Just pulled four dear ticks, the carriers of Lyme disease, off of Kiera today — in March. Let the Lyme wars begin! :(
I’m too bummed to explain our Lyme protocol for you today, but I will give a refresher soon. Until then, you can review here where I have a photo of what a Lyme bullseye looks like, and here where I outline various options for tackling Lyme.
I’m interested in Lyme disease because of a correlation with the research that I’m doing. I know that from the research I’ve done that “chronic Lyme” is not widely recognized in the human medical community. Do dogs have an equivalent of this? It’s so very sad, but I do think there is quite possibility a co-infection of some kind along with the Lyme’s.
Are there many human cases where you live? Do you usually catch them in time? I’m sorry this isn’t exactly related, but it’s a topic I know quite a bit about, and yet I don’t understand very well the non-scientific aspects. I hope your dog will regain his health quickly. It’s so sad.
Hey Jenn, yes I’ve seen chronic Lyme in dogs as well as people. It’s such an insidious disease. I’m originally from Connecticut, and pretty much every other person there has had Lyme or has someone in the family who’s had Lyme.
I’m certain that one of the issues that complicates Lyme diagnosis and treatment is that there’s often a co-infection.
If you click on the link in the sidebar under helpful dog sites to “Tick Borne Disease info” that will take you to the Tick-L, where you can find out more than you ever wanted to know about Lyme and how it affects dogs.
Very interesting info. Do you have recommendations for treatment of fleas? I’m afraid it is going to be a bad summer for fleas, ticks and mosquitos here because of all the rain we have had. Is heartguard the only treatment for heartworms? Thanks for all this great information Karen! :)
Jenny, Frontline is for fleas as well as ticks. I also add a 1/4 tsp fresh garlic (too much garlic can cause health problems) and a 1/2 tsp brewer’s yeast to my dogs’ food every other day. We haven’t had a case of fleas in over a dozen years.
Heartgard is the only treatment I know of for heartworms. Because of a possible fatal reaction to Heartgard, those with Border Collies, Shelties, Aussies, (any dog breed with white paws) should be given Interceptor instead.