Lyme disease - Vicki please read

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

My dog (Miniature Schnauzer) has been diagnosed with lyme disease. My vets have no experience with it - not common in our area of NY. He has been ill on and off most of the winter. Some days absolutely normal, some days down & out, not wanting to move, having difficulty with hind legs, very sore. Started losing weight, had blood drawn, everything was normal, heart, kidneys & liver good - high calcium levels, but nothing else unusual. He kept getting more bad days, got to where he wouldn't even eat raw hamburg when he was bad. I decided to test him for lyme disease, so I researched on internet. Had the Western Blot test run - he was positive for the disease. Immediately started him on antibiotics - on May 2. Still on it. Increasingly was getting better. I was cooking hamburg & mixing with pasta or rice and he was eating three times a day & gaining weight.
Now, he's back down again - last two days. Hardly eating anything. Hard to get up when he's been laying for any time. Once he gets up & starts moving, he can get excited & bouce around like normal. When he's bad he also sometimes falls down - not like a seizure - like his legs give out. I realize this disease can cause permanent damage.
My question is - does anyone know if it is common for them to have a relapse WHILE THEY ARE STILL ON ANTIBIOTICS? Haven't missed one dosage. Plan on giving him meds for a month. I've also been giving him 1/2 a baby aspirin am & pm and been giving him Acidophalis (like probias) to keep his stomach bugs healthy.
Any info would be greatly appreciated. Sorry this was so long, but wanted to give all the facts. Hate when people ask a question & we don't have enough info.
Anyway, hope someone is experienced. (Vicki and ideas?)
I am posting this on the Everything else board also.

 

[Vicky the vet]

Ummmm, you have a lot more lyme in NY than we do in Ontario. We had a provincial program for testing ticks that ran for 5 years, and it ended due to not a single positive tick found--not that we have many of those either. Thus, I have yet to see a case of lyme, although I have tested for it. I'd have to hit the books to answer your question. I'll get back to you on that after I hit VIN.

V

 

[Vicky the vet]

Treatment/Management/Prevention:
SPECIFIC
1) Antibiotic treatment usually results in resolution of lameness but clinical signs of joint disease may recur even in treated dogs. Research in laboratory dogs indicates that, in spite of adequate antibiotic therapy, infected individuals are possibly infected for life. Recent research, however, has demonstrated decreasing C6 ELISA levels in response to antibiotic therapy in experimentally infected laboratory dogs. It remains to be seen if the decrease in C6 ELISA indicates clearance of infection or rather a sequestration of Borrelia burgdorferi in immune privileged cites with the possibility of later recrudescence of active infection.


Amoxicillin: 20mg/kg PO q12h for two weeks.

Ampicillin: 22mg/kg PO, SC, IM, IV q8h for two weeks.

Tetracycline: 22mg/kg PO q8h for one month. Dogs that cannot tolerate tetracycline may tolerate doxycycline.

Doxycycline: 10mg/kg PO q24h or divided q12h for one month.
2) Some dogs will become chronically affected and have incomplete resolution of clinical signs or recurrent signs.


I pulled this off VIN, it is their copyright material which I have quoted part of. I did NOT write this, only the bolding was mine...V

 

[Kelly]

Vicky,
Can you tell me what drugs other then Doxycycline can be used for horses? And the doses & time of treatment that would be needed?(750 pound pony) I have used the Doxy on my horse for 30 days @ two times a day in Dec/Jan and I just don't see improvement & I cannot afford the Doxy prices. Also 80 capsules a day are a real pain to open & mix up. I really don't want to euthanize her as she is so sweet but am running out of options to help her.Vets have given up - other then wanting to come out for 5 - 7 days in a row to do IV tetrecycline then another 2 or more months on Doxy. Her titer was at 320 if that means anything. Also could the Doxy have caused her to founder? Another battle I am dealing with also. I would really appreciate any help you can give me.

 

[Vicky the vet]

To repeat, I have NEVER seen a case of Lyme. I live in an area of few ticks, and no ticks that were tested carried the disease. I would have to look up the disease in horses since I know NOTHING about it in them. Ampicillin can be given to them, however, and it is on the list for dogs. ASK YOUR VET!

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Vicki - thank you very much for taking the time to look up this info. I understand that there can be permanent damage - especially to the joints. So far, blood work showed his liver & kidneys were good.

Update, yesterday 5-18 Behr had a seisure, than very shortly afterward, his rectum area swelled up - mostly in the left anal area & a little down to his scrotum area. Looked like a baboon. Took him to the vet. He had a severely blocked anal gland, had 103 temp, lanced the absess, drained & flushed. Gave a shot of antibiotic (I believe Baytril). Switched him to Baytril & Rinetyl (sp?) for pain. Will be putting him on Doxy in a few days. Last night his fever was gone & he felt LOTS better. Ate maybe 2 tablespoons of raw hamburg & pasta. Same this AM (thurs).

It was strange that he showed no sign of the anal gland blockage, no pain, no licking. He had problem with it previously, but he licked constantly, so I was aware of the problem. Not sure where the seisure fits into the scope of problems. So, poor guy is fighting lyme disease & an infection with the blocked gland. Has absolutly no appetite. Have to coax him to eat a mouthful of anything.

The gland was the size of a walnut on the inside. Could be why he has been so weak on his hind legs (hopefully). Vet said his heart was very strong - one great thing!

 

[Kelly]

Sorry - I didn't mean to be a bother. As I said -my vets have given up. I have had 4 vets out ( so I have asked my vet) I was just kind of grasping for some more knowledge from another professional. These vets all work in the practice together so will not step out from what the other one recommends. So as far as they are concerned there is only one way to treat. I don't have any other vet around here so I was just hoping I could get an opinion on another more affordable treatment to try. I am truly sorry if I was out of line by asking.

 

[Vicky the vet]

A very large number of horses is treated presumptively each year for Lyme disease. Treatment is often prolonged, expensive and carries some chance of toxicity. Virtually all cases of equine Lyme disease are treated with doxycycline, tetracycline or ceftiofur. Based upon treatment of Lyme disease in other species, any use of these antibiotics in horses could be justified. Unfortunately, other than the rare equine case that has a pre- and post-treatment synovial biopsy there is no evidence to suggest which drug would be most effective in treating Borrelia infection and its associated synovitis. Borrelia has a strong predilection to infect skin and synovial membranes in the horse, as has been shown in our previous experimental work. This finding helps support the belief of equine practitioners that stiffness/lameness is a common sign of Lyme disease in the horse....

4. Treatment Study
In a third and separate study, naîve ponies were infected with B. burgdorferi, and after infection, ponies were treated with either tetracycline [a] (6.6 mg/kg IV, q 12 h), doxycycline (10 mg/kg PO, q 12 h), or ceftiofur [c]. (2.2 mg/kg IM, q 12 h). All treatments were for 3 wk. Ponies were euthanized 4 mo after treatment was discontinued. Serology was performed every 3 wk throughout the study period. All ponies treated with tetracycline had a progressive decline in ELISA units at the time of euthanasia. Tetracycline-treated ponies were negative on both culture and PCR. Doxycycline and ceftiofur produced inconsistent results in serologic response and culture findings.
....

This is information from two studies on Lyme in horses. I hope this helps...
V