Lyme disease in all 3 dogs?

Hello,

The past week, all three of my dogs tested positive for Lyme Disease.
They are now all on Doxycycline for a month.

We found out after we had taken in my seven year old Rottweiler to get
her back leg checked out. She had been limping for a week. The vet
originally thought that it could have been a ruptured ligament in her
knee, and we were prepared to bring her back to get a further more
complete exam. On the way out the vet decided to give her a Lyme
disease test. Two hours later we got a call saying she tested
positive. They recommended that my other two dogs (nine year old
Rottweiler/German Shepard mix, 3 year old Border Collie/Pit Bull mix)
be tested also. The next day they were brought in, and both tested
positive. They are also on Doxycycline for a month. They exhibited no
physical signs of Lyme Disease.

All three dogs were treated with the proper dose of Frontline at all
times. We live in a wooded area in central Massachusetts, USA. Ticks
were never really a problem with any of them, though there are an
abundance of ticks in the area. The nine and three year old dogs are
the two that spend a bit of time outdoors as they love to hunt and
stalk chipmucks. The seven year old with the limp hates the outdoors
and spends much of the time inside.

So a question... Is it common for all three dogs of a household of
contract Lyme Disease? Especially when all were treated with
Frontline? I am still in a bit of disbelief that all three had it.

Eric Hanson wrote:
So a question... Is it common for all three dogs of a household of
contract Lyme Disease? Especially when all were treated with
Frontline? I am still in a bit of disbelief that all three had it.

Quite possible. Frontline is not 100% effective against ticks, and the
deer ticks are quite small enough that it would not be that difficult to
miss them if you were to look for them. I had my dog treated for Lyme a
couple of months ago, and can tell you that the difference in him is
just amazing.

Suja

So did your dog show symptoms... Your not clear when you said the difference
was amazing... My dog tested positive over a year ago and I did not treat
him...
"Suja" wrote in message
...
Eric Hanson wrote:
So a question... Is it common for all three dogs of a household of
contract Lyme Disease? Especially when all were treated with
Frontline? I am still in a bit of disbelief that all three had it.

Quite possible. Frontline is not 100% effective against ticks, and the
deer ticks are quite small enough that it would not be that difficult to
miss them if you were to look for them. I had my dog treated for Lyme a
couple of months ago, and can tell you that the difference in him is
just amazing.

Suja

"Eric Hanson" wrote in message
m...
Hello,

The past week, all three of my dogs tested positive for Lyme Disease.
They are now all on Doxycycline for a month.

........Dogs can show antibodies to Lyme, which means they've been exposed,
but never show symptoms.
http://www.antechdiagnostics.com/cli...999/8%2D99.htm

buglady
take out the dog before replying

dwolf wrote:

So did your dog show symptoms... Your not clear when you said the difference
was amazing... My dog tested positive over a year ago and I did not treat
him...

Very slight, and most of my friends thought that I was being paranoid
and overprotective. About a month or two before he was tested, Khan
would whine softly when he had to lie down. No problems with movement,
no trouble running around, but he never complains about pain, and I took
him in to have him checked out - the vet said maybe he sprained/strained
something. Later, he just seemed a little lethargic. Mind you that he
is a hairy dog, and it was starting to warm up, but I didn't think that
he should have slowed down that quite that much that quickly. That was it.

BTW, I don't think you should wait for the dog to become symptomatic.
The organism responsible for the disease should not be given the
opportunity to get a foothold in the animal's system if at all possible.
That may lead to chronic and hard to treat problems down the road.
Studies have shown that even in animals that have been successfully
treated (negative tests for Lyme), the bacteria is quite successful in
lying low and pops back up when the animal is immune compromised.

Suja

Subject: Lyme disease in all 3 dogs?
From: Suja
Date: 7/19/03 9:00 PM Pacific

BTW, I don't think you should wait for the dog to become symptomatic.
The organism responsible for the disease should not be given the
opportunity to get a foothold in the animal's system if at all possible.
That may lead to chronic and hard to treat problems down the road.

Amen to that. Antibiotics are cheap and very effective for these dastardly tick
diseases if given quickly.


Deb
Shi the Survivor
Georgie the Kid-Snarker