Lyme or lymphoma?

[dawgmama]

Right before Thanksgiving, my 6 year old GWP became very sick. Hemorrhage in her eye, stopped eating, drooling, very quick decline. We took her to the emergency vet (of course she went downhill rapidly, at night), and they suspected Pyometra(uterine infection). Her platelets were extremely low, she had a temp, membranes gray and she tested positive for Lyme Disease. They stabilized her with IV fluids, a blood transfusion, iv antibiotics and we scheduled an emergency spay with our up north vet for the next morn. We left there with a dog that was still breathing, and a huge bill. Our vet spayed her, but... he said her uterus looked fine, he thought she was so sick from the Lyme Disease. He put her on 200 mgs of Doxycycline daily.

We went home, and she was still in a lot of pain, and doing poorly, so we took her to our regular vet. He upped her Doxy to 300 mgs a day, and put her on Prednisone for the pain. She began to improve, and we were optimistic, however, after we weaned her off of the Pred on Jan. 8th, she developed very enlarged lymph nodes a week later. I took her to the vet on Sat,Jan. 16th, and now they suspect lymphoma!

Has anyone had a dog with lymphoma? What symptoms did it present with? Could the enlarged lymph nodes be a rebound reaction from going off the Pred? Since Pred is an immune suppressor, could the enlarged nodes be because she is still fighting the Lyme? Last night, Sunday, I actually gave her 10 mgs of Pred again, because her lymph nodes under her jaw were so huge she was wheezing a bit as she breathed, and I didn't want them to close up her airway overnight. The Pred did shrink them some, and she was able to drink more easily this morn. I am waiting for test results from the fluid the vet aspirated on Sat. Does anyone have any ideas? She is a great dog. The best, most cautious grouse dog we've ever had. Her mom died 5 days before she got sick, I don't want to lose another!

[Sharon]

Wow, what a heartache. I'm very sorry you have to go through this.

This is a site I use. Maybe it will give you some additional insight - see the paragraph on kinds of lymphomas and symptoms. I wish your dog well.

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=575

[Kiki's Mom]

Did the vets run a FULL tick born disease panel and did they biopsy the lymph nodes? Until both of those are done you won't have an answer. Rocky Mtn Spotted Fever presents with many of the same symptoms as lymphoma.....
Our Ziggy had RMSF and his lymphs swelled so badly he couldn't eat, and could barely drink....
Sending you lots of healing ZEN and hoping your girl pulls through...........

[dawgmama]

Hi sharon and Kiki's mom. Sharon, I couldn't see the link you spoke of, but thank you for your kind thoughts. Kiki's mom, they ran a Snap 4Dx test. I don't think that is as 'full' as it could be. She tested neg. for heartworm, pos. for Lyme, Neg. for E. canis, and Neg. A phagocytophilum. The last two tend to attack the platelets, so that is odd. I am on a tick borne diseases forum, and the posters there state that it is not unusual to get a false negative for E. canis, and Anaplasma, so I wonder is that is the case?

The vet called and said he did not think it was lymphoma! Yippee! He thinks it is a "immune mediated disease". He put her back on 20 mgs of Pred, and we are awaiting the opinion of a specialist that they sent some of the fluid from her lymph nodes to. After we hear from him, we will plan our continued attack.

I hope your Ziggy pulled through his fight with RMSF, Kiki's mom!

Thanks,
Nan

[kumate]

I just lost may 10 yr pld gsp last year tolymphoma, he went off his feed lost weight, energy still pretty high, and his lymph nodes swelled. Did needle biopsy and positive for lymphoma. Started on pred and the nodes went back to normal fast , i had my old buddy back. Had to keep increasing the pred until finaly it did no good and had to put him down.

Good luck with your dog

Jerry

[dawgmama]

Awe man, so sorry to hear about your dog Jerry. We just lost my sick dog's mother to a tumor on her spleen that burst. It always hurts to lose a dog, but she was almost 14, and it was quick. Treating them, and knowing we are prolonging the outcome is harder on me. Dogs just don't live long enough!

