I took the dogs to the lake this morning for the first time in several weeks. It felt great. I don’t realize how much I miss those early jaunts until I’ve skipped a few weeks.
We couldn’t go last week because Xena had Lyme’s disease. After I returned from a trip to San Antonio, she was crying and whining every time she got to her feet. One vet visit, a blood test and $250 later, we found out she had Lyme’s. This is the second time a tick-borne disease has hit one of my dogs. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever almost killed poor Bubba 8 or so years ago.
Thanks to antibiotics, Xena has recovered, as terrified rabbits at Melton Hill Lake can attest …
2 replies on “Curse of the bloodsucking ticks”
do you vaccinate the dogs in dixie? lyme’s is so commonplace here in pennsylvania that it is standard to vaccinate for it. i was vaccinated myself until they stopped making it for humans (lack of demand because the health plans wouldn’t cover it). now i can get neither boosters nor tested for the disease, since i will have the antibodies from the vaccine.
Apparently, lyme’s is not a big problem in the South. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is much more common. My vet was surprised this is what Xena had. They don’t vaccinate for it. After a few weeks on antibiotics, Xena seems to be doing fine.