Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
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Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
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Ask the Vet About Lyme Disease
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While efforts are made to answer all questions as quickly as possible, if an immediate answer is required or if your pet is in need of urgent or emergency care, contact your pet's veterinarian immediately.
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Can I get medication from you to treat my sons dog for lyme disease? He doesn't have a regular vet he takes her too and does all her vaccinations himself. I know she has lyme disease from when I took care of her and took her to the vet and they said she had it then 2 years ago. Now she sometimes can't walk on her hind legs and she limps when she walks.
Legally, in veterinary medicine, a veterinarian that has met her face-to-face must approve a prescription.
My lab who is 12 and has had a lyme disease takes doxycycline and gets better almost immediately and then about 10 days after stopping it comes back and he limps badly in front legs.Can it keep reoccuring in dogs even after treatment?
Yes, it is possible, but not very common. Here is a link to a really good article about Lyme disease, written by another veterinarian, from a really good site that I trust: https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4952009
Our dog is 14 and has had lyme since her first vet visit when we adopted her at 7 years old. She has flare ups, but during her last one she no longer tolerated doxycycline. She was vomiting and not eating. We had read about a holistic treatment with ledum palustre. Does this actually work and what dosage should you give a 15 pound dog? The company that makes it (boiron) only gives dosage info for humans. She's also been diagnosed with canine cognitive dysfunction and is on selegiline and galliprant for pain. I assume it's safe to add holistic treatments into the mix, right? Thanks for any info you can offer.
I am not familiar enough with holistic medications to advise you on this. Try consulting a veterinarian that specializes in holistic medicine, often found at your local veterinary school or on websites like JustAnswer.com.
I need medication for my 5 year old American pit Bull terrier . I found a tick on his back and removed it . Within a few days he started with a deep cough like a whooping cough unproductive as he brought nothing up. His weight is up and down and now has started vomiting
Of all the symptoms Lyme disease causes, coughing and vomiting are not 2 of them so I would really recommend having your veterinarian check him out and rule out other causes (there are many possibilities). We treat Lyme disease with Doxycycline so that would require approval from a veterinarian that has met him face-to-face anyway.
my pom was 3 weeks late getting his dose of Simparica. I found two dead ticks embedded in scalp. removed with tweezers, washed with peroxide the put triple antibiotic gel on the bites that looked more like scrapes. he received simparica about 7 days ago. he was vaccinated 3 years ago for lyme, however a different vet said he was borderline lyme about 3 months ago. other than keeping the scrapes clean and ointment on them do you suggest a better treatment
At this point, just keeping an eye on the bites and routine rechecks (if he was "borderline lyme" I assume they are going to recheck him) for Lyme, if that is a problem where you live.
How can I tell if my dog has developed Lyme nephritis? She suddenly has vomited bile as well as frothy pink liquid speckled with blood. She also has diarrhea. She was treated for Lyme in January 2019 and in May tested negative for proteinuria, but she is presenting now with the vomiting, diarrhea, and loss of appetite. She appears nauseous and frequently smacks her lips as well.
Have your veterinarian check her blood work - her kidney enzymes will be elevated if it is Lyme nephritis. The blood work will also help rule in or out other problems (liver disease, pancreatitis, etc.)
We had a friend who is a vet give an unofficial diagnosis of Lyme disease on my dog (lethargic, long and somewhat smelly pees, paint and swollen joints, can’t stand on his own) but she told us to pick up antibiotics for him, recommending Amoxycillin or Doxycycline but never told us which. Is one better or more effective than the other for Lyme?
In general, Doxycycline, is more effective.
Hi. We have 2 young basset hounds (2 & 18 mos) and a 5yrold Boxador. We travel to Michigan from SC in the summers and usually get the Lyme Vaccination before we leave because it seemed to be worse up there. Do you still recommend doing that or are you against it. I'm confused by what I read. We have them on heartworm and flea and tic preventative monthly also.
It really depends on what part of Michigan you are going to - some parts have no higher incidence than South Carolina. Use this map to help you and your veterinarian weigh the risks vs. the probability of coming into contact with it: https://www.avma.org/javma-news/2019-07-01/heartworm-lyme-risks-expected-grow
can cats get lyme disease? i was told it is very rare for a cat to get it. is this true?
Yes, that is true - we basically don't see it in cats although I think someone was able to infect a cat in a laboratory setting or something like that.
Can I purchase preventative medicine anywhere besides from a veternarian to give my dog to prevent Lyme disease. I recently moved to NC and heard they don't give vaccines instead monthly doses of some liquid.
The vaccine should be available - but anyway, if they don't see Lyme in that area, what they seem to be recommending is just a good monthly tick preventative like Nexgard or Bravecto - these are chewable though, not liquid, but definitely work nicely to prevent tick infestations. (None of the liquid, topical preventative work well around here for ticks - Georgia)
What shots do my dogs need before going out to hunt ,hogs, coyotes, and racoons?
It depends a lot on where you live so consult your local veterinarian for the best advice: Rabies for sure, Leptospirosis probably, Lyme if you are in an endemic area, etc.
My dog started Doxycycline Monday and has a decreased appetite, how long does this last?
It can last the entire time your dog is on Doxycycline and it may worsen (vomiting, diarrhea, total inappetance, etc) - if it does, contact your veterinarian - ask if the dosage can be decreased and if feeding it with a little food is ok, etc.
My dog had a tick on its leg I removed the tick and it has a red ring around where the tick was and my vet is on vacation and I don?t know if he need an Antibiotic he is 6 months old puppy and if he need an antibiotic I would like to order from 1-800 pet meds but I don?t know what dosage he needs
Take a picture of the ring with your phone - your veterinarian will need to see it. A veterinarian that has seen your animal in person will need to ok the prescription. The majority of ticks do not transmit Lyme disease, but it is a concern. Use a good tick preventative like Nexgard.
Should I be worried that there?s a bump left behind where I removed a tick from my dogs head? He is also limping his front paw for the past few days because I could not find the tick for a day or 2.. not sure if these are signs of Lyme disease or if my dog needs to see the vet immediately?? (It is a weekend so I will call them come Monday unless this is urgent) :/
It can wait until Monday if he is feeling fine otherwise. The knot can be normal tissue response to the tick and may persist for a couple weeks. It happens to people as well (I have a knot right now from a tick that I know I removed the entire tick that is 3 weeks old). It doesn't always mean some of the mouth parts or part of the tick was left but that could have happened as well. The vast majority of tick bites don't result in Lyme disease but dogs are lucky in that we screen them for Lyme disease every year when we test them for heartworms, so have your veterinarian use the heartworm test that screens for Lyme next time he needs his heartworm test run.
Our dog Finn has tested positive for Lyme but is asymptomatic. He seems to react poorly to Advantix II topical (vomiting, etc). Are certain flea and tick preventatives more likely to to cause these side effects in Lyme positive dogs? Are there preventatives that are more suitable for Lyme positive dogs than others?
Being positive for Lyme probably did not cause the vomiting when you used the topical flea preventative. Nexgard is labeled for ticks that transmit Lyme disease and is lust better are repelling all ticks, in general, so that is the one I would recommend for Finn.
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