O/T Dogs and Lyme' disease

I did not know dogs could get lyme' disease but my brother in laws Lab has it. Vet said there is nothing that can be done for the dog. Dogs usually
die within 6 months of contracting the disease.

Just some info I thought I would pass on.

THAT VET IS INCORRECT AND SHOULDN"T BE ALLOWED
TO PRACTICE MEDICINE ON MAN OR BEAST ! ! !
Here in Western Wisconson there are Dog ticks
and Deer ticks in great numbers, and even with
extreme caution it"s almost impossible to go in
the woods without picking up ticks. I have had
several dogs get lyme disease, one dog twice.
It is commonly treated woth TETRACYCLENE, or
other antibiotics. ANY COMPETENT VET SHOULD KNOW
THIS, My dogs have always recovered, and both died of old age. I use "Frontline" on my dogs as
a precaution against ticks. There are generic
products available, also if one is too cheap to
get the high priced stuff. Any farm store should
have products.
Get that dog to another VET right away, the Vet
fee costs more than the pills.
For avid hunters, or farmers whose dogs are out
where they can contact ticks frequently, there
is a nnalert for Lyme disease.

I believe my BIL did get a second opinion. The dogs kidney's were affected by the disease and that is why there is nothing they could do. Labs and Golden Retrievers are more likely to suffer kidney damage than other breeds.

From articles I have read not all dogs fully recover from the disease.

I also had a lab die from lyme disease.my vet swore that dogs can't get lyme disease but after going to a couple of specalists i found out otherwise. My Lab also died from kidney faliure from the disease.

Need to reply to this subject. We have nearly 50% of our outside dogs exposed to lyme disease here in NE Ct. I have had it. Most of our dogs are successfully treated. We have the mouse (the source of the infection) and are over run with deer who have brought us the black legged tick hence commonly referred to as the deer tick. It is treatable "IF" caught early. Drug of choice is doxycycline which should not be administer in the presence of foods with high calcium content, eg not stuffed in a piece of cheese. It is also tough on an empty stomach, so give it after eating. As far as spot-on products, use only frontline or advantick; good article in the WSJ some mo's ago on this subject. Another real good means of tick control is a preventatic tick collar if put on per instructions. Must be replaced in 3mo's. A real Yankee will save what is cut off the original application (if your dog is not too big) save it in a ziplock bag and use this in three mo's. No one breed is more susceptible then another; it's exposure to tick bites and how attentive the owner is to removing the ticks. Remember, we are all animals, and a good article was published Apr 21 2011 in the American Agriculturist entitled "Go Ahead Be Ticked Off". Remember a real doctor treats more than one species and for some reason some feel that one must diagnose, treat and cure an animal in 15 minutes. In all fairness, one can not save a dead horse, hence a dog who has had lyme disease so long that it has gone into kidney failure it is not the Dr's fault. Read the article in the American Agriculturist, it's a good one.

As others said the treatment of choice is doxycyline or azithromycin. If the dog is in acute renal failure, it needs to be supportively treated with iv fluids. Lymes disease can be treated. It can reoccur, cyclic, just like in people. Most common clinical symptoms are cyclic fever, lethargy, joint pain/swelling, and inappetance. I see more erhlichia in our part of the country but have diagnosed a couple cases of lymes and one case of rmsf in dogs.

Our Border Collie/Lab cross tested positive last year when we had her in for shots/tests. She showed no signs at all and she was successfully treated. After treatment she tested negative. Best to keep on top of shots and vet visits if you want to keep your dog around!

(quoted from post at 12:18:37 05/22/11) I did not know dogs could get lyme' disease but my brother in laws Lab has it. Vet said there is nothing that can be done for the dog. Dogs usually
die within 6 months of contracting the disease.

Just some info I thought I would pass on.

Click to expand...

I live in western, pa and that vet is wrong. My dog got lymes disease and he recovered. He took a bunch of antibiotics for about 3 mths, but it worked. Believe me he was in sad shape when he started taking the pills and non of us thought he would make it. That vet is wrong.

You state that you "had" Lyme disease. Are you completely disease free now? How was it treated?

Yes, I'm 100% okay and that was over 8 years ago. I was on doxy, again the drug of choice. Really read that article I mentioned. Am always out fixing fences etc and do wear cloths treated with a pyretrin and my farm boots (pants tucked in). Always take a shower after working in the fields even if I don't really need to,in order to check for ticks (that article points out removal in hours of even an infected tick results in no infection) We have it bad in our area, almost everyone has had it or knows someone who has had it. We also get another tick disease (anaplasmosis)so similar to lyme it might as well be called lyme.