Lyme disease

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

We have NEVER found a tick on our dogs/cattle since moving to New York.
My 10 year old Miniature Schnauzer has been ill all winter. One day late last fall, he ran a fever - we gave him Penicillin. Few weeks/or a month later, he started being lame in the hind quarters. We did not connect the two things. Thought he was getting arthritis. But, it progressed to him being weak in the rear quarters, falling if bumped by our Cattle Dog. Than he started having days that he wouldn't eat or hardly get up. Lost his appetite & lost weight.
Had blood work done & vet checked - nothing showed up. We thought he had cancer. Had poor days and had good days.
I finally had the vet draw blood again & had the Western blot test run for lyme disease. He was POSSITIVE. Now this is a dog that is groomed & kept in the house. We NEVER found a tick on him. This shows how hard it is to detect a small tick that passes this deasease.
He is on antibiotics now & is doing much better. Will keep him on it for a month, at least.
Just thought I would share this info.

 

[Frankie]

We have NEVER found a tick on our dogs/cattle since moving to New York.
My 10 year old Miniature Schnauzer has been ill all winter. One day late last fall, he ran a fever - we gave him Penicillin. Few weeks/or a month later, he started being lame in the hind quarters. We did not connect the two things. Thought he was getting arthritis. But, it progressed to him being weak in the rear quarters, falling if bumped by our Cattle Dog. Than he started having days that he wouldn't eat or hardly get up. Lost his appetite & lost weight.
Had blood work done & vet checked - nothing showed up. We thought he had cancer. Had poor days and had good days.
I finally had the vet draw blood again & had the Western blot test run for lyme disease. He was POSSITIVE. Now this is a dog that is groomed & kept in the house. We NEVER found a tick on him. This shows how hard it is to detect a small tick that passes this deasease.
He is on antibiotics now & is doing much better. Will keep him on it for a month, at least.
Just thought I would share this info.

Wow! Never had a tick. That must be wonderful. We moved to this place when I was a child. We could sleep out in the yard at night on blankets with no problem. The dogs got some ticks in the summer, but nothing especially bad. We had relatives in eastern OK and everytime we went to visit them, we'd come home and pick the ticks. But today the ticks are terrible here. We have to keep flea/tick collars on the dogs, dust them with powder, and use a heartworm tablet that also contains insecticide. Plus finding one on me after I've been heat checking is not unusual. Any land for sale around you?

 

[L Weir]

My in law dog had lyme disease. Their dog got aggressive for no reason so they had her tested. After she was treated she was fine.

 

[Gale Seddon]

Jeanne, glad you were able to finally get a diagnosis and start treatment...

If you can stand the racket (I'm used to it by now), guinea hens EAT TICKS...have had a bunch of guineas for the last few years, and we find very few ticks here...they are kind of amusing (guineas) when the males go through their spring/summer races, chasing each other at blinding speeds for 15 minutes at a time, no matter how hot it is outside, makes you tired to watch them...and they travel in groups through the pastures, eating whatever bugs are out there....I wouldn't mind having more guineas around, but they're not too successful at reproducing though (at least ours aren't)....if they do manage to hatch out (without a predator trashing the nest), the babies are susceptible to damp grass and mothers don't wait for the slower ones to catch up, so if they get lost, they're gone...interesting birds that have become useful on our farm.

 

[Farmhand]

Agree quineas are good (and fun) to have around. Mine were reproductive as all get out. I say were because my heeler dogs killed all but 2 of my adult birds. Those 2 now stay in their barn full time. Tried tons of stuff to break my dogs but did no good. Maybe someone could give me some ideas. Would sure love to have those birds back out running free. Ducks are another good bird for getting all those pesky bugs.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Gale:
Guineas are great! We have had them SEVERAL times. Same thing with the babies - all died - wet grass - left behind - you name it - they died. And we keep losing all the adults to fox during nesting time. Males are furosious fighters - but no match for fox.
Love their chatter & behavior, but can't keep them around.

Frankie,
Lots of land for sale. Lots of dairymen going out of business. People don't usually know, but NY is the 3rd largest dairy state.

 

[Crowderfarms]

Gale:
Guineas are great! We have had them SEVERAL times. Same thing with the babies - all died - wet grass - left behind - you name it - they died. And we keep losing all the adults to fox during nesting time. Males are furosious fighters - but no match for fox.
Love their chatter & behavior, but can't keep them around.



We have six Guineas, been here for years. They are the greatest alarms for a predator.If you here em' raisin cane, grab a gun , it's usually a Coyote.We rarely have any problems with ticks, they seem to really control them.They roost in tall trees and nothing bothers them.

 

[jerry27150]

put those guinea eggs under a regular setting hen & she will hatch & raise them. always makes me wonder how they survive in the wild on their own

 

[dun]

put those guinea eggs under a regular setting hen & she will hatch & raise them. always makes me wonder how they survive in the wild on their own

If I remember correctly they're originally from Africa. Probably not much wet grass in that area.

dun

 

[Gale Seddon]

I should never have said anything good about guineas...they woke me up at 4:30 this morning!!! But it sure is nice having windows open, especially at night...

 

[jt]

had em once... not a very smart bird.. :lol: but funny to watch... got to where they wouldnt stay away from the house... and they can make a nasty mess... wife was about ready to lay down the law... them or me... one of us had to go :shock: i finally caught em all and gave em away..

btw... those rascals never shut up :roll:

jt