My dog is limping and positive for Lyme again. Should I treat her?

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Max! Most dogs with Lyme improve on doxycycline with in 3 days and STAY better. They don't relapse on meds. The most common reason for initially doing well on the doxycycline and then getting worse again is immune mediated polyarthopathy. That is treated with immunosuppressants like prednisone. I would get a second opinion. I wish Max a speedy recovery!

The answer is a bit complicated. Yes, I would be concerned about tick diseases, however the test may or may not show a positive even if he did get infected with lyme disease because it takes about 4 weeks for antibodies to be high enough for the test to detect them. Furthermore, he could have been exposed to lyme disease, but have a different issue causing the signs you're seeing. So, it's definitely a judgement call -- and if your funds are more flexible testing again may give you interesting information, but if your funds are more limited, it may make more sense to just treat for tick diseases with an antibiotic like doxycycline. Of course, your vet may see something on the physical exam or general blood work or x-rays that makes them concerned about something else more than tick disease, in which case pursuing that makes sense. I know that's not horribly helpful, but hopefully it gives you some context to think about.

Poor Ruby! I would make sure the vet knows that she recently has suspected lymes disease to ensure she is on the proper medicine. I would also talk to your vet about running a lyme titer to see if she has an active infection. If not, she may need to be on a different antibiotic to treat other possible diagnoses. I hope this helps!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Yes, Lyme disease is still possible. Sometimes a test could have a false negative result meaning that it says negative when the dog does actually have the infection. Of course, the other possibility is that she does not have Lyme disease and has something else going on. It would be indicated to test again if they are suspicious or check for other diseases or treat empirically with an antibiotic like doxycycline to see if things improve. Good luck and have a great day!

Just because she tested positive for Lyme disease does not mean she she has an active infection. It just means she was exposed to lyme disease. Most animals (95%) exposed to Lyme do not ever show signs of illness. In order to find out whether she is actually ill with Lyme disease you will need a) clinical signs b) an elevated Lyme titer and c) depending on a and b possibly some extra tests verifying that she has an active infection.

Lyme flare ups don't really occur once the pet has been successfully treated for and removal of the bacteria. However, the pet can have long lasting changes in the joints, in particular the cartilage, that have left degenerative changes there causing early arthritis. Moving forward, I would suggest getting x-rays done on Rebel to look for evidence of joint disease if he is having lameness problems. Also I am unsure what specific signs your pet is displaying since you didn't mention it in your question, so I assume your pet is having limping/lameness symptoms. If not, then please repost your question with more details concerning his current symptoms, so that we can give you more suggestions moving forward. Best of luck moving forward with your pet Rebel. Take care.

That is a great question, and one that doesn't really have a crystal clear answer. If she was initially treated during the acute phase, its possible that that bacteria was completely eliminated. It is possible that the antibodies produced by her body may prevent a second infection, however there is no guarantee of this. If a second infection develops, it is more likely to be subclinical, and it may or may not ever progress to being chronic and symptomatic. Having said all of that, I wouldn't be overly stressed. Use a monthly tick prevention moving forward, and if she develops any symptoms of illness, take her to your vet. https://www.petcarerx.com/article/identify-ehrlichiosis-symptoms-at-all-3-stages-of-the-disease/1545 Thank you for asking PetCoach!