Antibiotic problems treating Lyme

I am assuming you are working with a vet?

Are you talking about Keflex, or cephalex, when you say ceftin?  I've never heard of that one.  Keflex will not affect the lyme disease organism at all.  The next one up the scale in treating tick disease is Cipro.  Cipro is stronger but not as hard on the tummy as Doxy, oddly enough.  But it's dangerous to use the big guns because you can be setting your dog up for infection with resistant bugs.  It's better to stick it out with the doxy and just coax your dog to eat somehow.  Being a bit underfed for a while is better than being dead from a resistant bacteria.

Try offering grilled chicken, hamburger, or fish, with a little white rice (throw the cooked rice in the pan with the meat).  Other things to try just to get something in her stomach - chicken baby food, Wonder bread, fortified baby oatmeal, tiny balls of Total cereal mixed with Peanut butter.  Warm spinach and cream cheese dip with sardines mixed in.

If you are having trouble getting the pills down, you can get a pill adminstering device although I used to just shove them down the hatch (and still do sometimes if I'm in a hurry).  Make sure you are using the veterinary tablets and not the capsules, which can cause esophagitis (corrosive damage of the esophagus).  I've had vets give me both and I can tell a definite difference - now I request the tabs if we need them.

I just went thru 4 weeks of doxy for Lyme.  Being 60 pounds, it was 3 pills,,I wrapped one each in premeum deli  roast beef and one Pepcid.  I gave him a little food like hamburger/turkey burger cooked or uncooked.  Try to keep a little food in her stomach at all times.  I would give him something at breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack before bed.   Small meals.  You may have to home cook, like rice and chicken, rice and boiled hamburger,  try to make it low fat.  After the initial vomiting the first time,,,I got the hang of giving the pills as above.  The Pepcid worked wonders.  The roast beef was a big hit,,even better than deli chcken or turkey and I know it has more nutrients than chicken/turkey.
 
I'm glad you are giving the meds.  I truely believe that had my Holly had the doxy 5 years ago, she would not have developed heart arrtymia that killed her this summer.

ORIGINAL: brookcove

I am assuming you are working with a vet?

Are you talking about Keflex, or cephalex, when you say ceftin?  I've never heard of that one. 

 
Ceftin is not Keflex although they are both cephalosporins. The generic name is Cefuroxime. Ceftin is a bit stronger and is more expensive than Keflex/Cephalexin.

Thanks for the advice to all of you. In humans cefuroxime (Ceftin) is the next step up but I am not sure it is effective in dogs.  I am not certain that Cipro works either but you may be correct. For now I am trying to coax her into eating and using some of your suggestions. We have a pharmacy in Maine who compounds drugs for animals giving them a taste more palatable than tablets.  For the time being I am using a liquid doxy mixed with a liquid pepcid. She is still eating but much less than before. I plan on tying the small frequent meals if she'll take them.
Again, thank you.
Richard Herman

We had the exact same problem with our Jack Russel mix and tried everything and every antibiotic. I think she was a supermodel in a former life because  she just wouldn't eat on the doxy AT ALL. She had a pre-existing heart condition, which also complicated things. Best we could do was mix the pill with chicken baby food and every now and then smuggle some white rice in it. Eventually we had to give up treating the Lyme because she just stopped eating altogether.