Sunday, October 21, 2018

Kit, my Icelandic Sheepdog has a very long time between seasons; I thought I would breed her to a great male when she came into season recently but before that could happen she had to be health checked. She has tested positive for the presence of the Borrelia bacteria which cause lyme disease. Although she had none of the symptoms, including arthritis, lameness, appetite loss, energy loss, and fever, she would have to be treated before we could even consider puppies. As a precaution, I had all of my dogs tested. They all tested positive except Tot - and maybe it was just too soon for the presence of Borrelia bacteria to show up on Tot's screen. Lyme has not shown up in our county until this year. Although dogs may have picked up and carried the infection into our county, this may have been one of the earliest cases of dogs who actually have caught the disease here.

Of course lyme is very serious and can lead to heart disease, central nervous system disorders and fatal kidney disease. We are beginning treatment this week.

Reviewing the literature has left me more confused than enlightened.

* There is a vaccine against the Borrelia but apparently it must be given every year. I was not aware of that.
* There is a collar the repels fleas and the ticks that carry and transmit the virus to healthy dogs. It is supposed to last eight months.
* There are topical chemicals that when applied to the skin will prevent the infection from spreading from a tick to the dog. There are other tick borne diseases that are not treated as effectively as lyme with those chemicals apparently. The affect of the chemicals may last a month or longer.
* C-Doxycycline is a drug that is supposed to reduce (or eliminate?) the Borrelia from the system. Perhaps it reduces the numbers to a manageable level? Pills must be taken twice a day for a month.

Knowing me, you know that I ask lots of questions. Apparently there are not answers.

* How can we best protect our animals? And ourselves?
* If there's a vaccine for dogs, why isn't there one for humans?
* What is/are the best course of treatment(s)?
* Is Borrelia completely eliminated from the system?
* Once "cured" is it safe for a female to carry pups?
* If Borrelia lies dormant, might it reemerge?

This year seems to be a banner year for ticks. Why is that, I wonder. I know that although they are called deer ticks they are probably more frequently spread by small mammals like the various mice and other rodents, possibly squirrels & rabbits, maybe cats, raccoons, foxes, etc. This year we have had a blossoming of the deer population because of a lack of natural predators. Why isn't the hunting season increased to reduce their numbers which might reduce the incidence of deer wasting disease and tick borne illnesses?

Lyme is new here but it has been around for decades, centuries, and even millenia. Otsi the Iceman that was found frozen after thousands of years in the Alps had lyme disease.

I had the test Saturday and await the results. The test for Borrelia in dogs takes only a few minutes. I must wait several days. Why?

I'm not worried actually. We will do the best we can with the available information.

When the C-Doxycycline medicine arrives, we'll use it.
When the Seresto collars arrive, we'll put them on.
When my diagnosis comes, I'll deal with it.

In the meantime: -

Halloween Eyes?

The sun will still rise. Waves will shape the beaches. The ships will continue to ply the waves. The earth will continue spinning on its axis and orbiting the sun making seasons in the temperate zones. Cats will remain aloof. Politicians will feather their own nests, not ours. We'll do our best, as Voltaire instructed. Clicking on photos will enlarge them.

So, I've been watching many DVDs to pass the time and have started knitting an afghan using an old recipe written in my Danish Grandmother's European cursive that I found accidentally mixed in with a bunch of other things a couple of weeks ago. The color of the photos is a bit off. My camera doesn't do this range of colors well. If you'd like a copy of her recipe, email me at: -  jaimehansen1@frontier.com