Red area on dog, Lymes disease ?

[SirVixofVixHall]

I have just noticed this on my dog. I know we get ticks in our garden as we have lots of visiting wildlife . Does this look like the red ring of Lymes or could it be a sting ? It is swollen in the centre, and paler. She is occasionally biting at it, but I have not seen a tick on her this year, and she hasn’t been distressed today. Could have happened a day or so ago, as I don’t always see her tummy.

[SirVixofVixHall]

Does she need to see a vet asap?

[TheoriginalLEM]

Needs to see a vet but can wait until tomorrow i reckon. Not sure what it is, maybe a reaction to an insect bite but doesn't look like lymes

[SirVixofVixHall]

Dh is away tomorrow with car, but I agree that she needs checking. I am wondering whether to take her in tonight, or hope I can get her seen tomorrow somehow. It feels like a hard lump. Too early for wasps , only the odd queen around at the moment, no sign of an embedded bee sting. Doesn’t look like a horse fly as there is no central cut.
Queen wasp is possible but unlikely, but then she would have been in a panic I would have thought. She hasn’t been alone at home, but has been mooching in the garden a few times.

[BayandBlonde]

Could be ringworm. This is not an actual worm but a fungal infection.

They are usually red, round with a ring around the central lesion that looks like a worm.

Whatever it is, I'm sure dog can wait until tomorrow to see a vet. Just keep an eye on vital signs etc

[SirVixofVixHall]

It isn’t ringworm I don’t think, it has a hard central swollen area. I have seen ringworm and was flatter, hard to show the swelling in the photographs though. It is very dark red too.

[Madbengalmum]

Looks like a hot spot. If you have any hibiscrub, you should gently wipe it with a week solution of hibiscrub.

[Madbengalmum]

It isn't ringworm for sure.

[SirVixofVixHall]

I have been googling Lymes in dogs...ugggghhhhhh i really wish I hadn’t , pics of dogs totally infested with ticks. 🤢
The images of bullseye rashes do look similar, but maybe that would be true of other bites ?
I worry about ticks as she can’t have any flea or tick treatments.

[SirVixofVixHall]

No Hibiscrub, I should get some. I have Sudocreme, I don’t know if that is dog safe though.

[sheettent]

The vet can test for Lymes. Get the Lymes vaccine if you're really worried about it and can't use the treatments.

[SirVixofVixHall]

I don’t think it is a hotspot, it feels cool to touch, and there is no stickyness. My old dog had them a few times so I have seen them before. It is less bright red and more a dark, red. She does now seem to be acting as though something is making her itch or maybe painful. She is a bit jumpy.

[SirVixofVixHall]

Oh I didn’t realise there was a test ? We know someone with it and she went years with no diagnosis, so I thought you couldn’t test for it.
Also didn’t know there was a vaccine. I will ask if she can have that, there are all sorts of things she can’t have as she has had seizures after a snake bite.

[SirVixofVixHall]

DH is taking her to the OOH vet now, in case I can’t get her there tomorrow . I don’t want to leave it unchecked until Thursday.

[Theoscargoesto]

You can use Sudocreme: mine has just been spayed, and has shaving rash (!!) Vet nurse suggested sudocreme said it would do no harm if dog licked it.
No idea what your dog has, sorry. I’d be interested to know when your OH gets back and hope it’s not serious

[SirVixofVixHall]

She has seen the vet, she thinks not Lymes, but possibly lungworm. Either that or she has bashed it. She was running about in an old ruin yesterday, so perhaps bashed it on a stone, but it is right underneath, towards her tail, and she is a medium size. The vet did a fine needle aspiration and it was full of blood, so it is a haemotoma. We have to get stool samples to get her tested for lungworm.
Glad we took her in, I would have been worrying tomorrow if I couldn’t get her seen.
Thanks everyone who posted, i really worry about my dog since we nearly lost her to a snake bite.

[Wolfiefan]

Oh bless her. I hope she feels much better soon and stops worrying you too!

[SirVixofVixHall]

Thank you! Hopefully it won’t be lungworm and will just heal over the next few days. Although the vet sees a lot of lungworm, apparently.

[Wolfiefan]

At least you got it seen. The snake bite sounds scary.

[sheettent]

Tests for animals are much more accurate than for humans. Testing on humans is a waste of time unless you have a 'Lyme literate' doctor. Even where we live with high rates of lymes (dh has it 4 times last year alone) there aren't many doctors who can read the tests and markers properly.

The vaccine has been available in the US for years, I just googled it and it's been in the UK since last year.

[SirVixofVixHall]

The snake bite was really frightening, she almost died.
I will ask my vet about the vaccine. She is very cautious with Vixdog because of the lasting impact of the adder bite. She isn’t putting her straight onto lungworm treatment for this reason, she wants to test her poo first.
She has just been coughing, but I am hoping it isn’t lungworm. The patch looks a bit paler today.

[Wolfiefan]

Coughing definitely not kennel cough?

[BayandBlonde]

@SirVixofVixHall

Hi OP, how did it go with your dog? Did you get to the bottom of the red mark and coughing?

[SirVixofVixHall]

Well she had tests for lungworm, not that, so we are non the wiser. The red mark the next day was a pale ring, and the day after, gone. So maybe a sting ?