[Terry]

I stopped by the vet's today to get Revolution for Moe and Tally because the ticks are starting already. They recommended a heartworm test (every two years for dogs who get heartworm preventative). Moe happened to be wating in the car and they weren't too busy so I brought him in and they tested him. He was was negative for heartworm but tested a strong positive for Lyme Disease (tests for both are done at the same time). Moe is symptom-free but they recommended treating him right away before symptoms start. Moe is on Doxycycline for two weeks and then needs two vaccinations for Lyme Disease three weeks apart. We need to get Tally tested right away, too.

They told me that Revolution is no longer claiming to help prevent tick bites and I should use Frontline. I have been taking Moe to this vet for over FOUR years and buying Revolution monthly all that time for both dogs - WHY didn't they tell me this before?

Does anyone know anything about Lyme Disease in dogs, it's symptoms, and the treatment's effectiveness?

Terry

 

[tiny529]

I've been meaning to bring this up myself. One thing I've noticed about Frontline is that it kills the ticks, but not necessarily before they've imbedded into my beloved pooch.

My mother-in-law had her dog vaccinated against Lyme's. According to her vet, it's very effective in dogs, but hardly effective in humans. I've been thinking of getting Gus vaccinated since we've already pulled 2 ticks out of him, and many more non-imbedded ones off of him.

 

[biscuit]

Terri, sounds like you have a great vet!

Biscuit was on Frontline, but got erhlichiosis anyway. From what I understand of tick disease, your vet is taking absolutely the right approach. In essence, from what I was told, if the treatments for tick disease work, it is assumed they have the disease, even if you cannot get a conclusive reading.

My experience with Biscuit taught me to not even trust Frontline --- it's a help, yes, a major one. But the common sense approach that it is unlikely disease would be transmitted unless the tick is attached for longer than 12 hours has proven untrue, at least for me.

I don't know much about Lyme Disease, but do know it's as virulent as erlichiosis and even more widespread. And my belief now is, any time a pooch of mine - or me or anyone I know, for that matter - shows signs of tick disease, it will be treated. A friend of mine's husband, for example, came down with what they think was tuleremia --- he was in ICU and they could not get a conclusive reading so they just started treating him for it and he finally responded. So, in essence, the way to go abut it anymore is aggressively treat ASAP, even if you cannot get conclusive test results.

Betsy and Barbara are much more savvy about this than I am., so will have much more info. However, I can say this --- from everything I've read and heard, treated early and aggressively, pooches and peoples generally have full recovery.

Good luck --- I am so glad your vet did this!

[ March 30, 2004, 10:09 PM: Message edited by: biscuit ]

 

[Betsy Iole]

Glad to hear he's not symptomatic. My understanding is that the new, in office Lyme test doesn't distinguish dogs that have been exposed from dogs that have Lyme Disease (active infection), and that it can remain positive for at least a year following treatment.

Here are some links.

A Lyme Disease Primer (Mar Vista Animal Medical Center)
Lyme Disease (VetCentric.com)
Lyme Disease (PetPlace.com)

 

[Terry]

I do like our vet. They have always given our pets the best care and they have answered any questions I have had, no matter how foolish. I was just upset about the fact that they knew we used Revolution (and recommended it almost five years ago) but I never heard about it when Revolution withdrew its claim that it worked for ticks. It was probably my responsibilty to question it's effectiveness yearly, since the product was relatively new at the time we began using it, at least for use on dogs.

I feel better about his treatment (thanks Biscuit!). Moe loves his pills, especially since I wrap them in a slice of turkey

I HATE blood-sucking parasites!!!

Terry

 

[biscuit]

Originally posted by Terry:

Our vet said that regular use of tick and heartworm products are not a guarantee that a dog won't contract parasite-carried diseases (which I didn't know) but using them does greatly reduce the risk.  That's why our vet said they test treated dogs every two years (and untreated dogs every year).

Exactly. I assumed that as well --- and I'm not at all sure where I got this from, but I was also certain that the general assumption was tick disease wasn't transmitted unless the tick was attached for longer than 12 hours.

Not true.

In any case, I'm still crazy about Frontline. Without it, I just would refuse to have dogs because we're so infested with ticks here. So it makes a huge, huge difference. But nothing is 100% unfortunately, so you have to be diligent in addition to using tick preventatives.

Hope you and Moe are feeling better.

 

[Terry]

When I checked with my friend she said she didn't think thier vet tested for lyme so she asked about it when they took thier new puppy in. Turns out her vet DOES test for lyme... not only that but all her Bassets are already vaccinated for the disease (except the new puppy)! It was done routinely along with all thier other shots.

I'm willing to bet that possibly others have been tested and don't realize it.

Terry

 

[Rudy & Theo]

Theo tested positive for lyme over a year ago. The only symptom I noticed was limping and I was surprised to hear that since it was the middle of January and we live in CT. I'm not sure if he was infected during the fall and it just took awhile for the limping to appear. Anyway, I started both dogs on Advantix this year b/c my vet said that this was better at repelling the fleas and ticks so they don't have a chance to even bite the dogs. I guess frontline kills them after they bite. I had been using frontline for many years before this but noticed last year that it wasn't as effective. Good luck with the treatment.

 

[Cheryl L]

Bob is now 1 1/2 years od and came down with a limp 3 months ago. One leg was affected and subsequently the limp affected each leg, all at separate times. After reading about the possibility of Bob having pano, I had the doctor take xrays which came back inconclusive. Bob was then tested for lyme disease and was confirmed with having the disease. He was treated for 30 days on doxycycline and was retested. His readings came back improved and he's been doing great until now. Does anyone know if the symptoms can come back after a 3 month period? Perhaps he's been infected once again, but I have been very diligent in checking him for ticks. Any help would be appreciated.

I haven't been on this website for over a year and I see that Maggie's name is still noted. Poor gal had luekemia and left us after 6 short years. Bob is her predecessor. And Augie is still kicking at 13 years.

 

[bubbad]

My Esa was inconclusive for Lymes but they wanted a urine sample to rule it out, same with Vinny,I noticed no one said their vet wanted a urine sample. Anyone have an idea about this.

 

[Mikey T]

His readings came back improved and he's been doing great until now. Does anyone know if the symptoms can come back after a 3 month period?

most certainly can.