Lyme disease is an infection caused by the bacterial organism, Borrelia burgdorferi, that lives on deer ticks. When a deer tick bites your dog, this organism can be transmitted to your dog. However, it takes approximately 24 to 48 hours of attachment and feeding on your dog for the tick to infect your dog with Borrelia burgdorferi. This means there is time between coming in contact with the tick and the introduction of B. burgdorferi to either remove the tick mechanically or for a tick preventative, such as Frontline or Advantix, to kill the tick. It is therefore advantageous for you to inspect your dog daily for ticks, and to ask your dog’s vet if a tick preventative medicine is appropriate for your dog.

Symptoms of lyme disease include polyarthritis, kidney disease, and several non-specific symptoms. Polyarthritis is basically a wasting away of the joints in multiple locations throughout the body. However, polyarthritis will usually first manifest itself closest to the location where the deer tick has bitten your dog. Polyarthritis will cause your dog to have sudden, long-lasting or intermittent lameness that shifts from one part of his body to another. In addition, polyarthritis can create joint pain and swelling, anorexia, fever, lethargy, and swollen lymph nodes. The kidney disease associated with the infection is called protein-losing glomerulonephropathy and will cause kidney failure. Protein-losing glomerulonephropathy can occur in all dogs, but is mainly observed in Golden Retrievers and Labrador Retrievers. Symptoms of kidney failure are lethargy, vomiting, ammonia-scented breath, a swollen/distended abdomen, and increased or severely reduced urination. Finally, common miscellaneous symptoms and signs associated with lyme disease include myocarditis (a heart infection), meningitis (a brain and spinal cord infection) and encephalitis (a brain infection).

Your dog is considered to have lyme disease if he tests positive for Borrelia burgdorferi and shows symptoms known to be associated with lyme disease. There are four tests that can be used to assess the presence of antibodies to B. burgdorferi (substances produced by the body’s immune system in response to a foreign invader) and two tests to identify the organism itself. The antibody tests are the ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) test, the IFA (indirect fluorescent antibody) test, the C6 Antibody Test and the Western Blot Assay. There are also two test methods in which the Borrelia burgdorferi organism itself, rather than merely antibodies to the organism, are identified. These test methods are PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and skin culture.

ELISA and IFA will only produce reliable results if your dog has been exposed to B. burgdorferi at least 4 to 6 weeks prior to being tested. At this point, a positive test result will mean that your dog has been exposed to the organism. However, if your dog has had the lyme vaccine test, he will test positive regardless of whether he has actually been exposed to the organism. Another problem with these tests is that they can have cross-reactivity with other types of organisms meaning that these tests can produce a positive result if your dog has been exposed to other organisms besides the lyme disease-causing B. burgdorferi.

The C6 Antibody test is specific for antibodies to natural infection, and therefore, unlike ELISA and IFA, will not give false positives if your dog has been vaccinated against lyme disease. In addition to indicating whether or not your dog has been exposed to the bacteria causing lyme disease, the C6 can tell the vet the amount of antibodies in your dog’s body. A high antibody load may persuade the veterinarian to begin treatment even if your dog has no clinical signs or symptoms of lyme disease. However, there is still controversy as to the accuracy of the quantitative test.

The Western Blot Assay provides your vet with information similar to that gained from the C6 test. However, the Western Blot Assay is much more cumbersome and expensive to perform. Thus, this test is not used as much anymore.

The PCR test, which detects the presence of B. Burgdorferi’s DNA within your dog’s body, can produce false negatives because of the variability of the organism’s location in your dog’s body. The skin culture test, where your vet takes a tissue sample near the tick bite location, presents the problem of locating the exact tick bite spot. In addition, it is very difficult to culture B. burgdorferi due to the organism’s fastidious growth requirements. Finally, both PCR and cultures are highly specialized tests which may not be available at your veterinarian’s office.

Lyme disease is a tough disease to treat as B. burgdorferi undergoes many changes in your dog’s body. The main treatment is generally to put your dog on antibiotics for at least one month. The most common antibiotics prescribed are doxcycline and amoxicillin, and you should see an improvement in your dog’s symptoms after about 4 days of treatment. If your dog is suffering from organ-specific symptoms, such as protein-losing glomerulonephropathy, treatment will begin to support the impacted organ’s functions.

Prevention of lyme disease starts with tick prevention. If your dog lives in an area where exposure to deer ticks is a possibility, you should put your dog on appropriate tick preventative. In addition, you should inspect your dog daily for ticks. Immediately remove any ticks you may find on your dog. Remember there is a 24 to 48 hour period before the organism will be transmitted. Finally, there is a lyme disease vaccine available for dogs. However, the vaccine is not 100% effective and may not be appropriate for every dog. You should discuss with your vet whether or not it make sense to vaccinate your dog against lyme disease.

You cannot get lyme disease simply because your dog has lyme disease. However, humans can get lyme disease just like dogs can. If you live in an area in which there are deer ticks you should speak to your doctor regarding the best methods to safeguard yourself against lyme disease.