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*Last edited by chopper on Sat Oct 28, 2006 9:01 pm; edited 1 time in total*

Thought I would share my current situation...

Two weeks ago Friday my 5 yr old golden let out a single yelp while sitting at the foot of the couch. Thinking that was a little odd I gave him a good once over to see if he had sustained an injury. Nothing. The next morning I awoke to him whimpering and quivering quite severely. A quick run to the vet resulted in a diagnosis of an injured tale and a prescription of pain meds.

Wednesday this week, 10 days later, pup was not acting quite like himself yet and we returned to the vet to see what else could be done. I noted to the vet that he had been acting sore, though we had not done any exercising. I also noted that he had been scratching a lot. Looking pup over the vet found a rash and prescribed a general skin antibiotic. Not satisfied she decided to do a blood test to check for anything abnormal.

Pup's been acting better since starting the antibiotic but, still a bit lethargic. The results of the test came in this morning and I just got off the phone with the vet. Diagnosis - Rocky Mtn Spotted Fever. Treatment is an antibiotic for 14 days and full recovery is not guaranteed according to the vet. I did find one tick 3 weeks ago dispite pup being up to date on his flea/tick/heartworm meds.

Leaving for SD in 5 days for an 11 day trip and dreams of hunting pheasants behind my pup have been suspended. At this point, I'm just hoping that I don't lose my hunting partner...

chopper

A morning at the lake

Quail hunting

Sorry to hear about the sore/sick pup. I wish you both a full & speedy recovery. You just can't be too carefull. What flea & tick treatment do/were you using?

He's been on Revolution since he was a pup. Vet recommended it b/c it was an all in one. I've moved to a different vet since then due to issues poor service. Should have changed treatment too. As one may assume, I'm looking for a different brand of flea/tick treatment. Thinking about Advantix.

Pup starts on Doxycycline in the morning. The vet said I should have a good indication of how much he's going to recover within 48 hours. Just have to wait and see at this point.

Chopper

Again, I wish you both the best. I use Advantix on my boy (Rusty) and it seems to work pretty well. It protects against fleas, ticks, & mosquitos. I've yet to find any of the three on him. It's not water proof, but does work pretty well, unless your dog does a lot of swimming. I highly recomend it.
http://www.k9advantix.com

Guest

Sincere wishes for a speedy and full recovery......that is a stout and handsome dog.

Thank you Birdswatter. His coat makes him look a bit larger than the 75lbs he really is.

Sounds like Advantix is out, pup swims about 300 days a year. I live near a couple of lakes and a river and you can't hardly keep him dry on his daily walk.

Pup has responded well to the meds and his energy is back to just about normal. I've yet to run him for more than 20 min though (he usually get's a hour a day). Skin just needs to clear up. Still has the nasty red bumps. Vet said that if he continues to do well SD is a go.

Chopper

Glad to hear that pup is feeling better. Looks like I stand corrected on protection after swimming or bathing. If you read the info on the Advantix website, under 'About K9 Advantix', you'll find the following statement.

Keeps working after swimming or bathing.
K9 AdvantixTM remains effective after swimming or bathing. After repeated swims,
it kills 97.9-100% of ticks and 92.5-100% of fleas. After bathing, it kills 97.4-100% of ticks and fleas.4 You can use it with confidence for dogs who like water.

That's better protection than I was previously aware of. All I had ever heard about any of them, were that they were water resistant. I live on the edge of the foothills of Sierra's. Rusty & I spend a good amount of time in the mountians, rivers & streams, area reservoirs, and very soon, the Sacramento river levees, & flood control plains. Like I said earlier, I've yet to find a flea, tick, or even mosquitos on Rusty. I believe Advantix to be the best protection available today, and will continue to use it with even more confidence. Read up on Advantix, Advantage, & Frontline, etc., and talk to your new vet. Go with what you feel you are the most comfortable with.

*Last edited by LiverTick on Tue Oct 31, 2006 9:48 am; edited 1 time in total*

Mrs./Dr. LiverTick, DVM, uses Frontline Plus exclusively on all of her patients, including Greta, the family bird finder. It is advertised as waterproof. and I have no reason to dispute that claim, especially with all of the swimming the pooch does, and never finding a flea or tick on her.

Here are some links that might be helpful:

Tick Associated Diseases: Ehrlichiosis, Haemobartonellosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Lyme disease

http://www.beaconforhealth.org/Tick-Associated-Diseases.htm
http://www.vetinfo4dogs.com/dlyme.html
http://www.cvm.okstate.edu/instruction/kocan/ticks/tickok.htm
http://www.caes.state.ct.us/FactSheetFiles/Entomology/TickborneDiseases02.pdf

Member Joined: 18 Nov 2005 Posts: 398 Location: S Fl

Drew,
You reminded me of a question I've been meaning to ask.
Mrs Foursquare, M.T. (ASCP) microbiologist, says that the Lyme spirochete can't survive above 1500 ft elevation. Hence it's initial appearance in the coastal area of Lyme, CT.

Do the mountain state residents even need to worry about it?

Pete

Pete: Scroll down this site and there is a nice map of the Lyme distribution in the US http://textbookofbacteriology.net/Lyme.html
Unfortunately, there are plenty of other tick borne baddies out there including Colorado Tick Fever and RMSF which is emerging in the White Mtns of eastern AZ.

3 years ago I found a small deer tick on me a few days after hunting turkeys in Wis. A week later after returning home I developed the classic "Bulls Eye Rash". Went to the Doc and was prescribed a months worth of antibiotics which cleared things up. I live at 7000' and the spirochetes stayed alive long enough to at least give me the rash and some mild flu-like symptoms.

Dennis

Well, took pup on his hour walk today and all indications are that he's doing fine! Before the walk he was bouncing off the walls...back to normal!!! First 30 min were a bit tough keeping him close (15yds), but he setteled down and quartered well after that. Packed the dog stuff ...