Can I Have Some Tequila with that Lyme?

After a recent bout with Lyme disease, BioStar’s Kemosabe shares some valuable canine insights to his treatment regimen, and the whole-food path to better, faster recovery. For more detailed, expert information on canine Lyme disease and how to tackle it, take a look at this article.

A month ago I was feeling fine. Then BAM, one morning I woke up and could hardly move. I moved slower and stiffer than even the most ancient member of our dog pack, Jar Jar Binks, who is like 105 in human years.

I didn’t have much of an appetite either, so Tigger immediately called the vet.

My temp was high-normal, they took blood, they took urine. They tested me for Lyme and Ehrlichia. Fortunately for me, I have quite a fan club at the vet’s office, from the receptionist to the techs. They made quite a fuss over me.

Last year in my routine checkup I tested positive for Ehrlichia but had no symptoms. This time I tested negative for Ehrlichia, positive for Lyme. My urine showed increased glucose and my white blood cell count was low.

The vet put me on a high dose of doxycycline and sent me home. Tigger gave me 150 mgs of doxy in some raw buffalo meat. In a couple of hours I was feeling a little better.

Problem was, treating canine Lyme disease can make some dogs feel worse for a while; that doxycycline really did a number on my gut. By the next morning, after two doses the day before, I did not want to eat. My stomach felt like a forest fire was burning a hole right through it. Tigger tried every one of my favorite foods — buffalo, sardines, Havarti cheese,  cream cheese, peanut butter — but it all smelled nauseating to me. Although I wasn’t as stiff and sore as the day before, the pain in my stomach just made me want to curl up in a corner and sleep.

BioStar’s K9 Terra Biota

Tigger called the vet, and they decided to reduce the doxycycline, and add Tramadol for pain. On just 50 mgs of doxy twice a day, I was able to eat without discomfort, although I wasn’t eating as much as I usually do. After two days on Tramadol once a day, Tigger discontinued the Tramadol, and started me on coconut oil, BioStar’s Colostrum, and Terra Biota.

In 48 hours, I was running around like my usual self. So, five days after my diagnosis, I was raring to go. Of course Tigger had her Warden’s uniform on, and restricted my time outside (no herding chickens, no chasing squirrels, no roughhousing with Thunderbear). My meals tasted great; I could wolf my food down with complete canine enthusiasm, licking the bowl clean, and then trying to steal some food from Jar Jar.

Yes, I have astounding recuperative powers — always have. From nearly dying as a 10-week-old puppy from a vaccination, to being bitten in the face by a copperhead snake at 6 months of age, to getting my hip broken by a car when I was 11 months old, I am pretty good at healing.

Okay, so some of the credit goes to the fact that I eat whole food. When I fractured my hip, the surgeon advised that the recovery period would be 16 weeks. But at the 8 week checkup, I was fully healed and sound, thanks in part to the super green diet I was on, with colostrum. “This is very unexpected,” the surgeon commented. Clearly he didn’t know my superpowers — or Tigger the Whole Food Nazi.

By the way, you’ll find much more information about treatments and nutritional support for both equine and canine Lyme disease in this article by Tigger. It’s a subject she cares and knows a lot about.

To all you dogs out there, if you test positive for canine Lyme disease, make sure your human adds coconut oil, Colostrum and Terra Biota to your food. Coconut oil, being a medium-chain triglyceride, is easy to digest, and provides lauric acid for immune support. Bovine colostrum is very soothing to the gastrointestinal tract, and the growth factors in colostrum help heal the intestinal mucosa that I think got whacked by the doxycycline antibiotic.