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I have to go now, but just wanted to say that Finny has Lime Disease. He was limping on his back two legs, really much so on his left side and so we tested him and my gut was right! o.K, I know im overprotective, or maybe just really surprised, but I heard someone's dog died from limes disease just because they found the disease a month too late. Finny is already on medication. Has anybody elses dog hadlimes?
Sorry about Finny! I don't know much about lyme disease in dogs but I'll do some research today. Does he have to take medicine forever or just for a short course?
I found some info on the internet...looks promising!
Clinical illness usually occurs 2 to 5 months after initial exposure and the likelihood of disease and the severity of the disease seems to vary with the animal's age and immune status. Cats can develop Lyme disease but it occurs rarely in them, even in endemic areas. Other domestic animals such as horses have contracted Lyme disease but it does not appear to be a significant problem. Dogs show several different forms of the disease but by far the most common symptoms are a fever of between 103 and 105 degrees, shifting leg lameness, swelling in the joints, lethargy, inappetence, and maybe most importantly, response to appropriate antibiotics.
Arthritis may be a result of both short and long term infections. Most dogs that are promptly diagnosed and treated don't appear to develop arthritis but a few dogs who don't respond completely to treatment or were not treated will develop progressive degeneration of the infected joints.
A few dogs have developed severe progressive renal disease as sequelae to Lyme disease. This severe kidney failure is non-responsive to treatment and death is often the outcome. Fortunately this form appears to be rare.
Usually dogs will not develop any rash or the circular area of redness around the bite (erythema migrans) which is seen in people.
I got this off of peteducation.com. Sorry I couldn't find more! I'll look again tomorrow.
I'm sorry to hear about Finney :( I don't know a thing about it, but understand the overprotectiveness...we're both that way. We're all praying for a quick recovery.
Sadie and Cincy, mom and dad
I found some of the same information Jennifer did. I had meant to post it but my computer crashed. It does look promising. I am so sorry you have to go through this though. Good luck!
So sorry to hear Finney has lime disease, I really don't know much about it. I hope Finney will do well on the medicine and be feeling well very quickly.
Jackie
i hope finny will be alright
Good luck to Finny!
I was diagnosed with Lyme disease last summer. Fortunately for me it was caught in the early stage (I had the red circle rash). I was on a very potent antibiotic for 21 days and then tested again. It appears I was successfully treated.
The nature of this is tricky. When the initial disease is contracted (through a deer tick bite) there are no symptoms in dogs. The bacteria takes time to mutate and it usually attacks joints causing arthritic symptoms which are noticable usually 1 to 2 years after the fact (sometimes sooner). Even at this point if the bacteria has not caused major problems and is killed efficiently, recovery is successful. It is not easy to kill all the bacteria and long term antibiotics are necessary to prevent mutation.
Anyone who has a pet in a area of potential ticks should have a lyme vacination done on their pet. This is not a vacination most vets give routinely.
I hope Finny is treated successfully. Make sure you keep the antibiotics given as scheduled.
I hope Finny responds well to treatment. He'll be in my thoughts!