Lyme Disease in Dogs
Wednesday September 1, 2004
EMERSONSMOM asks: "My buddy is a 7 year old dog of dubious breeding. He recently tested positive with Lyme disease. He was lame on and off and after $900.00 of tests (all negative, my dog has great hips) a simple blood test showed Lyme. He was treated with antibiotics and is fine now. He was never really all that lame. He was never vaccinated -- my vet did not seem to feel it works. I have read lots and honestly don't know what to look for now. Will he always have it? Can he now be vaccinated? Will he always test positive? Anybody else have experience with this?"
Comments
We have a 13 year old German Shepherd Dog that tested positive for Lyme Disease two years ago. She has weakness in her hind legs, degree varies from time to time but is otherwise still able to get around. She has never been treated as at the time of her diagnosis, antibiotics were not a standard course of action. Aside from her diagnosis, she is still very loving and happy and does not appear to be uncomfortable. Ali is an old girl who is still going strong! To date, there has been no serious concern over her diagnosis. Sometimes she needs a little help negotiating stairs or getting into the car, but that is all!
I am wondering how quickly do the symptoms appear in dogs? My dog had a tick embedded in her and now a couple weeks later I am notcing that her leg is acting strange and today we went for a walk and she cant hardly run like she used to. She is 6 years old. Could it be Lyme disease? I am disabled and have such little income and dont know if I can afford a vet visit…I just dont know what to do..
Last Thursday I had to put my 15 year old German Shepherd-Beagle mix to sleep. When the Vet administered the shot I actually saw the life go out of his eyes. He had lyme disease. His hind legs weakened slowly over a 2 year period and then last Tuesday he couldn’t get up. He also had kidney failure and tumors in his eyes. Putting him down was the most difficult thing ever.
Lyme disease,transmitted by the deer tick which needs to stay imbeded in the dog/human for 48hrs for the transmissionof the spirokete (not a virus or bacteria,but an organism) This is a disease that remains in yours or animals system forever, however it can go into a dormacy and different things may cause it to break out again, examples are stress issues, being bitten by another tick carring the dz, change in weather. every animal is going to be different. Very common along the east coast.
The vaccine is only 80-85% effective, so the animal still can get the dz, but it may help in reducing the level of pain and discomfort.
For emersonmom, it is too bad that they did not run a test which costs about 45$, again it can depend on where you live. I work at a practice and if we see a limping dog with a fever that is the first thing we do, very quick and inexpensive way to rule out a extremely common dz, again I am in connecticut, birth place of lyme. We at our hospital generally treat a first time break out with 4 wks of doxy and while in the coarse of that at 2wk give the vaccine and then at 4 wks boost vaccine and then give yrly. Reoccurances are usually treated with a 2 wks coarse of meds. Other tests are available if a reoccurance happens, which test for the actual severity of the dz in the system.
Common Symptoms, joint pain, swelling can go from limb to limb, typically a fever. lethargic, change in appetite.
Treatment is typically rec, because although not common lyme dz can cause a kidney failure and most dogs do not return from that. Also, if a limp or joint pain is caused from the dz, once starting the medication that subsides with in 3 or so days. Why they would not treat a 13 yr old dog, who probably has hind end issues to begin with is beyond me.
For Jamie Corpus. Weather or not it is lyme dz, who knows. However if you have a current relationship with your vet as in, seen them in the last 6mths or so. You could probably calla dn ask if they carry the 4dx test, which is a in house test that tests for heartworm, lyme, anaplasmosis and e.canis. the last 3 all being tick borne diseases. Cost of the meds are typically not too expensice. Again she may have tweeked her leg the wrong way. Good luck to you.