Sadie, our piano teacher's seeing-eye dog, gone from Lyme disease

[Deb in IA]

This is a PSA for dog owners. Dogs can get Lyme disease, and it can be fatal.

I did not know this until very recently. Our kids' piano teacher has been blind from birth. She got a new seeing eye dog after the retirement of her other dog this past summer, from Morristown, NJ.

Sadie was a beautiful Golden retreiver/Labrador mix. She was all black, with a Golden's head and tail.

Sadie was not eating well last week. Despite several calls to the vet, she did not get better, and when they finally saw her, she was in renal failure. Despite hospitalization and antibiotics, she did not recover, and was put to sleep on Wednesday. She was only 3 years old, and had only worked for 6 months.

Our vets, who I think sometimes over-prescribe and over-treat, had given our new Labrador a Lyme vaccine. I wondered whether that was needed, since there are no ticks this time of year in Iowa. But apparently, the incubation period for Lyme in dogs can be several months to years, even. And although the Midwest is not an endemic region for Lyme, it is possible that Sadie got it when she was still on the East Coast - I think she was bred in Connecticut.

I know some vets here only vaccinate country dogs, but this may be worth rethinking.

I had no idea there are so many things that can take a dog from you so quickly. We lost our Lewie almost 2 years ago now from canine bloat - the same thing that killed Marley, in Marley and Me. Now there is Lyme disease to worry about too . . .

RIP, Sadie. You were a good dog, and gone much, much too soon . . .

 

[debbi801]

We lost our beloved chocolate lab to that in 2006. The diagnosis was missed originally at the vet. They thought due to his age he had developed artheritis and prescribed various meds for that. By the time they got a correct dx, it was too late. We tried IV meds, hand feeding him, etc. But we finally had to put him to sleep (on valentine's day, no less) after he suffered a stroke.

The first thing we did with our current dog was get him vaccinated.

 

[abdmom]

That's terrible about Sadie. My dog was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2005, in Minnesota. She had been vaccinated against Lyme yearly since 2002 when we got her in Massachusetts. Luckily, she was diagnosed early on and hasn't had any lasting side effects.

 

[kirbydog48]

Please remember that the vaccine is not 100% effective, so use some other preventative (like Frontline). We had many dogs in my town diagnosed last year.

 

[Sleepy]

We took in a dog that had lymes disease. We had no idea. He was a street dog and the first vet visit showed he had it. He had no symptoms.

Later, we discovered he had leishmaniosi. That one is carried by the sand fly. He was very sick and we had no idea why. For all we know, he could have had that from the time we took him off the street, but the American vet on base did not test for it even though it is a common disease here.

ETA: he is fine now. For the Lymes, he had 2 rounds of meds and for the leishmaniosi, he was on meds for about 2 years.

 

[Deb in IA]

Glad to hear that he is OK now, Sleepy.

And yes, you are right, kirby. The vaccine is only about 85% effective, so tick control with Frontline or K-9 Advantix is also very important.

I found lots of good info here:

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+1556&aid=458

 

[Jenvenza]

I hate hearing things like this.

 

[Micca]

I hate hearing things like this.

Me too. As sorry as I am for the dog, what about the piano teacher? Can she get another service dog asap?

 

[kacaju]

I am so sorry. I have a friend who works training the dogs in Morristown NJ. It is amazing to see what these dogs can do!!
My 4-H has a seeing eye dog program so I get to see the dogs all the time in training and it is truly a wonderful program!!

 

[Deb in IA]

Me too. As sorry as I am for the dog, what about the piano teacher? Can she get another service dog asap?

She will use her red-tipped cane until she can get another dog, which probably won't be until June.

 

[JessicaR]

Oh I'm so sorry for her loss. Thats so devasting and I feel so bad for her.

Last year my 180 lb Neapolitan mastiff woke up and could not walk. It seemed like his hind legs were paralyzed. It was a Sunday morning and we called our Vet. I honestly believed he had a tumor or some sort of neurological disorder. Thankfully my Vet met us at his office and took one look at him and said he has Lyme's, I'm sure of it. After a quick blood test and another he sent out it was confirmed. I would have never guessed that. He fully recovered after medication.

Both dogs are vaccinated now. This is a good PSA!