My dog has Lyme disease. Is Nexgard safe? Can he get re-infected?

Hi there. I assume you meant NexGuard? Yes, NexGuard and doxycycline are safe to give at the same time. Best of luck getting rid of the Anaplasma! I hope he’s back to normal soon. Thank you for using Pet Coach.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Not all ticks carry the bacteria that leads to tick fever, so it is likely because a tick with tick fever has not bitten your dog yet. Unfortunately, once dogs get an infection, they do not develop long term immunity and can get the infection again. To protect a dog from getting tick fever, it is recommended to have the dog on a flea / tick preventative such as Frontline, Bravecto, Nexgard or Simparica. I prefer to use the Nexgard or Bravecto as I've seen the best results with both products for preventing ticks and fleas. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please take the time to mark this question as helpful or not as it helps us to improve on the quality of our answers to other pet owners. Thank you kindly!

There is a lot of controversy over Lyme. I would recommend keeping Buddy on flea/tick prevention all year round. Dogs with Lyme disease can get kidney failure but this is rare. Adopting an older dog is a great thing to do and I wouldn't stress over Lyme disease as any dog can get it if they get bit by a tick. Here is a website with information about Lyme disease in dogs: http://pawbark.com/lyme-disease-dogs/ I would also discuss with your veterinarian about the Lyme vaccination for future tick bites. Thank you for using PetCoach.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! There are a couple of drug companies that make a Lyme vaccine. Some are better than others. None are 100% protective. The Merek NOBIVAV is a good vaccine about 80% effective compared to other companies. Each company is labeled a bit differently for the youngest age to start the vaccine series, I usually recommend 12 weeks or older. I recommend the Lyme vaccine with a good oral tick preventative in Lyme endemic areas Hope this helps!

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.

None of the flea and tick medicines are excreted by the kidneys, so the kidneys should not be negatively influenced by the tick and flea medicines. Nexgard is a very good flea and tick medicine and I suggest you stick with it.

The tick prevention will help to prevent a tick from latching on and transmitting lyme disease. Most preventatives are about 98% effective so some ticks will still latch on. Treatment for lyme disease is antibiotics for 4-6 weeks usually. If you are in a high Lyme area, I recommend to talk with your veterinarian about the Lyme vaccine which is better than him getting the disease. https://www.petcoach.co/article/lyme-disease-borreliosis-in-dogs/ Please feel free to post any additional questions.