[3 black dogs]

Is there any DVM's on here who deal with Limes Disease on a regular basis.

I was In VA 3 weeks ago and was in OH last weekend I have pulled a few ticks off my dogs. On sunday one of the dogs on the truck was holding his rear leg up and I checked for a thorn or puncture I came home and the owner a close friend came to pick him up. the dog was moving fine and has no fever. He checked over the paw and found a small puncture and has been soaking the paw in warm water and epsen salts. today the dog is not eating very much and can't sit properly he seems to not be able to suporrt himself and plops down.

The dog has been to the vet and is on antibiotics and pain suppressents.

His joints are not swollen or warm to touch and he has not had a fever.

Is there any one with any knowledge on this and could possibly point us in the right direction.
The vet has said a lime test may not show anything at this time.


Thanks Chris

 

[Targander]

Did they check his ACL???

 

[wheelhorse]

Get a Lyme test done now. It takes only 10 days for the infection to show up, so if your dog picked up Lyme from Va it will show up in the test now.

Kathleen

 

[3 black dogs]

They checked the ACL and he is ok there I will tell him to get him back in to get the test done thanks.

 

[Richard Halstead]

I had a nice yellow that was progressing well AA jams and on the derby list all of a sudden he just lost his drive. He was diagnosed with Lyme and treated with tetracycline. He started doing pretty good, but then had Lyme disease again.

Several other dogs and a few members of our training group were treated for Lyme disease.

End result the dog was retired. He had that burn out attitude "Hey man what's happenin'?"Kind of like he wanted to hang with Cheech and Chong.

 

[pupaloo]

Not to steal the thread, but-

Richard, how was your dog diagnosed? Did he have a positive blood test? Had he had the vaccine?

Thanks!

 

[Richard Halstead]

About a year or two after the derby.

 

[Judy Chute]

Richard..how long ago was this that members of the training group had Lyme?

...Did they actually have the disease..treated long term to get well again.. or just a bite and were treated short term with antibiotic?

We are having an issue with Lyme here...having to go to Boston for treatment. Doctor's in Maine will not acknowledge that it is on-going... Our vet is more knowledgeable and willing to treat ... as a disease...that has gone beyond the blood stream.

 

[Judy Chute]

oh..and yes, one of our Goldens has come up Lyme positive twice but no symptoms. It was med level...so I titered. Titer came back very low but I had already asked vet to start antibiotic..so went ahead and finished it..both times.

I do not care to wait until there are symptoms...then well progressed into the disease. Just not worth it..

 

[Trevor Toberny]

is it treated with Doxy?

 

[awesmlab]

[quote="Judy Chute
We are having an issue with Lyme here...having to go to Boston for treatment. Doctor's in Maine will not acknowledge that it is on-going... Our vet is more knowledgeable and willing to treat ... as a disease...that has gone beyond the blood stream. [/quote]

Judy-
A great resource is the Tick-L list. At the top of this page there are instructions on joining: http://saluqi.home.netcom.com/ticklinks.htm and also links to other pages. The page by Gil. Ash is especially informative, up to date and easy to read. The Tick-L list has many members very experienced with treating TBDs and treating them aggressively and successfully. I've had all but 1 of my dogs be positive for either Lyme or Anaplasma or both and I've tried to educate myself as much as possible.

 

[Richard Halstead]

This dog was on the derby list in 1988 and when I first noticed he was losing his desire. He would justlay in the shade. The training area was near a wildlife area with an abundance of deer.

 

[Miriam Wade]

Judy Chute wrote:

We are having an issue with Lyme here...having to go to Boston for treatment. Doctor's in Maine will not acknowledge that it is on-going... Our vet is more knowledgeable and willing to treat ... as a disease...that has gone beyond the blood stream.

Judy-

Sorry to hear this. Ranger or Sebec? Best of luck w/ getting this treated.

I have friends with a 14 month old who was recently diagnosed. She's on doxycycline & while it was caught early-there are definite flare ups w/ lameness & lethargy. It definitely has an effect on training on some days.

As to the original post-it's already been asked, but have you have had the dog tested for Lyme's? That's the first step.

M

 

[Judy Chute]

is it treated with Doxy?

Our "Ranger" was ....if dog does not tolerate though..there is the other antibiotic that they use...

"M"...."Ranger" seems just fine. The titer was low and Doxy was given both times. He did not show symptoms. This was found during the blood/chemistry that I do spring and fall ...

But....my husband is having an awful time with Lyme....it is very serious and we know of many people here that are and have gone through the exact symptoms that he is. Only to have to go out of state for treatment...long term, aggressive treatment.

Thanks for the Tick site..will go there.....

 

[SloppyMouth]

He had that burn out attitude "Hey man what's happenin'?"Kind of like he wanted to hang with Cheech and Chong.

While obviously a bad thing to have happen, that's a funny analogy there! :lol:

I let my dog's Frontline Plus treatment lapse about a week or so before my wife took them in to the new vet for shots and to get more, and they gave us Frontline Top Spot. Anyone know if there's a difference between Top Spot and Plus as far as effectiveness?

 

[Julie R.]

3 black dogs...were you at the RRRC hunt test? If so, I live in the same county and Lyme disease is extremely common here due to our huge deer population (it is spread by deer ticks) in fact almost epidemic. 3 weeks is about right for the acute phase to flare up. If it is caught early it can be very successfully treated with doxycycline but if it progresses to the chronic phase it's more likely to cause lasting damage.

I had/have Lyme disease and 2 of my 3 dogs have tested postive (and been treated) for exposure but didnt' have symptoms. I did however have an old bitch that had a bad case that had progressed to chronic by the time it was properly diagnosed. I'm afraid I missed many of the early warning signs (lethargy, stiffness) and attributed them to aging as she was 10 at the time. Even she was successfully treated with Doxy though she was very ill and it was touch and go for 5 days and took a month before she could move around well. My vet feels that her Lyme hastened her death 2 years later but I didn't have her necropsied, except for her Lyme disease this dog never had a sick day in her life.
Around here, Fauquier County Va., Lyme disease is routinely tested for along with heartworms and most people myself included keep their dogs on Frontline Plus year round as all it takes is one or two warm days and the ticks come back to life because of all the stinkin' deer--one of the highest concentrations on the east coast. Plus the deer ticks are very hard to see as they're about the size of dirt specks.

 

[3 black dogs]

We were at James river HRC in Burkeville VA. The dog is eating today and has better movement and is going in to be tittered. I am leaning more toward a injury now but we will have all the tests done to be sure. He is a great dog a derby win here in canada in his first trial and 4 straight passes in seasoned in the HRC and I would put money he will finish his HRCH in straight passes also. Thanks to all for your information and we will keep you posted.

Chris