buglady wrote:
"kate" wrote in message
oups.com...
Thank you for your reply....no he hasn't been tested for Lyme disease.
Is this from rats????

..........It's a disease transmitted by ticks. Here's a good page on tick
diseases: http://www.minden.com/nowhereelse/ca...ck_disease.htm

.......There is some question as to whether or not it exists in Australia
(is that where you are?):
http://medent.usyd.edu.au/fact/lyme%20disease.htm
At the very least you should ask your vet about it and other infectious
diseases present in your area.

Why did you ask about rats? Are there a lot of rats around? Rats can
transmit leptospirosis, though this usually hits the liver or kidneys. Lepto
occurs worldwide. How old is this dog? Any other symptoms, like fever? What were the
antibiotics used and how long was the dog on them? Both Lyme and Lepto
require long courses of specific antibiotics, so whatever the vet gave may
not have done the trick if it is one of these problems. I'm assuming the
anti-inflammatories were steroids? In some diseases they're contraindicated
and if they didn't do any good I'm doubting it's an auto-immune disease. I
don't think you really know what's going on yet and I would urge you (like
Toni) to get a firmer diagnosis. Please let us know the results of the
joint taps.

buglady
take out the dog before replying

Thank you for your answer. Yes I am in a fairly remote part of
Australia...Cairns. Queensland.The dog is 8 yrs old . The initial
anitbiotics were Amoxi/Clauvulinc Acid 500mg.
He was only on the anti biotics for a week.
I got confused with the rat disease Leptospirosiswhich started with "L"
. It has nothing to do with Lyme disease which i now see is from
ticks. The vet says we don't have Lyme disease here, however upon
looking on the net there have been cases but not proven. It seems it
is a huge problem in the USA.
The anti immflammatories were Rimadyl. No he hasn't yet been on
steroids, but that seems to be the next progression. The vet has
indicated Prednisone.
Results of the joint tap were that...."it was suppurative arthritis.
There was an "active immflammatory process." It was recommended that
we now have a bacterial culture taken??? After that, the tests
indicated that further tests should be serum ANA and rheumatoid factor
serol/Toogy. I feel time is of the essence and I will seek another
opinion tomorrow. Thanks again