The Cause of Death
I am just putting this information out for any of you who are dog owners or are friends with someone who owns dogs. I have determined the cause of Zero's death. Lyme Disease.
On Thursday, my dog, Abby, had a black bump on her ear that looked like a skin tag. My first thought was that it was a tick and we should remove it but we did not see any legs. Zero had a skin tag that looked similar so we didn't think much of it. The next day it ballooned and fell off. That told me definitely it was a tick.
Saturday, Abby began to limp on her front leg without any obvious sign of injury or tenderness to the touch. That scared me because it was the same symptoms Zero exhibited in June, 5 months before he suddenly died. That night I put 2 and 2 together and thought maybe it was lyme disease. The next morning when I got home, I looked up lyme disease in dogs and found that indeed forepaw limping and soreness is a determining symptom in canine lyme disease!
We took her to the vet that day and told them my concerns. She tested positive for lyme, moderately progressed. Though the tick recently could not have been the carrier, we knew that both dogs must have had ticks all year that we did not find. She is doing better on antibiotics now and should make a full recovery.
Check your dogs for ticks often and be aware of the telltale signs before you lose a loved one like I did.
On Thursday, my dog, Abby, had a black bump on her ear that looked like a skin tag. My first thought was that it was a tick and we should remove it but we did not see any legs. Zero had a skin tag that looked similar so we didn't think much of it. The next day it ballooned and fell off. That told me definitely it was a tick.
Saturday, Abby began to limp on her front leg without any obvious sign of injury or tenderness to the touch. That scared me because it was the same symptoms Zero exhibited in June, 5 months before he suddenly died. That night I put 2 and 2 together and thought maybe it was lyme disease. The next morning when I got home, I looked up lyme disease in dogs and found that indeed forepaw limping and soreness is a determining symptom in canine lyme disease!
We took her to the vet that day and told them my concerns. She tested positive for lyme, moderately progressed. Though the tick recently could not have been the carrier, we knew that both dogs must have had ticks all year that we did not find. She is doing better on antibiotics now and should make a full recovery.
Check your dogs for ticks often and be aware of the telltale signs before you lose a loved one like I did.
posted by Dorman at 08:06
10 Comments:
Glad Abby is feeling better. Also remember to get those lyme vaccines for your pets. Doesn't prevent, but lessens the chance of acquiring the disease.
OMG! Wow!! Well that's scary. Glas she's feeling better. No losing two animals in such a short period of time. If they could live forever, I'd be o.k. with that too.
Glad you noticed the tick and the similar limping. It would have been awful to lose both those pups.
Glad I don't have to worry about ticks. :)
No Bob, just s*#!s with guns!
True.
Oh no! I'm glad you caught this before it was too far progressed. Thanks for the reminder. I need to give my dogs their heart-worm preventative...for the year-round Texas-sized skeeters. They've been known to carry off small dogs...
Thanks for the tip. I check River weekly and have found ticks on many occasions. Also, please keep in mind that the warm weather makes matters worse. The deer I shot this year had two.
I think that my ALS was triggered by Lyme that went untreated for years.
Brainhell: Are you serious? If so, would love some more info on that.
My friend, Dawn, who thru hiked the Appalachian Trail was just diagnosed with Lime Disease. It not only hurts the animals we love, but the people we love, too.
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