{I did several searches here and nothing showed up. Which is very strange, for the amount of time lymenet has been around.}
My 7yr old German Shepherd was just dx'd with Lyme last night.
He had a slight, limp on Tuesday, in his left front leg. I thought he might have pulled a muscle, running around, the night before. He goes into a nutcase mode, when the family members come home from work. Up & down the stairs, on &off the couch , etc.
Normally, he runs to greet everyone as they wake up in the morning. Well, he didn't and didn't respond when we called him.
Wednesday he had a weepy eye, and badly limping in both front legs. He was sort of hiding and laying in places he never really went before.
His eyes didn't look right to me, very dull, very sad. I felt his nose and it was cool and wet. I called the vet and took him in.
They took his temp and he did have a slight fever. They mentioned Lyme, took blood and did some kind of a rapid lyme test, twice. They said the first one somehow messed up.
The second one showed a faint positive. They are sending more blood out to another lab and for other tests too. The vet said we caught it very early.
They gave him doxy for 2 weeks and anti-inflams for 7 days. I have to call friday for the other results.
I was so upset, I didn't even think to ask questions, abt pain and his recovery prognosis.
Anyone else been through this with a pet??
Did the treatment work and the pet fully recover??
Thanks
Posted by njlymemom (Member # 15088) on :
yes, my dear lab (passed away 3 years ago) had lyme
I wish at the time i had her tested for coinfections
i miss her so much, i still cry thinking of her
i am glad you caught this early with your dog
our pets are so stoic, they hide their pain so well
best of luck and give that pup a hug from me
Posted by Leelee (Member # 19112) on :
I am very sorry about your furry baby. I think you got him help in time, though. It seems that dogs recover much quicker than humans from the pain and misery of Lyme. That's what my vet told me, anyway.
My now 10 1/2 year old Keeshond got Lyme when she was just six months old. Her symptoms were similar to the ones your doggie displayed.
We rushed her to the emergency vet around midnight. They suspected Lyme, gave her abx and pain killers and referred us to a specialty clinic.
Blood work at the specialty clinic revealed Lyme. It's been so long now I can't remember what abx she was on, but she recovered quite well. She did maintain a limp in her front ankle which is now arthritic, though.
She does get the Lyme vaccine annually now and we use Frontline monthly. I don't know why she wasn't vaccinated in the first place. I promptly changed vets, though, as I want my fur babies to get the best of care.
Last week I asked my vet to do a full TBD panel to test for residuals of Lyme and co-infections. It came back negative. My vet thinks that animal testing is far superior to human testing so I should be reassured she is okay.
Best of luck to your little pup. I am so sorry. But, I do think he will recover. As for the pain, you might want to ask your vet for some pain pills just to help him get over the first few days.
Posted by TerryK (Member # 8552) on :
So sorry you dog has lyme. We strongly suspect our dog died of undiagnosed lyme disease. When we took the tick in she said "We don't have lyme here". Threw it in the trash.
Anyway, here are some links for canine lyme disease that might be useful.
I'm so glad you caught it early!! Hope all goes well with treatment.
Terry
Posted by cactus (Member # 7347) on :
I'm so sorry to hear about your dog.
My dog and I lived through our Lyme treatment together, and I suspect that he had babesia as well. He passed last year at age 15 - a nice old age, despite Lyme.
Many vets are more knowledgeable than ducks regarding Lyme, in fact, I've often heard that if you want to know if there's Lyme in your area, don't ask a doc - ask a vet.
My vet was very upfront that they do not view Lyme as curable, but rather something that we hope to get into remission.
Once my baby dog had his initial Lyme diagnosis, we treated him periodically when the limping began - usually for 3 - 4 weeks at a time. It always alleviated the limping.
There are some specialty labs for dogs, I think they are in NC. But honestly - treating is probably the way to go, if you suspect Lyme.
If it's any comfort, dogs don't seem to herx the way people do - at least my guy did not. He only improved.
So hopefully treatment for your pup will simply mean that he feels better and better.
Best wishes to you and your furry friend!
P.S. If you search for "dog" or "canine" in medical - in subject only - it brings up a lot of posts. Hope that helps.
Posted by buckfever (Member # 9876) on :
Yes , I've had 2 dogs get it , both also had anaplasma. Ask your vet what test they used , the snap IV from Idex labs is good and tests for 4 diseases,lyme,anaplasma,babesia,RMSF. I'd want that test done if it wasn't used and I'd also try and get them to treat for at least 4wks if its just lyme and longer if anything else is coming up pos .http://blackgsd.googlepages.com/home This is a good site to get some info on tbd in our canine friends.
Posted by DakotasMom01 (Member # 14141) on :
Thank you all for the support and info. I will look into the other tests that were mentioned.
I am sorry for those of you who have been through this.
Posted by lymeyjulie (Member # 19721) on :
All 4 of my dogs have lyme, and one died from it. Now I have it. Have your vet do a lyme c6 test, it's like a titer, it shows how much lyme is in the dogs system.