kevinwike

After tossing it back and forth for a long time, we had our dobe Stella (6 mos old) vaccinated for Lymes disease. Our area, (SouthCentral Pennsylvania) has a real bad Lymes problem in alot of the mountain/forest areas. A friend of ours moved into a heavily wooded area and within one year both dogs contracted Lymes, the one dog died from it and the other will live but is in pretty bad shape.


I know it's not 100% by any means, but I figured any protection is better than none.

Opinions?

Luvbirds59

I put it on Petey too. My Weim Mason had Lyme and was treated for it several times, it never went away, and he had physical problems because of it.

Carol

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BackInBlack

All of my dogs have had the shot for it. Ziris had a bad reaction to it. She got a big lump where the shot was given and it took awhile to go away, but I still dont regret doing it. Lyme disease is no bueno.

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poconogal

My first German Shepard got Lymes from Northern PA. After months and months of different antibiotics, my sitting on the floor to hand feed her and hoisting her up so she could go outside to do her "stuff" the fever finally went away and it went into remission. But it left her spine extremely arthritic. Luckily, Rimadyl had just come out and the vet prescribed it for her. It was a lifesaver for her, because without it she would have been in agony and would have had to be put down. Dogs I've had after her have all gotten the Lymes vaccine every year. I live in a heavily wooded area with lots of deer. I've not had any dog contract Lymes who had the vaccine. I also use a tick collar too, but not the Frontline or Zodiac collars. Its only for ticks, I get it from the vet and it does not allow the tick to attach (and I can't remember the name of it). Drawback is that it is only good for 3 months, tops. My new Dobie, who we just adopted, has his vet appt. this week and he will get the Lymes vaccine.

Bizzy & Howie

All three of my Dad's dogs had or have Lymes (two died, but only one b/c of the Lymes). Both of my doggies are vaccinated. The thing that stinks is that Lyme isn't the only disease carried by ticks. None of the others can be vaccinated against, and they seem to have the same or similar effects on the dog.

reddobes

We have a fair amount of Lyme disease in MN so I discuss the vaccine with clients. I recommend it for any dog that is getting a lot of tick exposure.

I have seen more local reactions with the Ft. Dodge vaccine as compared to the Merial vaccine (pain/swelling at vaccine site) and therefore have used mostly the merial vaccine. But I think they are both effective and FD vaccine is much cheaper.

Just a note the the tick collar that poconogal mentioned. I am guessing she is talking about the Preventic collar-- if so it is very effective, but needs to be fitted correctly and needs to stay on (not just put on when the dog is outside) to be effective. Also a cautionary note for households with multiple dogs (or houdini-type dogs that get collars off), the collar contains Amitraz which is very toxic if ingested and can have some medication interactions (selegiline).

poconogal

Yes, that's the collar I was trying to remember - Preventic.

Codysmom

my newf and my ex husband had it at the same time when I lived in western NJ. both were on the same dose of doxycycline. the lymes triggered a lot of joint problems in my newfie and was really the beginning of the end for him.

Sadly, the ex survived......

cc

JavasMom

We have deer that track thru the back of our property and sleep on our front lawn, so having Java get her Lyme vaccine was a no-brainers for us. Wish they would develop the human version asap....