Need quick help - Lyme and Limping symptoms

After more researching I'm now on the fence about taking Teddy Bear in for an MRI on Monday. Our local vet insisted that he does not have Lyme disease because most symptoms are not there -- and told me not to even bother having the blood test done. We live in a very high Lyme incidence region.

What triggered me second guessing this is that I read that if dogs have been vaccinated (Teddy was), they can still get Lyme -- and the symptoms are diminished.

When Teddy walks on hardwood floors, his rear legs slip out, and occasionally his front leg slides out to the side. He has a pretty bad "head bobbing" limp when he walks.

Does that "style" of limping seem at all like it could be Lyme -- or does Lyme cause more of a painful "holding paw up" type of limp?

Also, this limping and leg-slipping started 10 weeks ago, and has been pretty consistent. Would that rule out Lyme?

I'm thinking now of demanding a blood test before we go to the MRI. But if that sounds foolish, I can just stick with the MRI plan.

Help...

-Chris

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Permalink Reply by Christopher on August 16, 2009 at 6:02pm

Thanks, yes we were talking about putting down some runners to help him with traction, or buying those doggie boots for that purpose. And you are right, since he was a puppy he was running around the house and I could see that he would run in place for a 1/2 second every time he started, trying to get traction, so all that could very well be contributing to his current problems.

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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on August 18, 2009 at 3:12pm

My suggestion would be the runners...just because if it's warm the boots might be warmer...he might like chewing on the and also unless he's used them bafore and liked them I would bet he will not like them....
just a thought...

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Permalink Reply by Christopher on August 18, 2009 at 3:19pm

Yes, you are right...I had mentioned the booties to my wife yesterday and she said Teddy would probably try to chew them off. So she's going to look for non-slip runners.

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Permalink Reply by Deanna on September 7, 2009 at 10:25am

Chris, it's been a couple of weeks, and I'm just wondering how Teddy Bear is doing? Did you go to the vet to rule out Lyme? Have the runners worked? Keep us posted when you can!

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Permalink Reply by Christopher on September 8, 2009 at 9:07am

Deanna, Thanks for your thoughts...I'm probably guilty here of starting an extraneous thread; I think I posted an update on Teddy Bear on the other one. He ended up not having Lyme, and the neurologist felt confident that all his issues were stemming from some sort of injury in his neck. He also felt that an MRI wasn't needed at this time. Since then, yes we've been keeping him on carpet or outside on the lawn (which I've been keeping at putting green height). Those things definitely help him keep traction.

He is doing much better now. The really bad "head bobbing" limping is almost totally gone! It is so great to see him get up in the morning and not walk as if he is walking on broken glass. The leg slipping is still there, but also much less evident now (even when he walks on a hard surface).

I'm giving him daily low-impact exercise and keeping him from jumping or hopping down the stairs. My hope is that over the next several weeks the remainder of his symptoms will go away.