Lymes Question
I was wondering if anyone knows if a dog can still get Lymes if he/she has had a Lymes Vaccination? My Buddy had his shots last year including one for Lymes and is due at the end of this month for his anual shots including his Lymes. I found a small red looking bite on his inner thigh area today. It looks like a bulls eye. I had my Mother look at it and she thought that is what deer tick bites look like. I am bringing him in at the end of the month with our new little one to get his anual shots and her 2nd round of puppy shots. I am going to ask the vet the same question then, it just has me thinking. Thanks for reading:) |
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| Yes, they can.
First of all, no vaccine is 100%. And, according to my vet, this particular one is only thought to be good for six months (and has a very dangerous potential side effect, by the way - they can come down with lyme like symptoms which cannot be treated with antibiotics since it's not a lyme infection, rather vaccine induced). On the flip side, lyme can kill a dog (lyme nephritis) An OES owner up towards MN lost one of her dogs to this. When I was testing Belle for Lyme's (the only dog of mine who has ever been vaccinated it for it, ironically - before I got her), my vet was treating another dog who had been vaccinated within a year and came back positive and symptomatic. The vaccination makes testing harder, you have to run a Western Blot to distinguish between natural and vaccine exposure. Some vets simply treat on suspicion and if the dogs respond, presume the diagnosis was most likely correct, though doxy has some anti-imflammatory properties so that may a bit deceptive. My holistic vet thinks most adult dogs in the great lakes area have probably been exposed and will only treat if symptomatic. Ask your vet if s/he thinks putting your dog on a course of, probably, doxycyclene may be warranted. I don't know what the protocol is in dogs, but I think they do something like that in humans if caught early enough. They see a lot of TBDs in Minnesota and Wisconsin, so hopefully most vets are well versed on the subject. Kristine |
| My vet never mentioned any dangerous side effects or that it only lasts 6 months!!! It makes me angry finding this out now when he should have informed me of that before I agreed to give Buddy the vaccination. I should have known though, my kids get vaccinated and I always read up on what they are getting. It never occured to me to read up on what Buddy was getting. I trusted my vet.
Thank you for the very helpful reply. It was a lot more information than I thought I would get. I am going to read it again so I can remember it all! 
Thanks again, Christina |
| I would rethink the vet at the end of the month. If it is Lyme disease, the sooner you start the antibiotics, the better. there is a huge jump in the organisms in the first 24-48 hours. Various recomendations are for 2 weeks to 3 months, depending on the symptoms. Good success rate - though I'm sorry about the loss in MN.
One of the kids at school is going to be tested for Lyme disease. the mother swears she has all of the symptoms of chronic Lyme's, but the pediatrician has been dragging her heels on ordering the test. The bite was two years ago. Treating a chronic case of Lymes will involve 12-18 months of antibiotics. Most start with a month of IV antibiotics,  , then switch to oral. |
buddythesheepdogliveshere wrote: My vet never mentioned any dangerous side effects or that it only lasts 6 months!!! It makes me angry finding this out now when he should have informed me of that before I agreed to give Buddy the vaccination. I should have known though, my kids get vaccinated and I always read up on what they are getting. It never occured to me to read up on what Buddy was getting. I trusted my vet.
Thank you for the very helpful reply. It was a lot more information than I thought I would get. I am going to read it again so I can remember it all! Thanks again, Christina I find most vets and doctors respond well to questions - but don't always volunteer everything we should they should. Although Kristine mentioned the vaccine is only good for 6 months it is an annual vaccine. It also is the only one I give my dogs every year since we live in a lyme hot zone. |
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