cometdust1

I use the hammock and I also bought a seat extender, which makes a nice wide even space to slide his rectangular bed into. The seat extender did bend over time so i still use it but stick either boxes or milk crates under it in the foot wells to keep it flat.

Yes, please have them check for tick born diseases. My dog had Ehrlichiosis and it shut down his bone marrow and affected all his organs. He was constantly panting and lethargic, that's why I brought him to see the vet and that's when i found out about the Ehrlichiosis.

The C6 gauges the success of treatment. The number should drop at least by 1/2 to be considered successful. My dog was first diagnosed as being exposed with the snap test. My vet then had the C6 titer done to see if that number was over 30 or if my dog was able to fight the lyme himself. his titer was 134 so she treated, even though he was asymptomatic. the next C6 was down to 16 so treatment was considered successful. For my dog, I forget how long after treatment he was retested but if the number does not fall by at least 1/2, then treatment is repeated. My dog has been treated 3 times over the last few years. My vet said that it could be new infections, or it could be chronic infection. The titer ranges have ranged from a low of 16 after the first treatment to a high of 276. He is routinely titered (C6) every six months. My vet is in the camp that anything over 30 should be considered active and should be treated,even if asymptomatic, unless it is a retest after treatment that has fallen by more than 1/2. For example if my dog's 276 reading drops to below 138 than treatment is considered successful. Then, 6C is rechecked every 6 months and if the numbers rise back up she retreats. my dog's latest C6 is 30 which is great after that 276 number. You will find disagreement among vets as to whether to treat non-symptomatic dogs, regardless of the titer number after initial treatment, but I am glad my vet does not follow this thinking. However, since you have already started the Doxy, I don't know if checking C6 would be accurate at this point. I am hoping for a successful treatment for your dog.

the only way to know 100% that it is a hemangioma(benign) and not a hemangiosarcoma(cancer) is to biopsy it. Because it has been there for 4 months now I would go with your vet's opinion and biopsy it. It most likely will come back benign but, what if it isn't?

Thank you for the response. So sorry Felix is not doing so well. I believe my 11 1/2 year old boy has chronic Lyme also. He also is starting to have back end weakness. I ordered the clay. It would be nice to have some non squishy poops to pick up!

Cleptogrey I am very interested in trying the clay, as I have been using the carrots for years for my boy. It works well enough, but is expensive. About how long does a jar last you? Do you feel it works better than the carrots? How do you give it to your dog? Is it mixed in with food?

Just wanted to add that it should be the product without THC, the psychoactive part of cannabis. I have read that THC is toxic for dogs.

last year my 11 year old had a sudden swollen wrist and within hours the foot and lower half of is leg were swollen too and he would not put weight on it. Thought for sure it was osteo given his age. Turns out it was not osteo. he was given rimadyl and within hours of the first dose the swelling started to get better. He has been lyme positive for several years and retreated when his titer went up. reran titer and it was way up so he was treated again and now his titer is low and no further wrist problems. Guess my point is that definitely a tick born disease panel should be done if it hasn't already been run. Good luck, hope he is O.K.

Same here! Strange, after all this time.

Was bloodwork and full tick panel done? My dog's heavy breathing ended up being from Ehrlichiosis affecting his blood cells.

I live in NE PA. I opted not to vaccinate due to the conflicting info on the vaccine. 2 years ago my grey came up Lyme positive on his yearly snap 4dx test. Bloodwork was sent out for more complete testing and his titer was over 80. Anything over 30 on a previously untreated dog is considered active infection so he was put on Doxycycline. for one month. 6 mos. later his titer was rechecked and it was 16 which is considered a successful treatment. 6 months after that his titer came up over 270 so he was treated with Doxy again for one month. He is 9 years old and about one month ago had unexplained severe swelling in his wrist. Thankfully, it wasn't cancer and antiinflammatory medicine brought it right down. Ever since, he has had periods of all over stiffness and weakness in his hind end. Some days he is fine, other days his legs slide out from under him. Is it just old age? Chronic Lyme? New Lyme infection? Who knows. He is going in tonight for his 6 month Lyme titer follow-up. I won't be surprised if it comes up high again. I never knew Lyme could put a dog into kidney failure. I have since had several friends/ acquaintances lose their dogs to Lyme induced kidney failure. Living in a high Lyme area, if I had it to do over, I would vaccinate. I will vaccinate my future pets. Just wanted you to know about my experience with Lyme disease. I also had another grey die from Ehrlicchiosis, another tick born disease. I really, really despise ticks!!! Has anybody on here had their dog vaccinated for Lyme and still had their dog come up Lyme positive?

Mine sure does!!!!! lol

At one time my boy had so much cheese up there that it started obstructing his urine flow and it was dribbling out when he was just lying in bed. I thought he had an infection so I took him to the vet. When she flushed him, all kinds of chunks came out and the smell was absolutely horrendous!!! much worse than anal glands! Now I do it at home when needed. Grossest smell EVER!!!!

I also decided to go with Seresto. I don't like the oiliness nor the odor of the ones applied between the shoulder blades. Hope it keeps those ticks away!! I HATE ticks! My last grey died from multiple organ failure and bone marrow failure from Ehrlichiosis so they really freak me out!

Hi everyone, I thought I would share my experience with you using the Preventic collar. I know many of you have used them successfully so I bought one for my 9 year old boy who is currently being treated for Lyme disease. He has been wearing it for about 2 weeks now and last night I was disappointed to find a fully engorged live tick on his side, just behind his front leg. I called the company, she told me if you have a heavy infestation, which we do in the fall, sometimes the collar can't keep up with the population. (Not sure how the population affects whether it works or not, but O.K.?). She said it has a money back guarantee so I can Return it to my place of purchase (Amazon) for a refund. Guess I will return it and try the Seresto collar. Just thought I'd share this info.