My Allie has Lyme Disease :'(

[Kim]

Our Doodle Allie was diagnosed today with Lyme disease - I searched the discussion topics in here and didn't find much on it. I'm not quite sure why or when this happened. We vaccinated her for it because we are in an area where there are a lot of ticks. I'm not sure why it didn't work for her???? We were also very diligent in giving her the flea and tick medication monthly.

Our Vet is on vacation this week so we had to see his "fill in." The Vet that we saw noticed the symptoms immediately. She acted like this was common and didn't fret at all. She took Allie's blood and had us leave and come back 45 minutes later to pick her up. When we came back a Tech told us the news that Allie is positive for Lyme (she didn't seem worried either). I'm not understanding this. Is it nothing to worry about? They put her on Doxycycline (sp) antibiotics to help her get the infection out - but the disease will be in her body forever. They are also sending her blood work to a lab to see how high the level is, so that we can do another blood draw in 6 months to see if the levels have gone down. I don't quite understand why they were so unconcerned, because when I think of Lyme disease I think of a horribly painful life. Apparently it must be different for dogs?

This does answer our question as to why she is such a drama queen - she isn't!!! She actually WAS in pain all along - my poor puppy :'(

Just wondering if anyone has experience with Lyme disease that might be able to help me understand????

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

If caught early Lyme Disease is a treatable and curable disease. She will be on antibiotics for a period of time and be fine. It is when it is left undiagnosed that Lyme Disease is horrible. I have had it, my son has and my sister. It is going to be fine. There is some controversy about giving the Lyme Vac which you might want to look into but other than that, don't sweat it. Allie will be fine. Did the vet give you antibiotics?

[Kim]

Yes, the Vet gave us a 30 day supply of antibiotics. What is the controversy about the Lyme Vac? I haven't heard that and the Vet didn't tell me that before he gave it to her either. Hmmm... makes me wonder. I'll have to check into what the controversy is all about. Well that makes me happy to hear that it will be ok. The Vet told me that it takes 5-7 months for symptoms to even show up - so if that's the case with her - the Vaccination would have been after she contracted the disease, probably voiding the Vaccination. Hopefully all goes well. Thanks for the reply!

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

It's not terrible just some vets have doubts that the Lyme Vac for dogs is necessary. Some contract the disease and it's not known if connected to vacc. Some vets have stopped giving. There is a school of thought that dogs is high Lyme's areas have the antibody already.

Here's one article: http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_lyme_disease.html

When things settle down, start your research. Google Lyme in dogs. Don't stress it. Allie will be just fine. On the bright side, there is some thought that once contracted they cannot get again. It is still a debated topic but something to keep in mind.

[Moe]

I did ask my vet if she could get it again and he said yes. She is just as likely to get it again. :(

[Kim]

I forgot to ask one other question. OK - now that Allie has Lyme Disease - where is the Tick that caused it? I never saw any Ticks on her - I know that she is VERY hairy - and I probably wouldn't have seen it anyway - but don't they stay on the dog until someone pulls them out?

I just read that article and it says they drop out by themselves - so I guess I got my answer!

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

Kim, relax...even in print you are sounding panicky, LOL. The tick probably fell off a week ago or so.

[Kim]

haha... I just read my questions back and you are right! lol. I Googled it and I guess I should have listened to your advise and let things settle down first. I'm seeing everything that "could" happen! ok... I will give it a rest!

The good news is that (I'm not sure it's even possible) Allie seems to already be responding to the antibiotic. We gave her the first pill at noon today. She was laying around all day not interested in ANYTHING. Now she is running around playing with her toys, and she ate all of her dinner. That makes me happy.

Thanks Lynne for the info! I will try and relax!!!

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

Anytime, Kim. Now you sound more relaxed.

[Tamara & Giada]

AWW...................poor baby. Hope she gets better fast!!

[Missi]

Poor Allie! I'm glad that she will be able to be treated with antibiotics alone. How's pill-giving going? I always found to stick pills inside a very small piece of hotdog, they would take them well. Except Lizzie, who eats around the pill! :-P Oh well! I think my Lizzie will look a lot like Allie when she's grown up.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

I had a dog that could spot a pill in anything - even liversausage! The vet told me to switch it up all the time - one day liver sausage the next day cheese etc.. Also to always give at least three or four pieces of the treat with every pill and stick the pill in the middle one with the next tidbit right in front of her nose so she would be in a hurry to get it and not check so thoroughly for the pill. This technique worked wonderfully for the last several years of her life. Of course I bought a lot of liver sausage! LOL Some dogs are just toooo smart!

[Sandy]

Toby is on them from swelling after his surgery. I tear off a small piece of bread, spread peanut butter on it, put the pill on, and fold the bread over. The pill is quite "stuck" in the bread, and he just eats it up.