Poor Sasha

Sasha started limping about a week ago. She has a habit of taking off on a run too quickly and frequently sprains her ankle(s). We've taken her to the vets many times and been told that there is nothing they can do and to have her rest. Not this time...She couldn't even get up to go out and pee so we took her to the vet and found out she has Lyme Disease.  We started her on the antibiotics and within 5-6 hours we can already see a difference.  She is walking up and down the stairs and barking at us.  My husband thinks she is yelling at us for not taking her to the vet earlier.  I think she is just happy because she feels better.   

This area is loaded with deer ticks.  We have a fenced in back yard where the deer can't get in, so it is unlikely she picked up a tick there. We see a lot of deer on our daily walks.  The dogs are so used to seeing them, they regard them with the same interest as squirrels.  Since we walk in the middle of the road, it is unlikely that Sasha picked up a tick on our walks.  She most likely picked it up while romping through the state forest a couple of weeks ago with my husband.

It's kind of sad that the one thing the dogs love to do the most, running in the wide open fields and finding a pool of water to swim in, is not the best thing for them because of the huge tick population.  The flea and tick medicine is not 100% effective and two of the dogs have an autoimmune problem so we have to be careful and limit vaccinations, especially the Lyme Disease vaccine.  

This was not a problem when we lived up north.  The dogs ran in the fields almost every day, swam in the lake for a good part of the year and had so much more play space. We never had a problem with ticks or Lyme Disease because it was too far north.  The deer stayed in the woods and away from people.  You never saw one walking down the street or eating on someones front lawn.  This is the one thing I miss the most for both the dogs and my husband.


Driving to the State Forest to go for a hike. They get so excited.  It's like Disneyworld for dogs.



Sasha loves the car.



And she loves to watch the road over my husband's shoulder.



Sasha trotting in the state forest last December.

Update:  The short burst of energy Sasha felt on the first day didn't last very long.  It has taken about a week for her to get most of her energy back.  We went for a short walk yesterday and she was still a little lame.  She wants to go but her body isn't letting her.  Maybe another week and she will be back to normal.  It's amazing that a tiny little tick can cause so much damage.