Dog question: Does this seem right to you?

[BusynMember]

Last summer my itty bitty doggy (chihuahua/****zu mix) came down with shivers, fever, lethargy, lack of apetite and some vomiting. I took him to the vet and he immediately gave him a test for Lymes which came back negative. He still thought it was a tick disease and decided to treat him as if he had one, starting with an antibiotic shot. He took antibiotics for forty days afterward and did great then was fine for a while then maybe six months later...we had a repeat of both symptoms and treatment.

Fast forward to this past week. Damian (his name) had his three year rabies, parvo and Lymes shot. Two days later he had all the other before mentioned symptoms again and this time would not even drink. Rushed him to vet and asked if it could be a reaction to the shots. Vet didn't think so. He thought it was another flare up of the tick disease (sigh). Gave him the same treatment and it's a week later and he is doing really well. The treatment for the Lyme's really works well for him. What bugs me is that he never tested positive for Lymes and that I have never seen a tick on him. I watch him pretty closely...but he does roll in the grass sometimes. Mostly he is an inside pooch.

Does what vet said sound true to all of you dog lovers? If not, what do you think it could be and why does the Lyme's treatment always clear it up so well? And does anyone else think maybe the shots kicked up an episode and that maybe he should get his shots seperately? I asked why he needs a Lyme's shot and vet said to make sure that if he is infected again he can fight it...not sure what that means. He has it or he doesn't have it. I'm confused. This vet is NOT trying to rip me off by selling me an expensive package of sand. He is extremely reasonable and caring. My dog required an IV to rehydrate him, a shot, and pills and the entire bill came to $67, which he always allows me to pay out. I think he gives me discounts because he knows I rescue some dogs and he likes me.

My dog really gets wonderful care at home. We baby him tremendously. He eats Arcana dog food, which is human grade, and very little table food. He has a relaxing life, full of humans and little stress and gets lot of exercise and car rides.

Any thoughts? I've been on the internet trying to get info, then I thought of all of you...thank you mucho in advance. This little dog is very precious to our family.

 

[InsaneCdn]

We don't have much for ticks around here (up "north" they do)... so I don't really have any experience to share.
But... I know the feeling of "well, this doesn't quite add up..."

Kind of like what we have to do for our difficult children?

 

[Hound dog]

I think your vet is milking you for more money. I hate to say it, but that's what it sounds like.

Logic is, doggie gets sick after shots, therefore doggie is having a reaction probably to one of the shots. Since he gets them all together, heaven only knows which one. Try a new vet next time and request the shots be given separately to find out which one he reacts to.

Never heard of a Lyme's shot.

My vet is pretty good about not milking us for extra charges, which is the only reason I stick with them. But she kept insisting Molly chewing her tail was an allergy to fleas, which I knew it wasn't. (it's stress or lack of a certain amino acid in her diet that is easily corrected by giving her an egg once or twice a week) I don't think she was trying to milk us, but instead of trying to find out the cause, she just blamed it on the fleas. Which always annoyed me because Molly never had fleas. ugh

At least the vet listened to me when Betsy had her allergic reaction to frontline and gave her something else.

Your type dog, which isn't outside much, has a extremely low chance of getting a tick you don't happen to spot. And since both times happened after being vaccinated, I'd say it's the shots, not ticks.

 

[donna723]

It could be that he had some other kind of infection that the antibiotics helped with. With those symptoms there are so many different things that could cause them. And dogs usually "shiver" when they're in pain. Has the vet checked his teeth? Dental infections can cause pain and fever and many of those same symptoms, and then if they're not eating and drinking normally they can get dehydrated very quickly, just like kids do and that causes even more problems.

I would be very leery of letting them get three different shots at one time. I have had dogs most of my life and never had one that had a problem with rabies shots. But then last year Freebie, my mixed breed, crawled in her crate after getting her shot and stayed there all day. She was shivering, seemed to be in pain when she walked, and didn't eat or drink until the next day. This year after they got their shots, she did the same thing only this time it took her at least two days to get back to normal! And Trace, my youngest Boston, did the same thing although he was pretty much back to normal the next afternoon. I told the vet about their reaction and asked if there could possibly be a problem with the vaccine. He said he had never heard of them getting a reaction and that the kind of vaccine he was using this year was supposed to have fewer side effects than previous versions. So I still don't know ... but I do know that two out of the four of them got sick from their rabies shots.

 

[BusynMember]

The first and second time my dog got sick it was not after shots. These were only the second time he has gotten shots. He is only a little over a year old (one year in July).

