Greetings everyone:

My coworker found a small tick on her Viszla, with the telltale bullseye
red circle, so of course she is now worried about Lyme disease. She
called her vet, who said that a blood test so soon would show nothing,
and that the bullseye didn't mean that he would necessarily get Lyme
disease, and that if he did, it might not show up for 6 months, and she
should just watch him for symptoms until that time.

I advised her to get a second opinion, as it seems to me that the blood
work might show the illness before the dog becomes symptomatic, and why
wait for him to get sick before treatment?

What do you all think? She's thinking maybe a monthly blood test to see
if the Lyme shows up before the dog gets sick -- would that be wise, or
pointless? Do dogs have to appear ill before receiving treatment for this
illness?

Any advice/experience would be much appreciated. Thanks.

--
Catherine
& Zoe, Queenie, & Max, 3 black dogs of varying sizes
& Rosalie the calico cat
www.ourladyofperfection.blogspot.com

"ceb" wrote in message
...
My coworker found a small tick on her Viszla, with the telltale bullseye
red circle,
.......if a tick attaches they all get a red irritated circle around them.
This is not a bullseye, it's a reaction to the stuff the tick shoots into
the tissue to dissolve it. I don't even know if dog's get that human
bullseye reaction.

so of course she is now worried about Lyme disease. She
called her vet, who said that a blood test so soon would show nothing,
and that the bullseye didn't mean that he would necessarily get Lyme
disease, and that if he did, it might not show up for 6 months, and she
should just watch him for symptoms until that time.

..........good advice. The Lyme disease test is for antibodies to the
disease itself, so it there hasn't been enough time for the body to mount a
defense, then there's nothing for the test to measure. If it would make her
feel better, she could get a test now - SNAP 4 I think - which would tell
her if her dog had a pre-existing titer for Lyme disease, which might give
her a more complete picture later. There's lots of dogs with titers for
Lyme disease, which means they've been exposed, but never got the disease.

and why
wait for him to get sick before treatment?
.........why would you treat a dog that's not sick?

What do you all think? She's thinking maybe a monthly blood test
..........overkill. Test now for baseline, test again in 6 months.
Meanwhile read up on symptoms. If the dog displays any of these, test for
it..

Reading: http://blackgsd.googlepages.com/home

buglady
take out the dog before replying

"buglady" wrote in news:13j49l3dktnoj49
@corp.supernews.com:

Reading: http://blackgsd.googlepages.com/home


Thanks so much for your response. I forwarded it to my coworker.

--
Catherine
& Zoe, Queenie, & Max, 3 black dogs of varying sizes
& Rosalie the calico cat
www.ourladyofperfection.blogspot.com

"buglady" wrote in message:

I don't even know if dog's get that human
bullseye reaction.

They don't, according to my vet.

Meanwhile read up on symptoms. If the dog displays any of these, test for
it..

Part of that is also not making light of seemingly small stuff. As I have
mentioned elsewhere, Khan's Lyme disease only manifested itself in his
reluctance to go down (slower, and just a teensy bit whiny).

Suja

"Suja" wrote in
:

Part of that is also not making light of seemingly small stuff. As I
have mentioned elsewhere, Khan's Lyme disease only manifested itself
in his reluctance to go down (slower, and just a teensy bit whiny).


Thanks, Suja. I'm sure she'll be very vigilant (and I forwarded your post
to her too).

--
Catherine
& Zoe, Queenie, & Max, 3 black dogs of varying sizes
& Rosalie the calico cat
www.ourladyofperfection.blogspot.com

"Suja" wrote in message
...
Part of that is also not making light of seemingly small stuff. As I have
mentioned elsewhere, Khan's Lyme disease only manifested itself in his
reluctance to go down (slower, and just a teensy bit whiny).

.......yeah, any noticeable change. Just being *off* for any reason.

buglady
take out the dog before replying

"ceb" wrote in message:

Thanks, Suja. I'm sure she'll be very vigilant (and I forwarded your post
to her too).

Just so she doesn't get paranoid. Deer tick are small. Very, very small.
Adult tick is the size of a pin head. If she found something bigger,
chances are it's a dog tick and not a carrier of Lyme. Also, they have to
feed for about 24 hours to infect, so if the critter she found was not at
all engorged, it is a pretty safe bet it hadn't been on there for long.
Next time, have her save the tick (I plop mine into a small container of
rubbing alcohol). ID'ing it (and possibly testing it) can be helpful, in
case the dog ever shows strange symptoms of tick borne diseases.

Suja

Suja wrote:
"ceb" wrote in message:


Thanks, Suja. I'm sure she'll be very vigilant (and I forwarded your post
to her too).


Just so she doesn't get paranoid. Deer tick are small. Very, very small.
Adult tick is the size of a pin head. If she found something bigger,
chances are it's a dog tick and not a carrier of Lyme.

SNIP


Suja



Hi there!

When our springer had a deer tick on her, it was significantly bigger
than a pin head, as it had been on her for about 10 days. I didn't know
my hubby had taken her to Tick Haven (AKA his brother in law's land) 10
days previous, and he didn't know I hadn't used the Frontline on
schedule. Her tick looked like a sunflower seed kernel stuck in her
skin... vet confirmed an engorged deer tick.

http://www.lyme.org/gallery/ticks.html

There are numerous websites like this, but this is the one that helped
me identify the big sunflower seed sticking out of her back. ; ) The
fact that one could see little black legs was kind of a clue too

Our vet did the SNAP test, and we went back about a month later...
though I can't recall if it was for a repeat lyme test or what. We
ended up getting her the lyme disease vaccines because she is a hunting
dog often out in the grass. That and her mom is sometimes negligent
about using the Frontline on time.

good luck to your friend's dog!

Shel