lyme disease, heartworms and not spayed dog

[kimkats000]

We found a dog this weekend in the middle of the highway. NO way we could leave her! Sweet, playful black dog. Looks to be a long hair black retrever. Gave her to a friend for her other dog. They get along great. She took her to the vet to get the shots started and a check over. Dog< now known as Sadie< has tested postive for Lyme disease and heartworms. No spay scar and droppy nips so has had a litter or two.

What do we treat first? Can we treat two things at one time? Do we give her the standard shots right now? Do we start treating the Lyme or do we do the "other test" (I think they would have to send it off)? Every thing I have read says to go ahead and do the lyme treatment. I just wanted to ask y'all. Please advise what YOU would do.

Kim and Sadie thank you!

[Traci]

If your vet used a snap test for heartworm, I would suggest opting for an antigen test to be certain. The lyme's can be confirmed with a Western Blot...yes, both need to be sent to an outside lab.

A heart block can also be associated with lyme's, so I would make sure the heartworm diagnosis is differentiated, that is, if your vet wasn't certain and only relied on a snap test. Depending on the burden of heartworms, symptoms, etc will depend on treatment and length of treatment. During this time, retesting is necessary to gauge response to treatment.

There should be no reason to delay treating the lyme's, unless the dog has other concurrent illness (such as renal disease, etc) that would be sensitive to doxycyline or antiinflammatories.

I would not give any other vaccinations at this time, your vet will determine the necessity based on confirmation of both conditions, response to treatment, and strength of her immune system.

[kimkats000]

Again Traci-THANKS! She has starte the Lyme meds. We will move onto the heartworm treatment next. Kim and Sadie!