Nan

[Kiki's Mom]

Hi Nan.

Hoping your girl is on the mend. Actually I don't trust the Snap test for the tick born diseases much. A full blood work up is my preference. I sure hope your girl continues on the mend and you can get to the root of the problem quickly.

Ziggy did make it through the RMSF when he was Dxd in 2004. He passed away in 2006 of Sudden Onset Accute Respirtatory Disorder. My husband refused an autopsy and so we don't know if that was related to his RMSF or not. It was a really tuff time on both of us. Ziggy was his heart dog and my trial partner.

His legend lives on though in my Avatar dog, King, and my DC girl Jade.

[shags]

We had a dog with lypmphoma. She started with vomiting, and that was what made us take her to the vet where she was diagnosed. She reacted very positively to the initial doses of prednisone before she went irreversibly downhill. She couldn't keep even water down at the end of her life.

Another dog we had displayed symptoms similar to your dog's. He was just sick, weak, pale gums etc. He responded to antibiotics, then let down, and repeated this for several cycles. His bloodwork was inconclusive, but finally he was found to have a huge (eight pounds!) tumor on his spleen. The tumor was removed and his health returned.

[dawgmama]

Thanks Helen and Shags.
Good to hear that you got a bit more time with Ziggy before... Nice looking Britts. My husband had a Britt when we started dating in high school. She was the one who made me fall in love with both him and pointing dogs.

Shags, tumor on his spleen? That is what we suspect my oldest dog Belle may have had when she died in Nov. She was never ill until the day before she died though. Man, that darn cancer! I don't even use fertilizer on our lawn!

The specialist who looked at the aspirate and blood work thinks it is Lymphocytic Leukemia, but... my vet disagrees due to the fact that she had improved so much since Nov. Her platelets had gone back up into the normal range, and dumped when she was off the pred for a week. I'm so confused. Unfortunately she started vomiting Tue. night, and didn't stop till the vet gave her a shot. She has a temp. and everything hurts. She did eat a bit of ice cream and oatmeal cookie today, she turned her nose up at the chicken and rice.

Sigh, this is so hard, wondering what to believe and what to do.

Thanks for all your input, I'm praying that it is a Lyme relapse. That is treatable. She could even have 2 tick borne diseases at the same time.

Nan

[stlgsp]

How long did you have her on Doxy? One of my girls came down with Lyme a couple of years ago, around that same time two other people I know had dogs come down with it too. We kept my girl on Doxy for a full 8 weeks while the other two were on it for 4 weeks. Both of those dogs had a relapse while we did not. There was a notable difference after the second day of Doxy, the soreness was still there for another couple of weeks after the start of treatment but not near as bad.

[dawgmama]

Shes been on Doxy since November 20th. 300 mgs a day, and 20 mgs of Prednisone daily, weaned off on Jan 8th. She 'relapsed' 8 days after stopping the Pred. Her lymph nodes just became huge, all of them. She was and is still on Doxy, except today, with all her vomiting yesterday, and not eating today. He also put her on 400mgs a day of Amoxicilin 2x a day, along with the Doxy, but not till she is eating again. Some of the Lyme sites suggest that 300 mgs a day was not aggressive enough. Sigh.

Glad to hear that you had no relapse!

Nan

[dawgmama]

Well, we will never know what Ricki had, as she died early this morning, at home. I had been praying if she had to go, she'd go peacefully, and, it appears she did. Sad day in our household.

She will be missed, she was the most cautious grouse dog we ever had. A delight to have around the house. A determined possum killer.Would steal food from my son's gym bag to trade for a dog cookie. And... could get a beer out of the fridge for my husband.

Thanks everyone for your support and suggestions. We sure tried to get her healthy again.

Sigh

[Sharon]

I am so sorry. She was blessed to have folks who cared so much.

[k2k]

I'm so sorry.....

[dawgmama]

Thanks for the condolences. Missing her big time. So glad we still have the 2 sweet, silly Setters. I can't imagine having only one dog, and an empty house. Shudder!

Nan