Dogs and Lyme Disease

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LeakySeals

LeakySeals

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3 years ago my dog (Chihuahua) contracted Lyme Disease. Somehow I missed a tick. He was put on Doxycycline which worked for a year. Then he got really sick again. Near death. Doxycycline again. This morning I see early symptoms. Slightly different. The rash is back, hes shaking like he's itchy, but this time there's lameness in the back legs. Lots of wobbling. He's a male, can't lift his leg to pee without falling over. The vets going to tip me upside down and shake money out of me with another battery of tests only to determine the obvious. Lyme is back. I can't give him the Lyme vaccination because I'm always battling an outbreak.

Does anyone have any experience battling this disease in dogs? What should I do?
 
I feel for you.

My puppy came down with Lyme when she was 5 months old. Could not walk to go outside. Treated with medicine and she was fine in 1 or 2 days. (But went into heat the day she was better with Lyme).

Fast forward to about 18 months old, no symptoms, but a Lyme test showed the titer at 200, same as when she got Lyme. So another 28 days of medicine.

You will not find the kind of tick that gives Lyme, not on your dog with fur. Too small. The ticks you normally find are gross but do not carry Lyme.

Vet says the dogs need to have sometime like Frontline on monthly basis.

Some reading:
http://www.caberfeidh.com/Lyme.htm
 
You want to be extremely careful. This is how my wife ended up with lymes disease. We had two dogs both of which came down with it. She caught it from them. As stated, the deer tick is so small, you won't see it, but if you do happen to develope a "bull's eye" rash, go to the doctor right away - the sooner you jump on it the better.
 
Originally Posted By: GreeCguy
You want to be extremely careful. This is how my wife ended up with lymes disease. We had two dogs both of which came down with it. She caught it from them. As stated, the deer tick is so small, you won't see it, but if you do happen to develope a "bull's eye" rash, go to the doctor right away - the sooner you jump on it the better.

What do you mean caught it from them? Via a tick from the dog or another way?
 
Originally Posted By: ClutchDisc
You didn't get the dog vaccinated for Lyme Disease?

He was up to date on vaccinations including Lyme the prior year. When he initially came down with Lyme it was a month before his next scheduled vaccinations. He's either relapsing or getting over it so they don't give him that shot right now. Not sure if they would vaccinate against something he's already got. I will ask the vet that, looks like I'll be headed there soon if this homeopathic remedy I'm going to try doesn't do anything.
 
Via the tick. Ive yanked about 6 of them off of myself this spring. So far no bulls eye. I get tested every year. I have had it before. I got a bullseye,and took the course of Doxycycline.
 
The Doxycycline works for him, but does not eradicate it. And when it comes back it adds a new twist. This time its his balance. IMO the 4 week dosage they give is not long enough do kill enough of it.
 
I remember the ticks that year because I was bitten also. First time ever. Real small, you can't feel them crawling on you. I thought they were babies. Now I realize they were a different kind. When the dog came down with it I was worried. Tested twice 6 months apart, nothing. Its killing him. Haven't seen the really small dark ones since. Just the big colorful ones easy to spot.
 
The lameness from this morning subsided. 3 hours ago he was eating dinner and taking his last walk for the night. It appeared that the prior recurrences had me panicked over nothing. We went to bed. A bang woke me up. The dog fell out of bed completely paralyzed. Left an emergency message with the vet whos not there, its 1:15am on the weekend. The other episodes gradually increased over a few days. This time it appeared, disappeared, reappeared severely within a few hours. I've been caught by surprise by this hideous disease that changes symptoms with each recurrence.
 
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Originally Posted By: GreeCguy
You want to be extremely careful. This is how my wife ended up with lymes disease. We had two dogs both of which came down with it. She caught it from them. As stated, the deer tick is so small, you won't see it, but if you do happen to develope a "bull's eye" rash, go to the doctor right away - the sooner you jump on it the better.

What do you mean caught it from them? Via a tick from the dog or another way?


We had two dogs that loved to roam the woods around our house in Alabama. Unknown to us, they brought home a deer tick which bit my wife. The next thing we know, bullseye rash - then her hips started giving her trouble. Then she got really sick. Finally went to the doctor where she was given massive antibiotics, (this was 20 years ago and we had never heard of Lyme's disease before this). It took about a year, but she finally got better although her hips still bother her, especially in the morning.

