pattim Posted May 5, 2004 Report Share Posted May 5, 2004 Hi, Our company Border Collie, Olive, 3 yrs old female, is having serious problems climbing stairs and she is getting worse. I have been to the vet with her 3 times within the last week . She was diagnosesd last June with exposure to Lyme and was given antibiotics for only 2 weeks - she had no symptoms but was just a little off - only one day on the antibitoc she was much better. Her trouble climbing stairs first really started last Oct. I thought she had Lymes again , but the vet said, " no, she has a servere reaction to fleas and that is casuing her problem jumping and climbing." (!!!!!) Last week when she would go upstairs, she put all of her weight on her front left leg and ocasionally whimper. She seems to have sporadic pain on the side of her right rear leg. If you touch her there sometimes she crys out . She will also bite that spot. The vet would not do a blood test for Lymes because she was postive a year ago he said she would show up postive. Olive also had no fever or swollem glands so he ruled Lymes out and he gave her glyco flex. 2 days later she was worse I brought her back and he gave her an injection of rimadyl - 5 hours after the injection she was crying in pain, the next day that we insisted they take xrays . According to the vet her hips are not perfect but cannot even be classified as early/slight HD. There is also no signs of arthritis. The final word of the vet was "I don't know what's wrong with her - maybe she hurt herself" Needless to say we are very frustrated. We are not letting her run around and trying to keep her resting. I am thinking of going to another vet . Any suggestions or comments? thanks Patti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sea4th Posted May 5, 2004 Report Share Posted May 5, 2004 Any suggestions or comments?I'd left a vet I'd been with for a long time for similar reasons. I'm happy with my current vet & have no regrets. Were I in your position, I'd consider doing the same. Vicki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanna in OR Posted May 5, 2004 Report Share Posted May 5, 2004 I'm sorry to hear about your girl. She is way to young to have old-age kinds of problems. At the VERY least, I would get a second opinion. If the vet providing the second opinion has treatment options, I would consider changing vets. I would never take an "I don't know" from a vet and leave it at that. Why isn't your vet suggesting another opinion? Deanna in OR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan Posted May 5, 2004 Report Share Posted May 5, 2004 Can you get a referral to an orthopedic vet? That's what I recommend and what I've done on several occasions. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted May 6, 2004 Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 The normal protocol for treating Lyme disease involves antibiotics for about a month. Some vets are even recommending 6 to 8 weeks now. Based on your description of the dog's symptoms and history, I would not rule out Lyme disease at all. But then, I'm not a vet. One thing your vet is right about is that she will show up positive for Lyme disease, having been positive in the past. The blood test checks for antibodies, and once the dog is exposed it will always have the antibodies. So the blood test is of no diagnostic value, and may as well be skipped. If I were you I would take one of two course of action. FIrst would be to try to find a new vet. The second, if I was unwilling to take the first for some reason, would be to start trying to push my vet into a course of action. Some vets will react very badly to this, and others will accecpt it. The course of action I'd want to take would be to treat the dog as if it had Lyme disease. Past treatment and even vaccination doesn't preclude reinfection. If the dog responds to treatment, continue the antibiotic therapy for six to eight weeks, and call it good. If you can get your vet to respond to this line of thinking, you may be helping not only yourself but others in similiarly frustrating situations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Devils Posted May 6, 2004 Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 First - I would find a new vet that is willing to find the actual cause even if trial and error. Second - I think pushing the issue on antibiotics for Lyme needs to be done. Lyme Disease never really leaves the body. People and dogs can have flare ups off and on for years. If there is not a physical reason for the pain, I would insist on antibiotics. At least you would be doing something and antibiotics won't really hurt the dog in long run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journey Posted May 6, 2004 Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 Not only would I find another Vet I would then run a complete titer panel - TBD Titers, for all TBD. Word is that the IDEXX SNAP II (?sp) is the best. I can't believe 2 weeks of antibiotics would be enough. I had 2 dogs test positive for Erlichiosis and they were on Doxy for 8 weeks. We then re-test every 6 months from there out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted May 6, 2004 Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 Patti, First off, find a new vet and let your old one know why. You are the consumer, and although your vet can recommend against certain courses of action (i.e., retesting for Lyme), he shouldn't refuse you that test (or any other test for TBD) if you are willing to pay for it. Although a number of people have agreed that retesting for Lyme is contraindicated, it seems to me that the prevailing wisdom from the folks (including vets) on the tick borne disease discussion list I am on is that you can and would retest. Specifically in the case of Lyme, however, I believe it takes a long time for antibody titers to rise and to fall, so retesting right after treatment might not show improvement in titers (in fact, they may increase), but retesting, say, six months later, would. Two weeks of antibiotics was in no way enough to treat Lyme the first time around. Even if you choose not to test a second time, you should go ahead and do the *full course* of doxycycline treatment. This means treating at a dose of between 5 and 10 mg/kg (to convert pounds to kg, mulitply pounds by 0.454) every 12 hours. According to one of the vts on the tick list, leading authorities recommend treating for at least a month, but the vets on the list recommend at least 6 wweeks, preferably 8. Give the meds right after feeding a meal, as doxy can upset the stomach. The vets and others on the list also recommend chasing the doxy dose with a bit more food to ensure that the meds don't get stuck in the esophagus and cause ulceration there (apparently a problem). Hope that helps some. I wouldn't consult an orthopedic specialist for a dog with a history of Lyme until I had tried the full treatment with doxycyline. Just my opinion of course, and you may be well served to contact a veterinary teaching hospital if there is one within a reasonable distance of where you live. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattim Posted May 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 Thank you all so much for your responses and for basically reconfirming my thoughts. We will take Olive to another vet, fortunately we are in north Jersey and there are a lot of other vets and animal hospitals in the area. We are decidng now where to bring Olive. I'll post the results . Once again thanks . patti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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