Lyme disease is carried by the Ixodes tick and can infect deer, horses, dogs, other animals and people. The Ixodes tick is very active in the fall and early winter, and often transmits Lyme disease during this time period. Lyme disease can be extremely dangerous in people, especially if the diagnosis is not made quickly. The symptoms can be so varied that the disease can be difficult to suspect. In our dogs, signs of the disease can range from asymptomatic to fatigue and lameness to acute kidney failure. You may find that we often recommend testing your dog for Lyme any time he or she is not doing quite right. This is because the disease can appear quite differently in different dogs.

Testing your dog for Lyme is as simple as pulling a few drops of blood and running the heartworm combo test, which tests for heartworm, Lyme, and Ehrlichia — another tick-borne disease. Any positive response for Lyme on this test indicates an active infection, and the rapidity and darkness of the test dot is an indicator of the amount of disease. Checking your dog yearly for this disease is a good idea, and can provide you and your family with important information for your own health. If your dogs are positive for Lyme, then you know that there are ticks where the dogs roam — in your environment — that are carrying the disease. Your dog can serve somewhat as a sentinel for the presence of the disease. Treatment of Lyme in dogs is often completely curative. We treat dogs with doxycycline for one month, and rarely need to give any further medications.

In some dogs, we may recommend vaccinating your dog. The vaccine in dogs has had a slightly rough start. There have been concerns about vaccine effectiveness, and reactions. The Meriel vaccine, which we are using, is cutting edge. It has demonstrated effectiveness, and has shown minimal reactions in dogs. No vaccine is 100% effective, which is true of this vaccine. However, it confers immunity in a high percentage of dogs and has been shown to reduce the severity of the disease in vaccinated dogs who do contract the disease. Infected dogs, once started on doxycycline, have been shown to throw the disease off quicker if they are vaccinated during the course of antibiotics.

One of the worst syndromes that Lyme can cause is kidney failure. This usually happens from something called an "antigen-antibody complex." This complex is part of the disease organism paired with some of the body\'s immune molecules. These complexes tend to do extensive damage to the kidneys. Although rare, the only way to keep this from happening is to prevent the disease from occurring in your dog at all. We encourage you to discuss the vaccine at your next visit and determine if it is a good idea in your pet family.

One important thing to remember is that tick control is vital in the prevention of Lyme disease and other diseases. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever occurs in this area, as does Ehrlichia, and both of these can be life-threatening. Frontline and Advantix are the two products available that are proven to be most effective against fleas and ticks. Since the Ixodes tick is active into early winter and may be smaller than a piece of pepper (and therefore quite difficult to see), it is very advisable to keep flea and tick products on your dogs at least through December.

Ensuring a happy and healthy pet for your family is one of our priorities at Rose Hill. We would be happy to discuss any pet wellness issues with you; feel free to call or come by.