Lyme disease and the vaccination

My sister's dog tested positive for Lyme disease about a month ago. She's on doxy and they are going to retest her after the round of antibiotics are done. The vet said that they should give the Lyme vaccination at the next appointment anyway though - Meg wasn't very clear on why and I don't understand the reasoning. What good does it do to give a vaccination for something the dog already has? That seems like the opposite of the point of a vax. Sorry this is brief, I'm on my phone but have a picture of Pixie and Buddy in advance thanks.

I could be wrong but I agree, I don't think the vaccine is necessary at this point. The dog will always have lyme and may still test positive for lyme. From what I understand you typically only treat for lyme if the dog is symptomatic.

When Zoie had symptomatic lyme, I was not requested to vaccinate her for it.

ETA, Lyme is one of those things that everyone has different opinions about, for sure. It's very confusing.

Because that is what they are taught to do call but i would love to hear their excuse.....errrrr explanation for that reasoning.

Jackson tested positive for lymes two years ago, and he was showing symptoms (limping badly). They did a round of doxy as well, and he was also on 5 days worth of pain meds for the limping. The first day on meds, he stopped limping. Anyway, we won't do the lymes vaccine.

His lyme test has now come back negative every year and I keep him on either advantix and frontline as needed, which I feel is enough prevention. Our vet does not recommend the lymes vaccine for us, especially since people are trying to link the vaccine to possible kidney problems and sometimes even symptoms that make it look like they have Lyme's Disease. He's outside every day and in woods, near lots of deer, tall grass, camping, etc. Too many unanswered questions about lymes vaccine for my liking and doesn't cover all strains of tick diseases etc.

Good links:
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1588
http://www.drschoen.com/articles_L1_11.html

From what I understand, because it's a bacteria not a virus, the Lyme vaccine helps keep symptoms at bay when the dog is being continually re exposed to the bacteria. My coonhounds all tested positive, all did the round of doxy, the vaccines, and get a yearly booster. We've never had a symptom & bloodwork has always come back perfect (ie our kidneys aren't shot). To each their own but with as much exposure as they were getting in PA I went with my vet's reccommendation, mostly because I really liked/trusted her. Also I came on here for advice because it didn't make sense to me either, and got some info (I think from elegy?) Anyhoo - just our experience. We'll probably phase it out now that we're in SoCal and I don't foresee any exposure, at least not for Liz.

I don't know. The vets I work for recommend vaccinating dogs who have tested positive after they have finished their doxycycline. We live in an area that is very Lyme-heavy. First line of defense should still be a topical treatment. We do a lot of Lyme vaccines and we have significantly decreased the number of infected dogs in our practice, which is great.

I still haven't vaccinated my own dogs. I go round and round about it in my head, especially since I hike regularly in horribly tick-infested areas with the hairy dogs. I've seen too many concerns raised about the vaccine triggering auto-immune issues, though it's not something we seem to see at work with the Merial vaccine. Still, if it's your dog, what happens to other dogs doesn't much matter....

My guys pretty much test positive every year but have never shown any symptoms. We do the doxy treatment and have gotten the vaccine once.

This is pretty much what we did when Sally tested positive. She's actually been negative for it every year since.

I think much more is made about Lyme than is really necessary. I know for those it affects, it's not pleasant, but it's not a new disease. It's been around for at least 4,000 years, yet nobody even talked about till 20 years ago. If I get a dog affected by it, I'll treat it, otherwise I'm not buying what's being sold.