My dog had Lyme, now has symptoms but negative test. Is it a flare-up?

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!

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.

It is not common, but a very small percentage can become chronically infected. Usually in dogs, this is not the case, however they can reinfected or have a different type of tick borne disease that has similar symptoms

Unfortunately both lyme and erhlichia can cause an infection again, even after initial treatment. I would recommend treating her since she has clinical signs, but also ask your vet if they can run a PCR test to confirm active infection, rather than just exposure. That was you can be sure this infection isn't just from last year. I hope that helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

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!

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.

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!