got a call from the vet...wwyd?

[Katy]

The vet that my son takes his dog to has a sign at their front desk that says it's illegal for them to dispense antibiotics without having seen the animal. Anyone know if that is true? I know my vets are very hesitant to just hand out antibiotics without seeing the animal and knowing for sure what they're treating.

 

[alabamachick]

My American Bulldog would get skin infections from scratching himself raw when his allergies were bad. I just called and told the vet that he had the infections again and they prescribed more antibiotics.

Course, after a year of visiting the vet every two weeks I think they were tired of seeing me!

BUT, now Patrón is on all holistic food and has not had one break out of Hives in almost a year! (I probably just jinxed myself...)

 

[sourland]

Doxycycline which is very effective in treating Lyme disease can be purchased from any of the vet supply catalog. Go to revivalanimal.com and buy Bird Biotic-(Doxycline 100 Mg.) one hundred capsules for $24.99. One capsule A.M. and P.M. for 4 weeks. Many dogs will run positive titers for Lyme disease yet never show symptoms for a variety of reasons. Lyme disease is not transmissible from dogs to humans or other dogs. The vector which most commonly transmits the disease is the deer tick. If caught when the first symptoms appear, it can be cured. If it reaches a chronic state, it is much more difficult to eradicate and repeated treatments may be necessary.

 

[WriterofWords]

I think if the vet knows the animal and knows the situation around the animal and has already diagnosed an animal they live with and are in close contact with they would usually work with the customer, mine does. I wouldn't suggest calling a vet and saying "Hey my dog scratching give me drugs".. that's a whole different story.

 

[klf73]

I talked to a few people and they said the dogs should "seem sick", less of an appetite, lethargic....my dogs are healthy, lively, and since the kids were feeding them when I had the baby they are also FAT, so no less of an appetite

. I am wondering if they have lyme disease at all?? I think I might talk to MY vet and see what they say, see if they have heard anything about this other vet. They neutered my other dog and they are just expensive, that is why I went to this other one. I miss my old vet

eta- 2 of the dogs are beagles and I saw no ticks on them last year and the chicken coop is near them so the girls are always picking up the bugs around their pen. This year is terrible for ticks but they are telling me the dogs would have contracted it last year for it to show up now...

 

[sourland]

I think, and this just an opinion, that there is a difference in susceptibility to Lyme. I have lots of beagles. All of them are exposed to ticks at some time or other regardless of how careful I am. I would guess that they all have been exposed to the spirochete that causes Lyme disease. Only perhaps 10% of my dogs break with evident disease. My vet believes that some dogs and people react to an initial infection, their immune system battles and conquers it, and then they have a naturally induced titer against the disease. The hobby that I am involved in finds me in the outdoors a lot. Of the many people who paricipate in this hobby, only a small percentage get Lyme disease even though all are bitten by ticks at one time or another. I am one of the unlucky ones who caught Lyme disease. Doxycycline cleared me, and then I took part in a vaccine development program. That was as bad as getting the disease. (Which is why the vaccine is not reccommended.) However my titer is so high that now I am apparently immune to the disease. Therefore, your dogs may not have the disease, but if they have titers to Lyme, they have been exposed. They may have a naturally induced immunity or they may be going to show frank symptoms at some time in the future. The most common symptom my dogs have evidenced is rapid onset arthritic pain.

 

[klf73]

do you know how long it was after they were bit that they developed any syptoms. They are telling me they would have caught it last year as it takes time to show in the bloodwork but the dogs dont' seem sick at all....

 

[sourland]

Just did a Yahoo search. Dogs which show symptoms do so within three to five months of exposure. 95% of dogs infected do not develop symptoms. The jury is out on whether or not these dogs will develop arthritic symptoms at some time in the future. Try a search using "Lyme disease incubation period."

 

[bwebb7]

Vets are licensed and therefore they have "rules" they must adhere to. Like your doc-they need a medical record to dispense meds! They can be fined and "hung out to dry" in the media if they are found to have dispensed drugs illegally.
Be glad your dogs are getting good treatment-the effects could be awful!