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Lyme Disease

3K views 13 replies 6 participants last post by  tippykayak 
#1 ·
My dog Dash has been diagnosed with Lyme. He was vaccinated as a puppy but then my vet(at the time--I've since switched to another dr who dx Dash with Lyme) told me there were too many risks associated with Lyme vaccines and I--being one to err on the side of caution--did not vaccinate him for it. Of course, he was on the topical tick meds but even so, after a jaunt in the woods, I would occasionally find one on him or me.

My vet didn't want to do a Tick panel because of so many false positives but he was finally convinced to do so and it did come back positive and since Dash has presented with symptoms of lameness, discomfort and all over pain, he is treating.

He gave me a week's worth of Rimadyl which he said should work within 24 hours but it was several days. Once the rimadyl and doxy overlapped by 3 days, Dash was noticeably himself again, full of his smiling self again. The Rimadyl ran out on Tuesday or Wednesday. He was doing great until last night when all of his symptoms came back.

The night emergency vet gave me more Rimadyl to get me through tomorrow but then he asked me how much doxy Dash was on and he disagreed with the amount. He thought it should be double the amount. Today, I called all of the specialist hospitals and only one would give me their opinion(they would dose the same as the regular vet)

Last week, my vet's associate said their lab "can't do the C6 test"!! They didn't do the snap4dx test but one "that is better than that one"

So tomorrow I need to call the vet and try to get somewhere with this.

I want to know why they can't do the C6, why his symptoms came back, if I should keep Rimadyl on hand and what else? What do I need to do? What else should I ask? Where should I turn?

The ER vet is from Lyme Conn and says he has a special interest in Lymes and goes to all the symposiums etc. He offered to give me more meds if my vet won't. He's just an er vet though so it's not as if he will be able to be testing him and keeping up with all of it.

I just don't know how to handle this situation. I do not want Dash to be under or over treated. :(

I'm shocked about how bad Lyme can be and I'm scared also. I would appreciate your experiences with Lyme disease. Thank you
 
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#2 ·
Just a couple of thoughts. I am by no means an expert but do live in CT. The Doxy often brings the symptoms under control pretty quickly, like maybe within 36 hrs. or so. If it's not working then I'd want to know why . . . dosage not proper, some other TBD also affecting the dog etc. The Rimadyl is just a pain killer?? If so I'd be concerned that if that's what's bringing relief it's only masking the symptoms. Most important you need to feel confident in your vet. Maybe you need a referral to someone who is particularly knowledgeable about Lymes. Perhaps the er vet can suggest someone. Where are you located and how old is your dog? How long has it been since the first symptoms and first treatment?
 
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#6 ·
Just a couple of thoughts. I am by no means an expert but do live in CT. The Doxy often brings the symptoms under control pretty quickly, like maybe within 36 hrs. or so. If it's not working then I'd want to know why . . . dosage not proper, some other TBD also affecting the dog etc. The Rimadyl is just a pain killer?? If so I'd be concerned that if that's what's bringing relief it's only masking the symptoms. Most important you need to feel confident in your vet. Maybe you need a referral to someone who is particularly knowledgeable about Lymes. Perhaps the er vet can suggest someone. Where are you located and how old is your dog? How long has it been since the first symptoms and first treatment?
I'm in NJ. Not sure when to say this started might have been last month or may have had an episode a year and a half ago. A year and a half ago, he was having similar but not as severe problem. He went to the vet--different guy--and I believe he went on generic anti-inflammatories and he recovered quickly. No tests were done that I remember. It was the first time he ever had a problem. And it passed and he seemed fine.


So the most recent episode:
We had to pts our 17 year old cat in late April and that's pretty much when I noticed Dash acting depressed--I thought it was from losing his good buddy--they napped together, Cocoa groomed him--they were good pals! Then in June, he yelped 'out of the blue' once when he sneezed and twice for no reason--just a quick yip and then he would look surprised and wag his tail like crazy. I was keeping a close watch on him and then he went lame about 2 weeks ago? Brought him immediately to a new vet. Recommended by a vet tech I respect.

