Tuesday, July 21, 2015

I got a case of Limes by River Song

Sometimes life hands you limes.  

I got some limes handed to me when I went to the vet.  Things were going great.  I got to go in the car with Mom and Dad while Pocket stayed home.  I got to meet another dog.  I was having a wonderful time

Then I got put on the cold table.  I got poked, prodded, had blood drawn, got a chip put in, got all sorts of shots.  It was terrible.  Finally I was ready to go home when the vet tech told my Mom that a tick gave me limes.

I could hear Mommy’s heart drop.  Her face turned white  The vet tech saw this and started to give my Mom statistics that made my little head spin. 99% of dogs who don’t show symptoms of limes at the time of diagnosis respond to the antibiotics.  All Mommy heard was that I had a case of the limes and there was a chance I wouldn’t get better.

When Mommy got home she read everything she could about Limes.  Most of it was good news but Mommy suffers from WPS (Worried Parents Syndrome) and she concentrated on the bad news like how in rare instances limes can cause kidney damage.  When you suffer from WPS rare turns to likely.

Thanks to some close friends in the dog blogging world Mommy has calmed down.  I have been vaccinated and the vet says that I am going to be fine.  I will have a test in another six months to see if the disease is still active in my system.

Mommy want you to know some important things about Lyme disease.  In certain parts of the country, especially the northeast, 70 percent of dogs will get bit by a tick and contract Limes.  Out of that 70 percent 95 percent will be able to fight off the illness through self produced antibodies.  Some dogs, like my friend Butkus, will develop symptoms that range from lameness in a leg (it will switch from one leg to the other) and in some cases dogs will be unable to walk.  Dogs like me are battling the disease inside of us and it is possible that I would have been able to defeat it myself but the drugs greatly increase the odds.  In severe or chronic cases the antibodies created by the body to fight the disease will become trapped in the kidneys causing damage but this happens in less than one percent of the cases.  If your dog does contracts Limes there is an excellent chance of full recovery but there is also a vaccine to protect us from the disease and tick prevention medicine is also still needed.

Wow, that left me confused.  All I can tell you if you see a little bloodsucker selling fruit stay away or you will get Limes.  

But right now I am getting a pill inside a piece of chicken.  To me chicken twice a day is better worth the Limes.

7 comments:

  1. We are lucky not to have ticks in this area except once when our neighbors' dog brought them in. Ticks are disgusting and so is Limes.

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  2. Thank you for this information sweetie, we do have ticks in our area here in the Midwest. Tell mom to stay strong, and you rest and let the medicine work! stella rose and momma

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  3. We hope your limes goes away and your parts are all good!

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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  4. Oh No! River we are sorry you have the limes. We have had a bad tick year, Mom is hesitant to go camping for fear of the ticks. Hope the medicine takes care of you and you will be all better!
    hugs
    Mr Bailey, Hazel & Mabel

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  5. We're so glad that your vet caught it and now we'll keep all these paws crossed that you'll be just fine again. Our Mom worries about ticks too, so we get a Lymes shot every year.

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  6. Chicken does ALMOST make it worth it. Good to know about ticks. We're lucky where we live there aren't any.....too dry, we think.

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  7. Da only use for limes are margaritas.

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