My dog has Lyme, but no symptoms. Why a urine test for kidneys?

Hello, While we know that Lyme disease can cause kidney disease, we cannot assume that the Lyme disease is causing kidney injury in this case. Many pets will test positive for Lyme disease on a screening test if they have been exposed to the disease. However, exposure does not equate to clinical infection in every case. In order to determine if Lyme disease is causing kidney injury, we need to measure antibody levels in the blood, ultrasound kidneys, and obtain a kidney biopsy. Without this information, it will be difficult to give a prognosis. I would advise you to follow up with your veterinarian to discuss recheck kidney values, abdominal ultrasound and urinalysis.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your questions. After the treatment of 4 weeks with Doxycycline, you can test Dash for Lymes by sending out a test called a PCR. This particular test is usually expensive but will tell you if Dash has a current active infection of Lymes. Unfortunately, with Lymes disease, it is never eradicated from the body, treatment gets it down to a very low bacterial burden to the point where no symptoms are evident. The snap ELISA test that is done in the veterinary hospital, will likely always show positive, but this is because it tests for antibodies to Lymes, which Dash will likely have for years (if not forever). His creatinine being elevated could indicate early kidney disease. I would recommend having the veterinarian assess his urine to see if it is adequately concentrating and also check an SDMA test to help establish whether or not he has early renal disease and what stage it is. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

The traditional blood tests for diagnosing Lyme disease have replaced by two new tests called the C6 Test and Quant C6 test. The C6 test is a preliminary blood test that detects antibodies against a very specific protein called “C6”. The Quant C6 test can determine if the levels of antibody are high enough to justify treatment. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

I can imagine this must be very distressing for both you and Karlie. BUN and Creatinine are elevated with impaired kidney function. Karlie's initial BUN and Creatinine values were sky high. Lyme disease is a disease caused by a bacteria that is transmitted through tick bites which can cause kidney damage/kidney failure in some patients. If continued fluid therapy (daily intravenous or subcutaneous fluid therapy to flush out the toxins in the body that are normally filtered by the kidneys but are now circulating in Karlie's system) and a low protein renal diet +/- anti-nausea medication (to counter the extreme nausea and inappetance that comes with kidney damage) does not improve Karlie's appetite/attitude/activity level significantly, humane euthanasia is definitely an option to discuss further with your veterinarian.

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!

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.

Although it's not common, lyme disease can progress to severe kidney disease, which can be difficult to treat and may lead to the death of the dog. Other symptoms of lyme disease include fever, lameness, swollen joints, swollen lymph nodes, lethargy, and anorexia. It can be successfully treated with doxycycline.