Lyme Positive On Screening Test - Now What?

YOUR PET HAS TESTED LYME POSITIVE on our screening test.  This test screens for antibodies against the bacteria that causes Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdorferi).  

What does this mean?  What should you do for your pet?

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? 

• This means that at some point in the past, a tick was able to attach to and feed on your pet long enough to pass the bacteria that causes Lyme disease to your dog.  Once this bacteria was in your dog’s blood, the immune system produced antibodies against this bacteria to try and fight it off, and that is what is showing up on this test.  
• A positive test means positive for exposure, but DOES NOT mean your dog is going to get sick from Lyme disease.  Some dogs can in fact get very sick, but most dogs that show up positive do not ever develop signs of illness.  If you are receiving this email, it is likely that your dog is healthy and not showing signs of Lyme disease, but showed up positive, which indicates at least exposure at some point in the near or distant past, even years ago. 

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO FOR YOUR PET? 

• PREVENTION AGAINST FURTHER INFECTION:  This is a sure indication that your pet has been exposed to a tick in the past, and likely could be exposed again in the future.  We recommend year-round preventatives.  You NEED to keep your pet on a good flea and tick preventative to kill the tick before it has a chance to infect your pet with more bacteria that could potentially be harmful to your dog!
• The most common form of illness that we see in dogs from Lyme disease is single or multiple limb lameness with joint swelling, fever, lethargy, and mild lymph node enlargement.  Less frequently, we can see dogs develop a very severe kidney disease that causes excessive drinking, urinating, decreased appetite, vomiting, and can be life threatening.  If you are concerned about any of these things, please call to follow up with your doctor, or set up an appointment if you were not just recently in to see the doctor. 

Do I need to do further testing or treat my pet?

• According to the most recent ACVIM consensus update on Lyme Borreliosis in dogs and cats (2018), it is not generally recommended to treat unless your pet is showing signs of illness.  If you have concerns about this and want to discuss further, please call to follow up with your doctor. 
• ADDITIONAL TESTING RECOMMENDATIONS: If your dog has shown up positive, the ideal follow-up would be to rule out any changes in blood cells or kidney values through blood and urine sampling.  At the very least, it is a good idea to rule out any evidence of any impact on the kidneys by checking a clean urine sample for evidence of protein loss.  If Lyme related kidney disease develops, early intervention is most important. 
• There are some other forms of testing, such as antibody titers, which your doctor may recommend doing for baseline and/or monitoring purposes, but this titer level does not consistently correlate with illness, so it may be discussed by your doctor if they feel it is something that should be considered.  

If you have any questions or concerns about this Lyme positive finding, please call the office to discuss with your doctor further.  We recommend you consider follow up with blood and/or urine screening, and if you would like to get this scheduled, please call the office to do so.   

Thank you!