Could my dog's sensitive paw pads be a symptom of Lyme disease?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I would be looking into the possibility of this being something affecting the joints per se such as immune mediated polyarthritis or perhaps something like hypertrophic osteodystrophy given his young age. These are possible things your veterinarian can look into. Treatment of course would depend on findings. At the very least they can try pain control medications and anti-inflammatory drugs. Best of luck!

Degenerative myelopathy affects strength, proprioception (knowledge of where the body or limbs are in time and space), and motor function. It usually does not affect sensation/feeling or motor reflexes ("withdrawal"), which is what you are checking when you put your fingers between her pads. Degenerative myelopathy also usually affects both hind limbs, not just one limb, and moves progressively from the hind limbs to the fore limbs. There is a blood test your veterinarian can do to confirm it. While lyme disease can certainly cause joint pain and may potentially interfere with nerve signal conduction, it usually involves more than one limb. It makes perfect sense to treat Texxie for lyme though, especially if this is her first time testing positive. I would also be concerned for some type of disc injury to her back though. A bulging or ruptured disc can put pressure on nerve roots or the spinal cord and cause profound weakness and paralysis. This is best diagnosed by an MRI. Other possibilities include some type of embolism to her spinal cord (like a blood clot or piece of tissue that might lodge along the spinal cord and disrupt information going back and forth), an infection, or cancer. Ideally, Texxie should be screened for all of these things. In the meantime, it's very good that Texxie has sensation and reflexes in her hind limb. Keep her very still, quiet, and check in with your vet frequently if she gets worse or seems painful. Good luck and I hope Texxie gets better soon!

Some dogs show no symptoms with lyme disease, but we can see symptoms such as: fever (temperature over 103) which can result in lethargy/decreased appetite lameness which can sometimes shift between legs swelling of joints swelling of lymph nodes in rare cases lyme disease can affect the kidneys which could result in lethargy, decreased appetite, vomiting, increase or decrease in water consumption and urination. You can read more about this disease at: https://www.petcoach.co/article/lyme-disease-borreliosis-in-dogs/

Hello, and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. This could just be an allergic condition, but looking at the spotty nature of the pads, I would also be concerned that this might be an auto-immune condition called pemphigus, where the lesions are often first noticed on the footpads. Since this has been ongoing for several months, & now she is showing signs of pain, it is time to have your veterinarian evaluate the pads for what is going on. Hope all is well. Take care.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. It is difficult to make out exactly what this is based on the pictures, but it appears to be an ulcerated sore that has opened up on the paw pad. I would recommend having this looked at by your veterinarian so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. This sore could be a mass or an infected wound. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

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!

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Maemae. Yes dogs do get Lymes disease and the prevalence seems to be spreading. Looks like you live in Maryland and I would suspect that you have Lymes there. I am interested in one detail though. If she was not spayed, it's possible she developed a uterine infection which untreated, can cause death in dogs. If that was the case, she could've developed a sepsis or blood infection which can infect the joints. Again, I'm so sorry to hear about Maemae. My deepest condolences to you.