Lyme Disease

Oral lesions or sores can be a tip-off to kidney failure ... just for peace of mind you may want to have the vet do both bloodwork and a thorough urinalysis. The bloodwork is important because you need to keep an eye on the red blood -- tick bites can trigger auto-immune stuff (that's more the risk than kidney problems usually). Mostly it's just taking antibiotics for a long, long time -- you will need to give Ari a probiotic simply because the treatment goes on a long time. She may also exhibit signs of soreness, like arthritis. Using some topical essential oils (like White Flower Oil -- or more easily obtained for you peppermint, wintergreen, etc. -- not food flavorings but the actual essential oil). You can take a small plastic lotion bottle -- like a shampoo bottle with a "hole" in the topo -- and combine 1/2 c water, 1/2 c. rubbing alcohol and about 25-30 drops of essential oil. Shake it every time you put it on. Part the coat and dribble on the skin -- if she'll let you massage can be really helpful

 Thanks Callie!  I'll let the significant other know to ask the vet about a complete workup for her kidneys.  I'm fairly certain I have peppermint essential oil at home already.  She definitely won't fight me on a massage lol. 

 

I've not dealt w/ Lyme directly.  Several dogs in our Agility classes over the past 3 years have had it; one Aussie has just been diagnosed w/ it for a 2d time.  She is on Doxycillin (sp?) and bed rest for 4 weeks.

 

 

Sharon, I don't have any helpful info for you since I've not dealt with Lyme disease, but I wanted to send Ari some good wishes and strong healing vibes!

 Thankfully Ari seems fine.  No symptoms we can see.  Follow up appointment has been scheduled for early next week.  She still has that swollen gland? on the roof of her mouth - but it doesn't appear to hurt her any and it hasn't gotten worse (nor better).

She's still her crazy self, complete with sock thievery and goosing me in the butt.  

I sent you a PM if you want to check for it.

Almost all dogs and people have Lyme and/or another tick-borne disease here on the island (despite our best attempts to deal with them before they've attached for a few hours). Some have chronic Lyme, and it can be really debilitating. Others treat it once and are never bothered again. (And, the ticks are BAD up here in NE this year!!) Even if the test is negative now, retest in 3-6 months.Feel free to send an email, too, if you'd like.

 Right now, we're not treating her lyme.  The test only showed slightly elevated antibodies to indicate she has (or heck maybe had) Lyme.  So, we're playing it conservatively right now.  Ari seems fine though.  She's her normal, off the wall self.  We are going to get that swollen gland on the roof of her mouth checked out more thoroughly.  It hasn't gotten worse, but hasn't gotten better - so for my own piece of mind I'd like to run some tests.

Good vibes for Ari.   I have no advice just vibes :)

the_gopher

.  We are going to get that swollen gland on the roof of her mouth checked out more thoroughly.  It hasn't gotten worse, but hasn't gotten better - so for my own piece of mind I'd like to run some test

 

  Sending good vibes; I hope the lump isn't something serious. I have a friend who has a Golden that has had lumps removed from his mouth twice, and they were not cancerous. 

Sharon I would be as well -- altho it's going to be difficult to aspirate something in the mouth without sedation. (think all the moaning and groaning we all do in the "chat" threads when one of us has to go for a root canal -- SHUDDER)

Lyme disease is one of the most common tick-transmitted diseases in the world and is loaded with controversy. The normal test that vets performed is antibodies check to the Lyme bacteria. However, to confirm the disease you must ask your vet to run a very specific test called a C6 Quant. This actually measures the number of antibody-antigen (bacteria) circulating in the blood and determine efficacy of treatment. For the diagnosis, the dog will be treated with antibiotics such as doxycycline. A dog with Lyme disease should be kept warm and dry, and his/her activity limited until the clinical signs have improved.