I've been resisting this for the longest time, but it just might make
sense for the dogs to be vaccinated. A couple of years ago, Khan came
up Lyme positive. Then, earlier this year, Pan did. Khan's latest test
came back positive, but we'll be running an additional test to see if
this is just a response to exposure or indicative of the disease.

Given that the Mid-Atlantic has turned into Lyme central, does it make
sense to vaccinate? I've read conflicting reports about its
effectiveness, but some protection might be worthwhile, instead of just
going the Doxy routine, once a year.

Suja

"Suja" wrote in message
news:uoO9f.72$wC.11@dukeread06...
I've been resisting this for the longest time, but it just might make
sense for the dogs to be vaccinated. A couple of years ago, Khan came
up Lyme positive. Then, earlier this year, Pan did. Khan's latest test
came back positive, but we'll be running an additional test to see if
this is just a response to exposure or indicative of the disease.

Given that the Mid-Atlantic has turned into Lyme central, does it make
sense to vaccinate? I've read conflicting reports about its
effectiveness, but some protection might be worthwhile, instead of just
going the Doxy routine, once a year.

.........By testing positive, do you mean they had antibodies? What kind of
test was used? From what I gather the new C6 SNAP test can indicate whether
it's an active disease. Christie (caberfeidh site) says perhaps that
positive titers should be treated, even without symptoms.

I'm sure you might have read all these already:
http://www.drschoen.com/articles_L2_10_.html
http://www.caberfeidh.com/Lyme.htm
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_lyme_disease.html
http://cdli.asm.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/458

.....an interesting article using dogs to estimate human Lyme disease:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol11no05/04-0381.htm

.........a good general disc. of vaccines. Mentions that Lyme vax is only
partially effective, but this article isn't up to date. Personally I'd try
to find data on effectiveness of new vaccine, side effects, etc.:
http://www.vin.com/VINDBPub/SearchPB...00/PR00141.htm

.......If I were you I'd join the Tick List and ask your questions. See what
the vets there have to say, though I'm sure it's all been discussed before.
Lyme Vax can cause serious harm and you can't undo it once it's been given.
If they already have antibodies, they've already been exposed. I don't know
that vaccinating them will do what you think it will. I don't know if it is
recommended even to do this. Then there's the issue of concurrent infection
with other tick borne diseases, which may go unrecognized if only a test is
done and for which the vax will do nothing. I'd also try to find some kind
of data on how often that happens, particularly in your own backyard.
Perhaps your state Univ. has been looking into this issue.

buglady
take out the dog before replying

buglady wrote:

........By testing positive, do you mean they had antibodies?

Yup. Khan was symptomatic the first time around, so we treated without
doing any additional tests. Pan had always tested negative before, so
when she tested positive, we treated her as well.

What kind of
test was used?

It was a combo test for HW, Lyme, and Ehrlichia, the C6 SNAP. They have
decided to go the combo route because roughly 50% of the dogs are
turning up positive for Lyme.

From what I gather the new C6 SNAP test can indicate whether
it's an active disease.

We'll be doing a Quantitative C6 next. It's hard to tell if he is
symptomatic, though. He grunts a little when he has to lie down, which
is new for him, but the cold weather brings out the puppy in him, so
he's so much more active now than he has been in months.

......If I were you I'd join the Tick List and ask your questions.

I think that I'll do just that. I'm getting sick and tired of the
little *******s infecting the dogs. Unfortunately, short of encasing
them in a coccoon, there is no way to keep the dogs separated from the
ticks. I pick dog and deer (to a lesser extent) ticks off the dogs
practically every time they go out in the yard. We probably have the
last stand of trees in the entire county, and have herds of deer living
here. And I pick about a dozen ticks off Khan every time we go on
anything resembling a serious hike. Just in the past week, I've picked
3 attached ticks off him. It is getting to the point where I'm
thinking, to hell with the tests, we'll treat them annually with a
course of Doxy (yes, I know how dangerous this sort of thinking is).

As always, thank you for your insight, Buglady. You always have
interesting information to convey.

Suja

"Suja" wrote in message
news:AA5af.3998$wC.303@dukeread06...
buglady wrote:
Unfortunately, short of encasing
them in a coccoon, there is no way to keep the dogs separated from the
ticks. I pick dog and deer (to a lesser extent) ticks off the dogs
practically every time they go out in the yard. We probably have the
last stand of trees in the entire county, and have herds of deer living
here.
.........Yikes, the problem literally is in your backyard! Hey, time to make
a tick drag. Get a big piece of white cloth and attach it to a pole along
one edge (so it drags flat) and walk slowly around your back yard. They'll
stick to the cloth. What you do with them after that depends on how you
feel that day! g But personally I think I'd see if I could find a spray
to take care of them. No sense ruining a good day by having to pick
hundreds of tiny black dots off a sheet.

A lazy man's version of this is to get a big chunk of dry ice and place it
in the middle of a white cloth. They'll be attracted to the CO2 and end up
on the cloth. This is a pest control technique called trapping out and
while it won't eliminate the ticks from your backyard it will knock down
populations. Now doesn't all that sound like fun! ;-)

I think there's also some areas that are using tick control on deer. They
put out corn bait, but to get to the corn the deer have to put their head
between a couple of rollers that have an insecticide on it. The corn might
attract more deer, but then you'd be treating more too. Can't remember
which state it was, might even be FL.

buglady
take out the dog before replying