Confused with Vet's suggestions

1507 Views 11 Replies 6 Participants Last post by jmm, Apr 28, 2010

setell

Discussion Starter · Apr 27, 2010

I just got back from taking Charlie to the vet. On Friday I took him to a dog park that was also near a field. So we ran Charlie in the field and near the end I decided to let him play in the lease free part of the dog park with two other dogs (they were small dogs). He was dirty and I even gave Charlie a bath when we got home. Fast forward a few hours later I saw that his left eye had like a small bump sorta like our fly bites and his neck below his chin also had a pink bump (like two small half size rice grains). His eye bump got better today where it's just a black dot there on his eye lid from it being healed but his neck bump on this chin's swelling just went down a lot today. I was scared so I booked an appt yesterday for the vet today. So this is what the vet told me:

1) apparently in 2009 there were 26 cases of lyme disease in the area so for 2010 lyme disease is a high risk.
2) all bumps they see now are automatically assumed to be lyme disease and lots of people bringing their dogs in with bumps that's tick bites
3) recommendations: a) blood test to see if he has lyme disease b) 10 day supply of doxycycline antibiotics c) lyme disease vaccine d) start revolution.

He wanted to start the antibiotic, vaccine and blood test all today!!!!!!! The thing is I didn't find anything on Charlie so I'm fairly certain it's not a tick bite on his neck. Plus the vet didn't seem to care if we did the blood test or not to verify if Charlie has lyme disease or not. To make matters worse we're going on a long vacation on Friday and Charlie will be with relatives for the month we're gone so I won't be around to monitor Charlie's behaviour. So what I did was, take the antibiotic and give it to Charlie in case it is lyme disease. Declined the blood test and vaccine but took the revolution. I didn't know at the vet's office that you should do a blood test first to make sure it's lyme before antibiotics till reading about it here. I didn't feel like the vet gave me options or explained things really well. What should I do now? Give Charlie the antibiotics as a pre-caution as there seems to be a high ratio of lyme disease in the area or go back and do the blood test?

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jmm

· #2 · Apr 27, 2010

Dogs can get all sorts of bug bites. If he had that many ticks on him and was not on preventative you would have noticed while bathing him. Tick bites tend to have a hard red lump for a few weeks.
Even if you tested your dog the same day, testing positive for most tests does not tell whether there is active infection or not. For that you have to send a different test out to a lab. There is no reason to automatically treat a dog who may never have an active infection.
The lyme vaccine has about a 60% efficacy rate and must be boostered every 6-12 months to be effective. Using a tick preventative is often a better bet. The lyme vaccine does not prevent against other tick borne diseases.

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Pure Paws

· #3 · Apr 27, 2010

Could the bumbs possibly for an ant bite. We get them here in Texas and the reaction is a small red bumb that swells and goes away with in a day or so. We do not have a big tick problem here however the ticks I have seen are still attached to the dog and have to be removed. All you found were the bumbs and no live ticks. Seems to me like they would probably want to do the blood test before giving any medications or vaccines. The fact that you are leaving him for a month would make me not want for him to have the vaccination and you are right not be able to monitor his reaction if any.

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setell

Discussion Starter · #4 · Apr 27, 2010

Thanks JMM for your response. I got the feeling the vet was pushing for a lot of expensive stuff. Pure Paws I think it's just a bite of some sort too as my fiancee did a very thoroughly look over Charlie's furs on Friday night and didn't find any ticks of some sort. Usually I am very good while bathing him as I can't stand how dirty dog parks are so he always get a big scrub whether Charlie likes it or not. It sort of bothers me how the vet made me feel really bad for declining the vaccine and blood test...very high pressure sales tactics in a way. I also didn't like how they automatically assumed it's lyme disease

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CrystalAndZoe

· #5 · Apr 27, 2010

From my understanding on the transmitting of lyme disease from tick to dog, the tick needs to be attached for 24 hours. That's why certain types of flea/tick meds don't actually prevent the tick from attaching, but kills it before the 24 hour time period. So if you gave him a bath that night, like JMM said, I'm sure you would have seen any attached ticks. Malts are so easy to find ticks on since they don't have an undercoat. So I feel too, it's highly unlikely they are tick bites. There is lyme disease in my area but I've chosen not to do the vaccine or the topical med because I thoroughly comb/brush my two daily and would be able to find a tick fairly easily before that crucial 24 hour time period. I would contact a local vet you trust and find the proper dosage of children's benadryl for your baby's size in case this happens again. It sounds like it may have been an allergic reaction to an ant bite or bug bite like PurePaws suggested. It's rare, but there have been Malts who have been extremely allergic to ant bites or bee stings and they needed to be treated immediately. Not to be an alarmist, but if the allergy to ants or bees is bad enough, it can even cause death.

Just so you know, I had to go through several vets until I found the one that I felt I could trust and treated them with the thoroughness that I wanted. She's not overly conservative in treatments but not one to just automatically do a full work up either unless she feels it's warranted. She's just right...for me anyway. lol Everyone wants different things from a vet so you have to find the one that treats patients and their mommy's and daddy's the way you want.

