Poodle Forum banner

Lyme disease

2K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  tortoise 
#1 ·
My vet sent me a little postcard telling me it was time for Bob's annual checkup. So we had an appointment yesterday. I had noticed that Bob's hips were beginning to hurt him a bit, so that was one of the things that I wanted to ask the vet about. Bob is 11 1/2, so I just thought that sore hips was part of getting old. There was no sudden onset, and nothing extreme. Just a little trouble coming down the stairs, and he had seemed stiff and sore after a recent 2 mile walk in the woods. I was thinking we had to stick to the 3/4 mile loop in the woods next time.

The vet thought that it was probably arthritis, but just to be sure, he wanted to test for Lyme disease. Well guess what? Test results came back today and Bob has Lyme disease! I had no idea that the symptoms could be so subtle. I am very glad that we caught this. The vet has prescribed some medicine and he says that my boy should be feeling a better in just a few days!
 
#3 ·
peppersb: I had a dog that came down with Lyme at @14 yo and lived to be 16+. Just wondering whether your dog was vaccinated for it? Ours had been, because we live in a "Lyme hotspot." (Lucky us,eh?) I have declined the vaccine for Chagall thus far; three vets I've spoken to advocate giving it, two others don't. They say to do the snap test with the idea of catching it early and treating if necessary. I know the symptoms can appear to come on subtly, that was my experience with our old girl. So glad Bob is undergoing the treatment to feel better! Your experience really stirs up my resolve about what to do. Presently, I rely on Advantix 2 to ward off ticks. I love living in the country, deep in the woods, but I am so not pleased with the deer ticks stealing some of the bliss!:mad:
 
  • Like
Reactions: peppersb
#4 ·
Hi Chagall's Mom,

Bob was not vacinated for Lyme. I got him when he was 4 1/2 and at that time my vet did not recommend it especially since he had not been vacinated by his previous vet (I had full vet records from previous owner). Now my vet is recommending vacination, so my puppy Cammie is vacinated. I have to say that I am completely confused about the whole vacination issue. Basically I tell my vet that I only want what he thinks is really really necessary. Somehow we are now vacinating Cammie and not Bob. Like you, I've heard different opinions on the Lyme vacine. Confusing!

I'm in the Phila area, and take the dogs for walks in the woods fairly frequentily. I use FrontlinePlus, but I don't think that will protect against Lyme.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Your vet sounds very sharp, Peppersb, and I'm so glad Bob is going to be okay.

I also live in a tick-infested area and upon the recommendation of my vet, I opted to vaccinate Angie for Lyme's. Even using Frontline, my poodles have gotten dog ticks. Deer ticks are much tinier and harder to detect. I've heard this is going to be a banner year for ticks because of the warm winter....something to keep in mind.
 
#8 ·
Your vet sounds very sharp, Peppersbe, and I'm so glad Bob is going to be okay.

I also live in a tick-infested area and upon the recommendation of my vet, I opted to vaccinate Angie for Lyme's. Even using Frontline, my poodles have gotten dog ticks. Deer ticks are much tinier and harder to detect. I've heard this is going to be a banner year for ticks because of the warm winter....something to keep in mind.
Yes, it is already a bad year for ticks. If you have a lot of tick problems, it might be time to get Certifect. It is Frontline+, plus amitraz, for additional effect on ticks. My fiance (is a vet) switched his golden retriever onto it. His dog goes to his parents farm and gets all ticky. I don't let my mpoo run and get his hair icky there and I've stuck to Frontline+.

I have been pulling 6 - 12 ticks off dogs that hadn't gotten their first Frontline dose. The early spring took a lot of people by surprise and they didn't start applying Frontline early enough. It was obvious which dogs had gotten Frontline already - no ticks!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top