We have TONS of ticks here and I've found ticks on all of my other dogs, just not Damian. None of my dogs go outdoors much. We used to take the older dogs to the dog park, but they would come home with so many ticks, we quit doing that. Damian has never been to a dog park, but this is WIsconsin in the country and we have ticks. It is possible he had a tick bite even if hub or I missed it. Still...I'm suspicious. Yet he keeps getting the same symptoms.

 

[witzend]

How old is your dog? When Bubba got older we were told that we should not give all shots at once, they should be staggered.

 

[susiestar]

When does he get heartworm medications and heartworm tests? How often is he getting flea treatment? Flea treatment like frontline is effective but it is also not always easy on the animal. My bro had a dog who got sick if he got all the shots at once or if he had flea treatement of ANY kind the same week he had heartworm medications. The vet always wanted to give the dog the full round of shots, flea medications and heartworm medications all at once, but he ended up really really sick two times in a row. So now the dogs get the shots one at a time and the flea and heartworm treatments are given at different times from each other or from any shots. Some dogs just have reactions, just like some kids get a fever and get sick after they get a vaccine and some do not.

Lyme is a tricky disease, but I just don't like using antibiotics "in case".

 

[BusynMember]

Hi, Star.
He is a little over a year old. I do give him heartworm and tick medications, but when he's sick I hold off.

His vet assumes he has Lymes. He said that the test doesn't often come up positive. And it's true that Damian always gets much better as soon as he starts the treatment. If I stop the antibiotics early, he gets sick again. I have to do the entire course of medication, then he's good.

 

[HaoZi]

Three year rabies shot? I never trusted those, don't like 'em, I stuck with the normal one year vaccine. Could well be he is reacting to a stronger preservative in those that his tiny body simply can't handle. Or... are any of those shots live vaccines? If so, is there an alternative?

 

[Josie]

Your story sounds like a Lyme story.

There is a whole controversy over Lyme in the human world. One side believes the Lyme tests are accurate, Lyme is easily treated and is cured after a few weeks of antibiotics. The other side believes the testing is not reliable and the infection isn't always wiped out after a few weeks of antibiotics.

Your experience with your dog is why some Lyme patients stay on antibiotics for a long time. They feel better on them and when they stop, they get worse.

The tick can be as small as the period at the end of this sentence, so not everyone notices it. I didn't see a tick on my daughter, but I saw a bullseye rash, which is considered definitive for Lyme.

You live in WI, which is endemic for Lyme. It sounds like Lyme to me. I think your vet is one of the good ones that recognizes it.

There used to be a human Lyme vaccine but it was pulled from the market. Some people felt like it gave them Lyme. I think some might think it re-activated Lyme that was already there. Whatever the real story is, they don't do Lyme vaccines for people any more.

 

[hearts and roses]

It sounds to me like your little sweetie has an immuno-something going on and that's the reason for the flare up after getting his shots. Since Sophie was sick, she hasn't received any vaccinations, not even rabies, and her annual titres come back still in effect. We DO have a Lyme vaccine but I've stopped getting them for our dogs. The risk of all the vaccines does not outweigh the risk of getting he disease.

The thing about lymes is that if it's not caught early, it settles into the cartilage of joints, predominantly the hips and knees, and remains dormant. Antibiotics have a very hard time touching it once it's in there. The AB will treat apparent symptoms, but very often, a three to four week course is not long enough. Six months treatment for a true positive Lyme test is best to really get it.

Our dog Nala has Lyme, although treated, she will always have flare up symptoms. No vet will treat her for longer than 40 days.

If your dog has an impaired immune system funtioning problem, you should get a second opinion and do staggered vaccinations, if at all. Unless your dog gets kenneled, there is no reason to get any other vaccine except rabies.

 

[BusynMember]

Thanks to everyone.

My dog doesn't go to a kennel. If we travel, the other dogs have to go to a kennel, but this little guy comes with us. I am going to ask vet if we can stagger vaccines or even if he needs the Lymes. I'm a little iffy about skipping the parvo vaccine, but I'll look into it. I have another year. For now, with the antibiotics, he's doing great. He's really good about taking the pills too. All I need to do is put it in his food and he gobbles it up with the rest of the food...lol.

 

[hearts and roses]

Parvo is typically only a risk to puppies and very young dogs. Most adult dogs do not need a parvo vaccine, ESP if they're not being kenneled.

 

[donna723]

I'm very picky about which vaccines my dogs get. They get the rabies shots because it's the law in our county that they get them. They very seldom get the other vaccines though. They are all in the house all the time except very brief trips outside in our own yard to potty. The chances of them catching something from other dogs is extremely slim, and they are all adult dogs, not puppies. Our vet doesn't use the three-year rabies vaccines. Some of them have had reactions to vaccines before so I'm really careful with them. And my oldest Boston, Ragan, has all kinds of allergies and auto-immune issues so I'm extra careful with her.