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Nikki's Mom

· #6 · Apr 27, 2010

I would seriously consider dropping a vet who wanted to treat a dog for a disease if he wasn't sure that the dog had it.

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setell

Discussion Starter · #7 · Apr 28, 2010

Thanks for the inputs ladies. I decided to go ahead and give Charlie the doxycycline as a precaution as I won't be around to monitor him. I want to be safe than sorry. It'll definitly be a one time thing as I won't give it to him if I wasn't going on a month long vacation in a few days. I did find out that you can get 100mg of doxycycline way cheaper at the pharmacy from my fiancee! My fiancee found the 100mg a day to be a bit strong for Charlie (he's 9.6lbs) but he's not a vet and only know human strengths. :blush:

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MaryH

· #8 · Apr 28, 2010

setell said:
Thanks for the inputs ladies. I decided to go ahead and give Charlie the doxycycline as a precaution as I won't be around to monitor him. I want to be safe than sorry. It'll definitly be a one time thing as I won't give it to him if I wasn't going on a month long vacation in a few days. I did find out that you can get 100mg of doxycycline way cheaper at the pharmacy from my fiancee! My fiancee found the 100mg a day to be a bit strong for Charlie (he's 9.6lbs) but he's not a vet and only know human strengths. :blush:

The manufacturer's recommended dosage for dogs is 2-5mg/pound every 12 to 24 hours. One of mine had Lyme Disease last year. I woke up in the morning and she wouldn't walk and was wimpering. Brought her to the vet. He did the in-office blood test which came back positive, drew more blood to send off to the lab as there is a high false positive rate with the snap test, but gave me a couple of pills for pain (Rimadyl) and a 10-day supply of Doxycycline. My dog weighed 6.5 lbs. and the dosage directions were 1/4 pill (25 mg) twice/day. I got the lab results back the next day and she had full blown Lyme Disease. So she ended up on Doxycycline for 30 days. Doxycycline is not a drug that I'd fool around with and am very surprised that your vet handed it to you without doing any bloodwork. I also think his dosage recommendation is too high.

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CrystalAndZoe

· #9 · Apr 28, 2010

MaryH said:
The manufacturer's recommended dosage for dogs is 2-5mg/pound every 12 to 24 hours. One of mine had Lyme Disease last year. I woke up in the morning and she wouldn't walk and was wimpering. Brought her to the vet. He did the in-office blood test which came back positive, drew more blood to send off to the lab as there is a high false positive rate with the snap test, but gave me a couple of pills for pain (Rimadyl) and a 10-day supply of Doxycycline. My dog weighed 6.5 lbs. and the dosage directions were 1/4 pill (25 mg) twice/day. I got the lab results back the next day and she had full blown Lyme Disease. So she ended up on Doxycycline for 30 days. Doxycycline is not a drug that I'd fool around with and am very surprised that your vet handed it to you without doing any bloodwork. I also think his dosage recommendation is too high.

I agree with Mary. I would strongly urge you to get another opinion before giving the Doxycycline to Charlie. Especially with the dosage you were given.

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jmm

· #10 · Apr 28, 2010

100 mg is WAY too much Doxy for a small dog....you'll likely tear up his stomach giving that. Why would you treat a dog for something it is unlikely it even has?

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setell

Discussion Starter · #11 · Apr 28, 2010

WOW! I just called the vet's office up after reading you guys response and the vet tech was extremely defensive. All I said that I was concerned about the dosage and she went on a rampage reguarding how the vet's liable and licensed so he knows what he's doing etc. Talk about attitude and not realizing that I'm concerned. I don't know if there's a confusion but Charlie was prescribed 50mg twice a day so total for a day is 100mg for the next 7 days. Basically my vet prescribed the the high end of the manufacturer's suggested dosage level at 5mg/pound. I guess it's still within guidelines. I got the vet tech to tell me that there has been 37 confirmed cases of lyme disease locally but I don't know if she's just pulling a number out of her @ss as I wanted a number out of her. 'sigh' time to look for another vet as I do not like I am treated yesterday and today on the phone by the vet tech. Charlie was groomed this morning and I got the groomer to check it out and she didn't find anything either. The groomer thinks it's just a bug bite or ant bite etc. I am really confused and scared now

two days till I'm gone and I need to sort this mess out. 'sigh' I don't want to get another earful from another vet as I doubt they will tell me over the phone without another whooping $70-100 consult fee if Charlie's dosage is right and if he has lyme disease or not.

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jmm

· #12 · Apr 28, 2010

A vet cannot advise you over the phone without seeing your dog because it is illegal to do so(and also just plain not a good idea for a vet to tell you to treat a dog they've never seen).
I'm not sure if you don't understand that your dog did not have tick bites so treating it for lyme disease is not necessary. Even if a dog tests positive for lyme disease, it may only be exposure vs. active disease. Treating for exposure is not necessary.

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