My beloved Phoebe, 6 years old, is seriously ill with symptoms closely resembling Lyme disease.   We've been inundated with ticks this year, in spite of Frontline, the little *****s stilll jump on.

I'm gutted, the vets say it couldn't be, and she's had one negative titre.

The antibiotics given  previously didn't work, and afraid I insisted on Doxycycline, but only after her heart and lungs had become involved.   She's brighter this morning, but only after 36 hours of Doxycycline.

Can anybody with experience tell me if titres can be wrong for this?

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

I have not had direct experience but I do know of someone whose dog died of it and a human who contracted it and it is VERY difficult to diagnose and you MUST repeat tests as you can get back false  negatives!

If you do a google search on this you will find lots of info on this.  Go back to the vet armed with the info.

Best of luck

Hi Tohme

Do you know if the dog/human were in this country? (U.K.)?

Jo

Edited to say - I wonder of they can pick it up on a blood culture, which they've taken, but results not back for a week.  

yes one was in Grimsby (dog) the other in Somerset (woman) she was very ill with it for some time.  I will try and dig out the info for you.

http://www.thepetcenter.com/gen/lyme.html

This link here says do NOT wait for blood tests to come back if you suspect it.  The dog that died had NO symptoms, until practically the day he died.

Pheasants carry ticks here which may or may not be equally implicated in lyme disease not, as commonly thought, just a deer problem.........

No advice I'm afraid, just best wishes.

That's a good link, Tohme.   Wonder if partridge can carry it as well?

Thanks for the good wishes, Jeangenie, I'm feeling pretty down at the moment.

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

I'm so sorry Jo. Unfortunatley we are always going to be "At risk" of this. Lets face it, we train in a Deer park and are regulaly around livestock including Deer.

Hoping you soon see an improvement, John

John - the vets say it's 'highly unlikely' to be Lymes.

If it isn't, I dread to think what real Lymes is like.......

We've seen little ticks this year for the first time, round the eyebrows mostly - not much bigger than a matchstick head, and sort of reddish colour.   Wonder if these are the culprits.

Jo

As something completely silly Jo, there has been one case of Ehrlichiosis in this country. It was believed to have come in from abroad but if it did it lived in the dog for two and a half years before showing  it's self! The only other possibility would be if it had actually arrived on these shores and with the warmer weather this could be a possibility. It could be worth checking for.

Regards, John

Ehrlichiosis like all tick disease can hide itself in the body, once a dog has it they do not get rid of it, and flare ups can be caused by stressful situations, illness or injury.

Very sorry to hear about Phoebe.
I had to write on here because I have had Lymes Disease. I contacted it from a Tick bite it must of been
4 years ago now.
I was biten on the leg, and smacked my leg as I felt the bite the tick fell off. I went to the doctors because my leg blew up and I had to have antihistamines.
Anyway thinking nothing more of it, a month later I became not myself, weepy, and feeling tired all the time. Then one day I could hardly stand up, with muscle pains in my legs. My mother got hold of me and made me go to the doctors because I was in such a state. Thanks to her, the doctor on was not our normal doctor and one that had worked in Africa most of his life, and he took one look at me and asked after I had explained how I felt. " have you been biten"? I said no for a start as I had forgotton, then said well around a month ago I was. He then said I had to have a blood test but would put me on a course of special anti-biotics straight away. He said if I felt no better in 2 weeks to come straight to him again, but with in 2 weeks I started to feel better.  The blood said I had Lymes disease. Now I dont know if we caught it real early as I have heard some shocking things since about Lymes disease, and mine was over and done with. But I was not well afterwards for a few months looking back now, lethargic and that was that.
I live in Norfolk, and the tick was caught in our own fields as we had 3 pet sheep and I had been walking amongst them.  Our sheep are no longer here, but we still get ticks on the dogs all the time. My one bitch had one yesterday after coming back from the woods and she had this massive lump on her head...
So thats my storey and I cant really tell you anymore than that but my home e-mail is in my profile here so you can look me up if you want any more answers.
Nutkin

Hi Nutkin - have e-mailed you

Jo

Hi Jo, very best wishes to you and your poor dog.  This serves as a timely reminder that ticks have severe health implications.

I do hope things improve for you, very soon.

Thinking of you and Phoebe Jo, what a horrid time for you.

Lindsay
X

All best wishes to you and Phoebe, Jo

Margot

Been into the cardiologist again today - her temperature is down to normal after being elevated for more than a fortnight, so the doxycycline must be having an effect, together, of course with the drugs from the vet.

Still, a very poor prognosis, though.

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats