Tick Borne Disease.

Dr. Marie replied:

Hi there John...it sounds like you and Bailey have been through a frustrating time! This is a tough one for me to answer but I'll tell you my thoughts on what you have written so far.

First of all, do you know which type of tick borne disease he was positive for? This can really change my answer. Some possible tick borne diseases include ehrlichiosis, rocky mountain spotted fever and again, lyme disease.

None of these would directly cause the ropy saliva...I am wondering if this is due to nausea. Do you know if your vet ran a PLI level? This is a test that is specific for pancreatitis. Pancreatitis does not always show up on regular bloodwork.

Another thought...has your vet done an aspirate of his lymph nodes? At this age, we worry sometimes about lymphoma which is a cancer that can affect the lymph nodes. It doesn't always show up on bloodwork. We sometimes see changes on xrays and ultrasound but sometimes in the early stages of the disease we don't.

Doxycycline is good for most tick borne disease. If we are dealing with a tick borne problem then it is hard to say when symptoms should abate but we should see a gradual increase in his condition from day to day. The fact that he has slipped back again a little has made me worried.

Let me know if you know the name of the tick diseases he is positive for and I'll give you some more information.

Dr. Marie

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