lymes disease

“I'm ususally not one to post overly serious posts but I'm kind of torn-up. My dog was really gamey and hurting right after Xmas. I thought at first she got rock salt between her pads and was walking funny due to irritation. She got worse, to the point that we took her to the vet. She was diagnosed with Lymes disease and put on antibiotics, a two week course along with some steroids. Well it came back with a vengeance last weekend and she was really wiped out. I didn't think she'd make it. The vet has put her back on the antibiotics and slowly she is getting back to her old waggly ways. She is a relatively young dog (6yrs) and I'd hate to lose her. We can't keep her inside all the time and she does love her outdoor adventures. Does anyone else have experience with their dog having this nasty spirochete? Have you had your dogs vacinated?
Of couse this isn't limited to dogs. My youngest son had it 4 years ago. He didn't have the rash and we never saw a tick. Blood tests bore out his diagnosis. His knee swelled up to the size of mine which looks really weird on the leg of a six year old. It had it tapped and then went on some serious antibiotics for a month. It complains occassionally of joint pain but is otherwise okay. Infectious disease specialist says titer tests can't be used to rediagnose Lymes, because his system will always show traces.
Just thought I'd share and make every one aware that these little f$%#s are out there.”

“He had it tapped and he complains, not it. Sorry little buddy.”

“Fly-
Lymes is often recurrent in dogs, IMO because the antibiotics aren't taken long enough. I think the normal protocol is for doxycyline and should be taken for minimally three weeks. Lymes is tough to get rid of.

Obviously, you have it in your area, so take extra precautions outdoors. I had a dog get it a few years ago...and it recurred the following year. It seems that some are more susceptible to it than others, although scientifically that doesn't make sense.
Anyway, bathing your dog with a repellent shampoo is a good idea. PatchyG likes an herbal shampoo(human) I get for her at the health food store(I use it too in Summer - great for black flies)-it has cedarwood, lemongrass, eucalyptus, and melaleuca(a sort of tea tree) oil in it. No fleas or ticks and her coat stays sooo shiny and soft too. ;o)”

“Know what?
When I see tiks I RUN AWAY REEL FAST!
I do not want tiks gettin in my guts and making me ded. I had a koller for flees and tiks, but it broke off when I was walkin in the Abalama Walkin Woods. Now I am skeerd that a tik mite walk in my mouf and gimme limes. Sometimes my daddy wets me in the tub and puts on a perty smellin shampu that makes me a reel perty girl and makes ded flees and tiks on my outsides.

I broke off my rabbits tag when I was fightin a rat the nother time, but my docter got me another one so now I do not hafta be skeerd bout gettin rabbits from a wild ratcoon.

I need to get a new koller I gess.”

“I take my dogs hiking where there are lots of ticks. I have tried putting the yucky poison goop on them with minor success. I got one on myself also which really grossed me out. The things I read said Frontline is the way to go but it is supposed to last a month and didn't work the second time I went out. It is also pretty pricey, which wouldn't bother me if it worked.

Any other suggestions would be welcome. If there was a collar that I could just put on when we go to tick country, I would prefer that to using something toxic on to stay.

Sarabelle - I really appreciate your insights. I wish my girls could sniff your butt and run through the woods with you.”

“We used a product called Top-Spot that was applied externally like Frontline. It worked work on ticks for 30 days and fleas for 60. It was advertised that way and worked almost to the day as advertised. We were extremely pleased with it. We tried Frontline, because it was cheaper at that time, with not nearly as much success.”

“My sister, niece, and nephew had Lymes. Required lots of treatment. Mysister had it first and it took forever to get the diagnosis. They never saw a tick either.

My sister thinks hers just came back. Bummer.”

“That should be "it worked great" not "it worked work". I need a day off!”

“Vaccination is dirt cheap, under $20 yearly plus its one time. Try "sentinel" flea and tick repellent. Its monthly and works well.”

“I have been using a product much like Frontline called : Advantage" for all my animals and it has been very successful thus far.

I have never had any experience with Lymes thankfully but my daughter almost died about 5 or 6 years ago from Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and is impossible to diagnose until the desease is in remission and the only way to do that is take a great guess and treat for it.The antibiotics are also a risk because whatever they were can cause some people to lose the enamel on their teeth. Again I am greatful that that didn't happen either.”

“Out West we have some additional threats from varmint borne diseases. All of this is why I always sleep in a tent and keep it zipped up when not going in or out. I don't need any insects or other critters sharing my sleeping bag with me. I also like to stay dry when it rains. Nothing like a good tent.

flyguy6x - BEST OF LUCK!”

“I use Advantage on my dogs and am very happy with it. I also use Interceptor for prevention of heartworms. Best of luck to you and your family, flyguy6x.”

“As AmyG mentioned, Lyme is tough to treat. As with any bacterial infection, it is important to keep the antibiotic levels optimum and for the specified amount of time in order to insure "ya got em all". In the case of animals, you never know if they spit it out or get it all and doses should not be missed . Even with total compliance...with Lyme, it seems that animals and people get relapses. I would have to research the current theories as to whether it is a recurrence or that the disease itself triggers some sort of auto-immune reactions. If NCSU (the vet school at North Carolina State ) has a website, cruise around, they have a Tick Borne Disease lab and it may have a webpage, I havent looked myself, but I send some special tick titers to them.


I run the IFA titer test for it here at the veterinary teaching hospital and the reason "titer " tests are not useful after a dog, horse or person has had Lyme because the test detects IgG antibody, which is what is developed when we get vaccinated or exposed to an antigen. Its presence indicates previous exposure or vaccination (at lower levels). For a diagnosis of current infection in vaccinated animals, usually a Western Blot test is run to detect DNA of Borrelia.

I use Advantage on my dogs with great results , Front Line is good too. As for humans, always do tick checks and get the buggers off as soon as you see them hopefully before they have a chance to attach fully...making sure you get the mouth parts (use good tick removal techniques). It takes a little time before the tick starts to excrete saliva in its feeding process.
The longer the tick is attached the more time it has to excrete its saliva loaded with Borrelia.
The primary vector for Lyme is Ixodes sp. and this little bug requires a deer and a mouse as part of its life cycle. and its purpose in life seems to be to help little Borrelia continue on its biological journey thru dogs, horses and people......what was the creator thinking?? like mosquitoes....another havoc wreaking vector....”

“This is something that Bill and I have talked about for our AT hike .apperantly several humans have repoted getting very sick with lymes disease on the AT in the past few years.there is a vacination out for humans now but i hear it is rather expensive.”