subject: Dog Lymes Disease Questions [print this page] Dog Lymes Disease Questions Dog Lymes Disease Questions
Most symptoms of Lyme disease in dogs can in most cases be different from those found in people. They in some cases usually occur and develop much later after the tick bite. the symptoms of this disease and illness in dogs usually occurs 2 to even as late as 5 months after a bite from an infected tick. There are many cases when cats develop Lyme disease, but it occurs rarely in them.. Many other animals such as horses have contracted Lyme disease, but it does not appear to be a significant problem. In dogs Lyme shows several different forms and symptoms of the disease, but the most common symptoms are a fever of between 103 and 105?, stiffnesss, lameness, swelling in the joints, difficulty walking, swollen lymph nodes, lethargy, and loss of appetite.
Some dogs have developed severe progressive kidney disease as complication to Lyme disease. This severe kidney failurealong with its complications is difficult to treat and may result in the death of the dog. talk to your veterinariann as it is very recommended that a dog with a positive Lyme antibody test have additional blood tests and a urinalysis to assess kidney function. In many cases some dogs may also develop heart problems or nervous system disease.
At this stage there is no evidence to suggest that infected dogs pose a risk to other members of the household except as a reservoir of infected ticks. In most cases once a tick has had a full meal of it's host it will detach and not bite another mammal. So the risk comes from ticks that have not gotten a complete meal and are detached. They then could possibly seek out a human and bite them causing infection.
When determining if your dog has a form of Lyme blood tests are key to assist in the diagnosis of Lyme disease. A standard blood test detects antibodies made by the dog in response to infection. In this process many dogs show positive test results, but are not actually infected with the disease. These animals have been exposed to the organism, but fought off the infection on their own. These animals will have the antibodies to thedisease, but not have the disease. Thus a single positive result means only that the dog was exposed. As mentioned earlier, only around 10% of the exposed dogs actually contract the infection.
In most dogs the treatment for Lyme disease consists of using either a medication tetracycline or penicillin-based antibiotic. The two most commonly used are oral doxycycline or amoxicillinn. A recent study showed that both antibiotics worked equally well. Most studies show the treatments vary among doctors as far as the time frame of taking medication. As a rule of thumb the antibiotics must be given a minimum of 14 days, but 30 days is recommended. However, some preliminary studies show that some animals may not even clear the organism after 30 days and will relapse once the antibiotic is discontinued. In these cases, the animal may have to be on the antibiotic for much longer.
In some cases it appears that many animals may never completely rid themselves of B. burgdorferi despite antibiotic treatment. These animals may never show any further signs of the disease. Despite the fact that some animals may develop other infections, the vast majority of infected dogs respond rapidly and satisfactorily to doxycycline treatment. In some animals with severe arthritis, pain relievers may also be used in addition to antibiotics. Also sometimes the use of steroids in this disease is another option but because of the side effects not to recommended.
