Hi, I'm a new member but i've been visiting this site for awhile now. Sorry if this is the wrong place to post this message but I also have a few questions that I'd like to ask too. This message will probably be way too long and really confusing. Again, I apologize because I'll probably be jumping around on different stuff.
Here's some info on my
Yorkie - His name is Winston, He's 14 years old. He weighs about 9.6 - 10lbs. We're from NJ but two years ago we moved to Upstate NY. Earlier this year ( about May ) , my dog was diagnosed with having a lyme disease exposure and also protein in his urine. He eats Newman's Own Kibbles and I also feed him The Honest Kitchen Force and sometimes Keen. The meds / supplements he's on are - Ask Ariel Fish Oil ( which I give him an 1/8th tsp every other day) , Flying Basset Proanimal Probiotics ( give him 1/8th tsp everyday) , Ask Ariel Purrfect Pet 60mg CoQ10 gelcaps. ( I give him 1 gel cap every other day mixed in with the fish oil)
For flea / tick protection - I bathe him with Ark Naturals Neem Shampoo and spray him with Ark Naturals Neem Spray.
Anyways - here is my story about Winston and lymes, his kidneys, etc...
- I had found ticks all over him in May 2010 , mostly engorged and that was the first time he ever had a tick on him so it was very shocking to me. It might not seem like a big deal to some people but I had never dealt with it before and I felt absolutely guilty. He was also drinking more water and urinating more. He was not on a flea / tick med because I didn't want to put chemicals on him. When we first moved to upstate NY, two years ago, he had a flea / tick collar on for awhile because my parents got it. Anyways, my dog was in great health until we moved to upstate NY and we had to find him a new vet. My parents would always take my dog to the vet appts. & frankly, I didn't realize what kind of harm was going on. My dog was given the lymes vaccine and the DHLPP(?) vaccine at the age of 12. I'm truly disgusted that he got these vaccines and if I could rewind time so this never happened, I would in a heartbeat. He never had any bloodwork or urinalysis done at that vet either, which looking back on it now seems kind of strange for an older dog. Then, fast forward to when I found the ticks on him... We called his vet, he went in.. an assistant looked him over & didn't find anymore ticks on him and he had a scheduled appt at a later time to get vaccines. My father was going to take him but after I looked all over the internet about these vaccines, I realized it was not the right thing to do. I honestly begged my father to not take him and I told him we should cancel the appt. He wouldn't do it. My father doesn't understand what danger the vaccine caused my dog. After my dog got the lymes vaccine a 2nd time & the DHLPP vaccine a 2nd time from that vet, he never went there again. We found a new vet that did a SNAP test on him and it came up positive for lymes. We did a Quant C6 test , CBC, chemistry panel & urinalysis. He was put on 50mg doxycycline twice a day for 28 days. His lyme antibody number on the C6 test was 127 - after 28 days of doxycycline - the number dropped to 29 - so the treatment was successful. The results of his urinalysis were off - He had protein in his urine & considering that he had lymes disease, I'm now afraid he has lyme nephritis. The vet has never told us whether he has it or not because his bloodwork in July was ok. Here are some test results
of two different urinalysis, two different UPC's and bloodwork results regarding his kidneys. Urinalysis 6 / 22 / 2010
collection method: free catch
Color: Yellow
Appearance: Clear
USG: 1.022
Glucose: Neg
Bilirubin: Neg
Ketones: Neg
Blood: Neg
pH: 6.0
Protein: ++
Urobilinogen: normal
Leukocytes: neg
WBC / hpf: ----
RBC / hpf: ----
Casts / hpf: ----
Epithelials / hpf: ----
Bacteria: + cocci ( ? )
Crystals: + amorphous fragments
Recheck Date: 7 / 20 / 2010
Collection Method: voided
Color: Bright Yellow
Appearance: Clear
USG: 1.030
Glucose: neg
Bilirubin: neg
Ketones: neg
Blood: neg
pH: 7
Protein: 3+
Urobilinogen: neg
Leukocytes: neg
WBC / hpf: neg
RBC / hpf: neg
Casts / hpf: neg
Epithelials / hpf: neg
Bacteria: neg
Crystals: + fragments
He had another urinalysis done in October and the vet said he had some crystals but other than that she didn't say much. I did have ( UPC ) ratio done two different times. Here are the results from those two tests.
August 24th, 2010
Urine Creatinine: 116.7
Protein Quantitative: 76.0 T.
Protein Creatinine Ratio: 0.7
October 5th, 2010:
Urine Creatinine: 111.9
Protein Quantitative: 70.0
T. Protein Creatinine Ratio: 0.6
He had a CBC / Chemistry panel done on June 23rd, 2010
Results that important regarding his kidneys:
Creatinine was 0.7
His BUN was 17
Sorry for the long post....After successfully clearing the lymes from his system with the doxycycline in June....he didn't have another tick on him until October 2010. After the UPC was done in August, the vet put him on doxycycline for 21 days to see if the number could be lowered and it did decrease, as you can see from the results. So he was on doxy in June for 28 days, on doxy in August / Sept for 21 days. Then, on October 25th.. I felt a bump on him and found another tick! I felt absolutely terrible because as I said before I wasn't using any tick / flea meds so it's my fault entirely. but after his lyme exposures in May, I stopped letting my dog run around near the woods so I didn't understand why this was happening in the fall. The tick I found was engorged - I didn't have the tick twister so I tried to use tweezers and ended up squashing the tick. I was devastated. The next day, the vet was called and I asked if my dog could be put on doxycycline. She said only for 14 days, which I found weird because I thought it might need to be longer but we did it for the 14 days. So he was on doxycycline for 2 weeks.... After the 2 weeks.. another week went by and I was having anxiety about my dog being exposed to lyme again, and I don't want the lyme to do further damage to my dog's kidneys because I believe he has lyme nephritis. So the vet was called again and she said only to ease my worries, she would put him on doxycycline for one week. This didn't make sense to me, as I've read it's appropriate to put the dog on doxy for 28-30 days or sometimes even more to clear the bacteria. I was upset but agreed to one week. So he was on doxycycline starting Oct 26th for two weeks, then skip one week and he was one it for a third separate week. My concern is that he should go on doxycycline for atleast 28 days. Does anyone agree with me or can anyone give me some feedback on all of this. If he had one engorged tick on him that was squashed, wouldn't it be right to put him on doxycycline for a full 28 days? I know that he is 14 years of age and no doubt in my mind that the vaccines he received at age 12 and 13, lowered his immune system or did even worse, like damaged his kidneys. So, I'm not sure what to do... If the vet is called again - she's really going to think I'm crossing the line for wanting to put him on doxycycline for 28 days to an exposure to one tick... Other than that, he has still been drinking more and urinating more. I told the vet that and he's going to have follow up bloodwork and urinalysis done in January or February. I did purchase a product called Petalive TF Defense - it's used to help support the immune system when a dog has lymes - here is the link,
TF-Defense - Support Dog & Cat Health During Tick Fever Recovery if anyone has used it or has any info on it, that would be greatly appreciated. It contains, Milk Thistle which I've never given my dog and I'm nervous about it. If anyone has any suggestions on any supplements / meds that would be beneficial for my dog , that would be also appreciated. I'm sorry for the long message
Thanks, Jessica