This vet didn't even want to test for tbd! Dash acted totally normal at the vets. No lameness, nothing. He put him on rimadyl for pain but when that didn't work in the first 48 hours he sent out a tick panel. 3rd day, Dash was feeling much better. Tick panel came back high for Lyme disease. His associate was in the office and told me to come in to pick up the doxy. After a few days, Dash was back to normal--more normal than he had been in many weeks and I only realized it then! :( He was so happy go lucky again and I realized he must have been in pain for awhile and I mistook it for grieving or maybe it overlapped, I don't know. Oh I also had given him a dose of Advantix right before all this started--it was new to him--I even wonder if this is related to that! Could it be??

He's a little better today but it's probably from rimadyl!

Dash will be 6 in August.
 
#3 ·
You definitely got doxycycline? It's been in short supply recently. And what's the dosage? There's a lot of argument about doxycycline dosage these days, with some experts recommending much higher doses than standard.

Either way, I'd be very concerned that Dash wasn't fully in recovery mode by 4-5 days. He was still on a full dose of doxycycline when the symptoms came back? That's pretty uncommon. I'd look into dosages and also into other TBDs. There are some that don't respond to doxycycline, at least not in normal dosages.

I also don't know why they can't do a C6. You send the blood out the Idexx for a C6 quant. It's useful at any stage in the treatment, particularly when things aren't proceeding in a typical fashion.

One other thought - are you wrapping the doxy in cheese to get him to take it? There's some evidence that dairy interferes with doxycycline. Apparently it's enough to make sure that they don't take dairy at the same time as doxy, but if I were in this situation, I'd go zero dairy until Dash got better.
 
#7 ·
You definitely got doxycycline? It's been in short supply recently. And what's the dosage? There's a lot of argument about doxycycline dosage these days, with some experts recommending much higher doses than standard.

Either way, I'd be very concerned that Dash wasn't fully in recovery mode by 4-5 days. He was still on a full dose of doxycycline when the symptoms came back? That's pretty uncommon. I'd look into dosages and also into other TBDs. There are some that don't respond to doxycycline, at least not in normal dosages.

I also don't know why they can't do a C6. You send the blood out the Idexx for a C6 quant. It's useful at any stage in the treatment, particularly when things aren't proceeding in a typical fashion.

One other thought - are you wrapping the doxy in cheese to get him to take it? There's some evidence that dairy interferes with doxycycline. Apparently it's enough to make sure that they don't take dairy at the same time as doxy, but if I were in this situation, I'd go zero dairy until Dash got better.
Def Doxy. 450mg I have been wrapping it up in soft dog food like a meat ball but he gets an acid reducer at night and I have been putting that in cheese! I will avoid dairy.

He seemed to be fully recovered after a few days on the doxy and then Saturday, as bad as he was!

The tick panel showed only Lyme Disease
 
#4 ·
another comment, be sure they do an immediate or sooner urinalysis. Lyme nephritis is a serious concern with Goldens and Labradors.
 
#5 ·
My Homer had Lyme 3 times. I only knew it because he all of a sudden would not get up. Each time, after only one day of Doxy he was remarkably better. They never prescribed the Rimadyl. Each case seemed to respond well to the Doxy. I forget what the doses were.
He did end up with residual joint damage and possible internal issues we may be unaware of. Tho he did live until 11.
Please make sure you are getting the best advice tho. I know more than a few people who have lost young dogs to Lyme :(
 
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#10 ·
He has a tentative apt at 11am so I'm going to get ready for that. The vet is in surgery and may cancel on me. I also need a refill on his flea and tick med and his heartworm. He has one more Iverhart pill left but I understand they stopped making it so I feel like I should switch him to something else.
This vet recommends Sentinel along with Vectra. Isn't that too much flea med??
 
#11 ·
Homer was on Frontline, did not work real well for him.
At vets advice: Put Olliver on Advantix II. Rare ticks on him.
Where in Jersey are you from?
I am up here in Sussex County/Fredon
 
#12 ·
LOTS of lyme vaccine failures, so good chance your dog would have gotten lyme anyway.

Your ER vet is most likely right, I didn't catch the dosage, but the aggressive dosage that the tick list recommends is roughtly 5 mg/lb *twice* a day (or 10mg/kg twice a day).

Link to the tick list, the first one will take you to the sign up page:
Tick Links

Definitely monitor the urine.
 
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