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Hi, Maggie’s been doing well but the past few days she’s been lethargic. A few days before that she started limping in her hind leg. I took her to vet today and she was diagnosed with Lyme disease & put on doxy. Also, she had protein in her urine. Her CBC w organ function results come in tmrw. Should I be concerned with a relapse in AIHA. Right now her hematocrit is 50, which is good! Also, anyone know what the protein in urine means? I know it’s not a direct aiha question, but you have all helped us so much with aiha this past year and have so much knowledge, I figured I’d ask. Thanks for any info. Ps she is still on 2.5 mg pred EOD and 100mg cyclo EOD.
Thanks
Jen & Mags
Jen,
I am sorry to read this. You must be very worried about this news. I have information for you so you can understand what is happening.
I have been on a tick disease forum since 2007. Any of the many tick diseases can make a dog very sick and often, when one disease is found, there can be other tick diseases or co-infections as well because ticks tend to carry many different diseases. Lyme is not directly related to anemia, but other tick diseases can and will lead to serious anemia. You will often find me here on this forum asking specifically if a vet did a SNAP 4DX+ test right from the start.
If you can find the time, there is a lot of reading you need to do so you can understand Lyme disease, and in general tick diseases. I have a good friend who has developed a complete website devoted to dogs and tick disease. The information is well researched and is kept current. I am going to have you read two pages in particular but when you have time browse the site and read more.
So the first page you should read is the one on Lyme disease.
https://sites.google.com/site/tickbornediseaseindogs/lyme
Please especially read about Lyme nephritis or glomerulonephritis. There is a side bar article on the right side. Protein in the urine is a direct sign of this condition. However, since I have not seen your labs, I don’t know how advanced this is. This particular condition associated with Lyme is not something I like to see on any test. I need to know more about how far advanced it is. Essentially what has happened is the Lyme spirochetes have infected the kidneys and are damaging important cells.
The second page I would like you to read is about treatment. But I am also going to paste the very important information you need to read here so you will have it immediately. I highly recommend that you insist that your vet treat Maggie with this high, prolonged dose. I have experience from many years on the Tick list to know that this is essential to helping her get better. If your vet is reluctant to try this higher dose, then you must convince them or find a vet who will do this for you. Please stay in contact with me and ask questions about what you are reading. I am here to help you with this
My best
patrice
https://sites.google.com/site/tickbornediseaseindogs/treatment
“Doxycycline
A semisynthetic tetracycline, doxycycline is the drug of choice for ehrlichiosis (including Anaplasma phagocytophilum and platys), Lyme Disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.
The dosage we recommend on Tick List is an aggressive one: 5 mg. of doxy per pound of body weight given every 12 hours for 8 weeks. For those who prefer to figure body weight in kilograms, this is approximately the same as 10 mg per kg, the difference being not enough to mention.
This is twice as high as the dose that is generally recommended – and here I should probably remind you that I am not a veterinarian or a medical professional. Well, that’s true. At the same time, I should tell you that your vet is the one to decide what dosage to use. Well, I would concur if your vet is familar with tick-borne disease and knows it inside out. If not, he or she should consult with a colleague who is before deciding on the dosage.
In my opinion and that of everyone on Tick List, to my knowledge, ehrlichiosis and Lyme must be hit hard the first time out, if at all possible, and lower doses and/or shorter treatment times all too often mean recurrence. Unless your dog is one of the few that cannot take doxycycline or take it in this higher dose, my best advice to you is to insist on it. In the experience of a great many of us on Tick-L, each time ehrlichiosis or Lyme recurs, it’s harder to stop or contain it. “
Thank you Patrice! Beside asking my vet to increase the dose, right now she is on 145mg once a day- she weighs 29lbs, what are other questions, tests I should ask for? Do I ask for test yo drtermine if she has proteinuria? I’m not sure I spelled that right.
Thanks again!
Jen,
This should be 29lbs x 5mg = 145mg every 12 hours. So that is 290mg a day. Twice what you are giving now. And the duration should be 8 weeks. That is two full months.
Your vet may have prescribed half the dose for 10 days. This may lead to not fully treating the spirochetes. They will withstand this treatment and Maggie may relapse.
If she has protein in her urine and a diagnosed case of Lyme it is likely she already has nephritis. This indicates some destruction. I need to see the full chemical screen test results to get an idea of what is happening.
Please read these two pages over several times until you are familiar with the information on them. Your vet may not know treat tick diseases very often and may be unfamiliar with many of the details on this website. It may help to print these pages and discuss this with your vet. If they are reluctant to listen to you, we need to find someone who will help you properly. Maggie is counting on you to be her advocate.
As for treating right now please follow Dr. Dodds kidney diet. You can find the diet on the bottom of the page of her Liver Sparing Diet.
https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Cleansing-Diets.pdf
I would like to see your vet perform a more accurate test for Lyme with ProtaTek Reference Laboratory. These tests will tell you “how well” the treatment is going. Dr. Holland will often conference with owners and vets on the phone. Encourage your vet to take advantage of the superior services this lab provides.
https://sites.google.com/site/tickbornediseaseindogs/testlaboratories
Try to read over some other parts of the site so you can understand more about tick diseases. Gil is far more an expert with this than I am, though I do know quite a bit. She knows more about testing and results.
So these are the important things to focus on, proper treatment, proper testing and a proper diet for the kidneys.
my best
patrice
Hi Patrice. Her chemistry profile results came back and her kidney function looks good ( according to vet).6 and it was .7 in Aug. Her creatinine ratio was good as well. She was tested for Lyme in April and it was negative and we ran a chemistry profile in Aug so hopefully we caught this early.
With this information, do you think the dosage is adequate?
Thank you!!!!
Jen & Mags
Jen,
That sounds good. But any protein in the urine is not good.
Hope you reread that information on those pages again. Personally, there is a never a time when I would agree to give only half the dose to my own dogs.
Here is what spirochetes look like.
These microsopic spirochetes can and will access every part of the body, including the nervous system. Their job is to survive and they are very crafty about doing that. Dosing with a single low dose of doxy once a day gives them essentially 12 hours free from exposure to the antibiotic, plenty of time to increase numbers. The signs this are happening can be vague. One day a leg will be lame and a week later it is another leg, another day there may be a head tremor, another day it may appear that one side of the face has Bell’s Palsy.
Testing with a specialty lab can give you an idea of the severity of the Lyme infection is. Please read about the testing and what it determines on this page.
https://sites.google.com/site/tickbornediseaseindogs/tests
Keep in mind that Gil is talking about testing for all tick diseases on this page. There are many sections, however, that are specific to Lyme.
my best
patrice
Hi Jen. I am so darn sorry to read this about Maggie. But Patrice is the tick-guru and she has given you the BEST advice. Between it all, your vet, Patrice’s advice (stick to it, okay!) and your diligence – it sounds as if you have caught this early and hopefully Maggie will make a full recovery. Goodness, it seems that there is always something, right?!
Sadie’s urine protein ALWAYS runs high. Her PCV yesterday was 42 and Urine Protein was 8.2. It seems the higher her PCV goes, the higher the UP. Crazy. They do not like seeing this (vet) but attribute it to the long dosing of prednisone and cyclosporine. We did a full panel yesterday too, with T3, T4, Free T’s – it will be interesting to get the results back.
I am so glad her PCV is holding. This is AWESOME111 Please keep us posted. I will be thinking of you both.
We are sending much love and postivie thoughts,
Linda and Sadie