Negative Lyme Test in a Dog: Gus’ Missed Diagnosis

A common medical dilemma is a positive Lyme test in a healthy dog. What if a sick dog tests negative, though?

What if your dog has all the symptoms of suffering from active Lyme disease but the test does not reflect that?

Negative Lyme Test in a Dog: Gus' Missed Diagnosis

Gus’ story

Every dog can pick up an unwelcome deer tick here and there. Gus caught a number of them during one hiking trip. The ticks got discovered and identified after they returned back home.

About a month after the ticks hitching a ride on Gus, he started looking a bit “off”.

He was more tired normally, his appetite decreased, and he was exhibiting shifting lameness on his front legs—major Lyme disease red flags.

The testing

Gus’ blood test for Lyme came back negative.

However, his symptoms kept getting worse. Another test for Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. A test for Leptospirosis. All negative. The only idiosyncrasy in Gus’ blood work was moderate anemia. Gus was never anemic before his tick encounter!

Dealing with negative test results

Should Gus get treated for Lyme disease even though his tests were negative? Gus’ vet did not want to treat based on symptoms in the light of two negative tests.

Gus gets really sick

Two weeks later, Gus ended up at the emergency hospital. His platelets were so low he almost bled out. His joints were so painful that he could barely move, his spleen was enlarged …

At that point, it wasn’t even clear whether Gus might have Lyme disease or Immune-Mediated Hemolytic Anemia (IMHA). The treatment for IMHA is high doses of steroids to suppress the immune system. What would such treatment do to a dog suffering from Lyme?

Gus has Lyme disease after all

Gus was tested for Lyme disease once again and this time it came back positive.

Finally, after all this time of suffering, Gus could get the treatment he needed.

Should Gus have been treated based on his history and symptoms in spite of the negative test results? What would you do?

Original story:
Misdiagnosis…Listen to Your Gut Instincts!

Related articles:
Canine Lyme Disease: Treating Lab Results Versus Treating The Dog

Categories: Conditions • Dog health advocacy • Lyme disease • Misdiagnoses • Real-life Stories • Second opinions • Working with Veterinarians

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Jana Rade

I am a graphic designer, dog health advocate, writer, and author. Jasmine, the Rottweiler of my life, was the largest female from her litter. We thought we were getting a healthy dog. Getting a puppy from a backyard breeder was our first mistake. Countless veterinary visits without a diagnosis or useful treatment later, I realized that I had to take Jasmine's health care in my own hands. I learned the hard way that merely seeing a vet is not always enough. There is more to finding a good vet than finding the closest clinic down the street. And, sadly, there is more to advocating for your dog's health than visiting a veterinarian. It should be enough, but it often is not. With Jasmine, it took five years to get a diagnosis. Unfortunately, other problems had snowballed for that in the meantime. Jasmine's health challenges became a crash course in understanding dog health issues and how to go about getting a proper diagnosis and treatment. I had to learn, and I had to learn fast. Helping others through my challenges and experience has become my mission and Jasmine's legacy. I now try to help people how to recognize and understand signs of illness in their dogs, how to work with their veterinarian, and when to seek a second opinion. My goal is to save others the steep curve of having to learn things the hard way as I did. That is the mission behind my blog and behind my writing. That is why I wrote Symptoms to Watch for in Your Dog, which has turned out being an award-winning guide to dog owners. What I'm trying to share encompasses 20 years of experience.

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