Lyme Questions

[Maralynn]

When would you push for a second round of antibiotics for Lyme?

 

Kolt has been off recently. A bit Jumpy, tense, clingy. I was chalking it up to my new work schedule and Kenzi’s surgery. But I did notice that his neck was sore a couple weeks ago when I was giving massages. And he was a bit off playing frisbee.

 

I had him at the vet yesterday for a weird swelling on his toe (likely just infected, now on antibiotics) and he’s still Lyme positive. 

 

I’m a bit concerned that his off attitude could be due to low grade Lyme. The vet was reluctant to automatically treat for it again with no obvious symptoms but we are going to do urinalysis to look deeper into it - we tried yesterday and the tiny sample we got showed a bit of blood but nothing else concerning.

 

Right now I’m thinking give the antibiotics a chance to work, do a urinalysis, but if the “off” attitude comes back after that with no other obvious cause then ask about doing another round of doxy. Because last year his symptoms were subtle but improved after doxy. 

 

Thoughts? Experiences?

 

 

 

 

 

[GentleLake]

I don't have any answers about further antibiotics, but can tell you he'll probably come up as Lyme+ for years, perhaps forever, whether there's any active Lyme going on or not.

Tansy came up Lyme+ at about 2 years old, though she never exhibited even the slightest symptoms. Vets have said she was obviously exposed to the virus but probably cleared it on her own and never got the disease. But her bloodwork every year since then has still shown her to be Lyme+. I have a urinalysis done annually just to check kidney function, but it has always come up fine.

So, a + blood test doesn't necessarily mean an active infection, just that there are antibodies present indicating exposure. Other clinical signs would be used to determine if he's got active Lyme.

How long was he on doxy the first time around? One of my late dogs had Lyme disease and vet initially prescribed either 4 (I think) or 6 weeks of doxy. The guidelines had just been lowered from the previous 8 week recommendation and I insisted she be treated for the full 8 weeks. Symptoms abated and she never showed any after treatment.

Not sure if any of this is helpful. Maybe a consult with a holistic vet might be useful? Allopathic medicine is still struggling with even recognizing chronic Lyme disease much less having good treatment for it.

Wishing you and Kolt the best.

[Mark Billadeau]

There is a PCR blood test for the bacterium.  I don’t know the cost of this test.

[gcv-border]

After dealing with multiple instances of TBDs - in spite of diligent application of monthly tick repellants, I have no patience with waiting for bloodwork results, or seeing if my dog gets worse. I will treat in a heartbeat if Ithere is the possibility of a TBD. I don't see much of a downside to a month of doxy, whereas the effects of chronic Lyme, etc. can be very damaging.

I had a vet that would treat himself, his wife and three dogs with doxy on an annual basis.

This is not something I am willing to take a 'wait and see' attitude about. Treat your dog

[aschlemm]

Idexx lab has a Lyme C6 test that differentiates active disease from on-going antibodies.  My Border Collie, Logan, has been Lyme positive (on SNAP test) for years but his Lyme C6 test is low so it is simply that the antibodies are still present, no active disease.  He has also tested positive for Anaplasma for years and been treated with doxycycline numerous times.  He has been asymptomatic.