Obviously, the dogs had it as well. Our little Jack Russel simply went from bad to worse and I finally had him put to sleep. The other dog, (a chow mix - beautiful back dog, even her tongue was black), seemed to fight it better and I thought she had beat it, but eventually she was like your little dog and got to the point she could barely stand and walk so I had her put to sleep as well.

The funny thing was, I got the two dogs from the local pound. I got the chow thinking it would be a good guard dog and the little Jack Russel thinking that would be a great dog for my three little children. It worked just the opposite, the chow was the most gentle dog I've ever seen and the children loved her and played with her all the time. The Jack Russel would bite everybody except me and we became constant companions. It broke my heart to put them down.
 
As a side note, where are your ticks coming from? Where we lived in Alabama, ticks were everywhere. Every year I would "poison" the yard, (I can't remember the name of the stuff I used, but it would kill them. You spread it right before it rained and the rain would water it in). Problem was, you had to do it every year, sometimes twice a year. I didn't like using it as at the time, I had little children who played in the yard and I worried about them and this "poison." (The yard was always off limits for a few days after I spread this material)

A friend of mine told me to get some chickens which I did - from then on, never had another tick in the yard and never had to use the poison again.
 
He's quarantined to apartment life except for his 3 walks which are mostly asphalt and concrete. The apartment is professionally managed and they spare no expense with the landscaping. Twice a year the grass gets little yellow pesticide warning signs but the ticks don't seem to care. They come from the woods surrounding the apartment complex. Some areas of woods are marsh and wet. It was near that where the bad ticks came from IMO. There are deer in the woods, see them all the time. Not sure how significant that is.

An Ex GF begged me to buy the dog. I reluctantly bought it for $1600 with a pile of papers showing his family tree and parents that were champion show dogs. Not the dwarf the celebs buy, he's a normal sized 9yo 12lb Chihuahua. Used to show his teeth at her and come to me, something he didn't like. He knew something I didn't. So I ended up with him and we've been buddies the last 8 years. I get comments and chuckles from people when they see us walking together. I don't pick him up and carry him around, hes treated like a regular dog.. ok I pick him up in winter when the snow is too deep
blush.gif


He's completely paralyzed now. Cant walk. But he's alert and comfortable. Not in any pain like the last episodes. Its starting to attack his neck and face leaving his mouth open so I think its close to the end. right now I'm calling vets begging for the meds but they want to schedule a visit for tests. Its a money grab, and the doxyclyline is prescription only. So I have to wait. There is no time to wait, we are talking minutes not hours or days. Very fast progression.
 
I am so sorry to hear all this about your little buddy, but perhaps the best thing you can do for him right now is let him go. I know it's really hard. When I had to put my little Jack Russel down (his name was "Diggity"), it broke my heart and I really missed him. But the way I looked at it was that his struggle was over. The disease would kill him eventually and why not avoid all the pain and struggle. He was the best, most devoted dog I've ever had. When I would come home he would run and jump in my arms and lick my face - but nobody else could come near him. We had a real special bond. Obviously, it's your call, but don't feel bad or guilty if you decide to let him go.
 
Vets make it difficult to keep animals with chronic issues alive. I need an ongoing prescription for doxycycline hyclate to stay ahead of outbreaks or hes a goner. They are not unwilling to do that, want to capitalize on every outbreak. There's no time for tests. I'm off to pet stores looking for "Bird Biotic" from Thomas Labs. After of hours searching I found out people with no health insurance and survivalists are using it as a substitute because its non-prescription doxycycline hyclate.
 
I just gave him a bath so he would be comfortable at the end. I have hope! Because hes completely paralyzed I was able to wash his face real good without a struggle. Normally its impossible. He hates water on his face and ears. To my shock and horror I found 2 ticks embedded! One big one under where his collar usually is, and a real small one burrowed into his snout at the base of a whisker! His snout is white, and the base of his whiskers are little black spots. So the tick blended in! The dogs letting me wash his face so I found it! I check him thoroughly after his walk. Not thoughtfully enough.

The hope is what I found online. Depending on the dog, multiple tick bites can cause paralysis. It can kill if not found, but can reverse itself rapidly if found in time. A 12lb dog with multiple tick bites, paralysis onset within hours, no pain. It seems to fit, I have hope. He's all clean with a heavy soaking brew of flea and tick spray and neosporin on his fur.

http://www.petassure.com/newsletters/020111newsletter/020111article2.html
 
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