Lyme Disease / Ticks / Feeding sick dog

[Moe]

My puppy, 6 months old has been a tick magnet since we got her. She gets Advantix II every month and still gets ticks. I think she is getting them from my yard. We have tons of chipmunks and rabbits. When they come out of hibernation I'm going to try to trap and relocate them. She is never out for more than a few minutes at a time because I'm so paranoid about the ticks and I never let her lay down outside.

Charlie has never been a big eater and is what the vet describes as lean. She had been gaining weight at a normal rate until recently. Over the past 6 weeks she only gained 2 pounds. About 2 weeks ago she stopped showing interest in her food. She would run over to it, sniff it and just move away. Since she is thin I started adding some chicken or dehydrated cow liver which seemed to work. Last week she was pretty lethargic and was only eating a few bites of her food. I took her to the vet and he did some blood work. He found out that she has a pretty serious case of Lyme disease even though she had received the Lyme vaccine. The vet said the vaccine is not foolproof. The test he gave her was on a scale of 100 with 30+ being active Lyme in the system. Charlie scored 80. She started taking Doxycycline on Saturday. She will be on it for 30 days.

The problem is that she is really not eating. She is on Orijen puppy food. I have been putting a tiny bit of cheese or chicken on the food but she will pick it out and leave the kibble. I end up throwing the food out at the end of the day. She is peeing and pooping fine. I don't want to turn her into a picky eater or food snob but I am worried that she is not getting enough food. She used to love eating some of her food out of a feeder ball or kong wobbler but now she just rolls them around and leaves the food all over the floor. Will dogs (not sure how to put this) starve if there is food there that they just don't feel like eating?

Are there any foods or supplement that you can give a dog that will repel ticks? I asked the vet about using a tick collar or powder but he said it would be too much with the Advantix.

[Moe]

Yes, I am seriously considering it. I am usually completely opposed to putting pesticides in the environment but desperate times call for desperate measures. My neighbor gets her yard sprayed in the spring. I have to do a bit more research but I may do it.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

With everything, there is a risk/benefit ratio. The first thing I would do is research how effective the sprays are in killing and/or repelling the ticks/fleas.

If you find evidence (not just your neighbor saying "Well, Rover hasn't had any ticks, so it must work") that spraying the yard will do a lot to help prevent Charlie from getting ticks or fleas, then you have to consider the benefit of that versus whatever risks there may be in putting pesticides into your immediate outdoor environment. I can tell you that there are far worse tick-borne illnesses than Lyme disease, and some of them can be fatal. In some dogs, fleas can be fatal. These are the same questions we have to ask ourselves when we use any kind of product which has potential side-effects, which is pretty much anything.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Karen is right. I would fully research the type of product that is used. Often pesticides are organophosphates which are serious neuro toxins for us and dogs.

[Moe]

The girl that I walk with sometimes got Ehrlichiosis. She was in the hospital for 2 weeks. She almost died. It has been a couple of months and she is still weak. Ticks are so scary (and disgusting). 

[Dianne Carter ~ Trinity Doodles]

You may wish to consider feeding smaller portions more frequently to help with the meds potentially causing her to feel sick.  I have had a tremedous amount of luck with canned Tripett tripe when faced with a poor appetite ~ http://www.tripett.com/Home.html.  Last week we had four pups in for all of their go home procedures and 2 were experiencing vomiting when they came home, in the end they were so hungry they gobbled their kibble so fast it came right back up, I gave them a very small portion of the lamb tripe to get something into their stomach, then fed them a short time later and all was well.  Additionally if your you feel as though she is continuing to lose weight and is not interested in food perhaps you can consult with your vet about a vitamin B injection, it often stimulates the appetite and is helpful in stressful situations.  Wishing a full and speedy recovery to your doodle baby!