PDA

View Full Version : Lyme disease in dogs



LIhikers
11-28-2007, 08:54
A few weekends ago my wife and I, along with our dog, spent 2 days on the AT near the Telephone Pioneer Shelter, and Nuclear Lake, in New York. Two or three days after we got home our dog started limping on his left front leg/foot. We gave the foot and leg a good examination but couldn't see anything that would cause a limp, so for the next week we let him lounge around with only short easy walks. When there was no improvement my wife took Arrow to the vet and he couldn't see anything wrong either. Then he took some blood, and did some tests, and found that Arrow has Lyme Disease despite using Frontline and doing thourough tick checks. The dog's on medication and the vet expects him to be fine. According to the vet, the limping on a front leg is a common symptom of Lyme Disease in dogs. He says a lot, but not all dogs, will develope the limp.

So I guess the short version is that if your dog developes an unexplained limp, consider that it may have Lyme Disease.

Liberty
11-28-2007, 09:06
Sorry to read about your dog, had he been vaccinated? Here in the Berkshires in Ma. it's a pretty regular thing to do due to the amount of ticks and Lyme disease present.

Uncle Silly
11-28-2007, 17:14
That's interesting. A friend of mine in '05, Sideshow, had a dog on his thru who developed an odd limp. IIRC, he took the dog to a vet and was given some antibiotics. The limp cleared up but came back about a week later. Sideshow decided his pup was probably faking it, and was tired of hiking, so the dog was sent home. At the time the prescription didn't make any sense to me, and Sideshow never mentioned Lyme's, but maybe the vet mentioned the possibility to him.

Thanks for the tip, LIHikers. I hope Arrow gets better soon!

Old Grouse
11-29-2007, 10:35
Our dog's rear end broke down suddenly. The vet immediately diagnosed Lyme - started him on antibiotics and within a day he could walk again. Finished the treatment and no further problems.

LIhikers
11-29-2007, 20:47
I don't know if our dog had the vaccination or not, I'd have to ask my wife.

Frolicking Dinosaurs
11-29-2007, 21:01
Thanks for posting this. I had no idea dogs limped as a sign of Lymes. You may have saved someone's pet today by posting.

LIhikers
11-30-2007, 08:04
it was news to me too Dino.
I figured others could learn something from our misfortune, that's why I posted it. But keep in mind, not all dogs have this symptom. It's only one thing to watch out for.