacy in veterinary medicine, helping researchers better understand how environmental exposures can affect canine and human health.

That’s a lesson that resonates with us at Blastobase.

Sometimes an environmental danger is impossible to miss. Smoke, dust, and mountains of debris. Other times, it’s microscopic, like a fungal spore in the soil.

Different exposures. Different outcomes. But the same reason to keep conducting research to better understand the health of both humans and animals who share the same environment.

Search-and-rescue dogs like the one on 9/11 likely spend the majority of their lives serving us. We owe it to them, and other pets, to keep learning how to better protect theirs.

Today, we honor those we lost and the ones we’re still learning from.

Never forget. taken in Chicago, Illinois by @blastobase

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a month ago

Tomorrow, Blastobase hits the road. 🚙🐾

We could mail these flyers. We could email (which we’ve done with little success).

Instead, we’re driving them from Chicago to Louisville to Nashville, a blastomycosis hot belt along the highway stopping at veterinary practices along the way to have conversations, share resources and spread awareness about blastomycosis. With at least one important stop with a pet owner who shared a case with us.

Day 1: Chicago → Louisville.
5 veterinary practices.
470 miles.
Sabo receiving treats and sharing his story.

Because Blastobase was never meant to exist only on Instagram. For Sabo, Maizey, Bjorn, Elsa, Fenway, Lucy, Buddy, Dutton, Doug, Moose, Vivi, Casper, and hundreds of others.

We’re building awareness for better outcomes.

Follow along. 📍

#dogs #Blastomycosis #VeterinaryMedicine #dogsofinstagram taken in Chicago, Illinois by @blastobase

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a month ago