Talk to the PAW!!

This fundraiser is dedicated to my foster senior English Setter Olivia and some other very special IBR rescue dogs that have been diagnosed with Lyme disease and co infections including the following special dogs: senior Pointer Queen Victoria- also fighting heartworms, senior English Setter Dixie- also fighting cancer, senior German Wirehair Pointer, Gunny- also fighting heartworms, Pointer Apolo- also fighting heartworms, senior Beagle Matthew, and newbie Pointers Willson and Sally and Jemmy- also fighting heartworms.



Illinois Birddog Rescue is a champion for spreading the word about better testing and treatment for Lyme disease and co infections. With nearly 100% of our incoming rescues being infected, we spend hundreds and thousands of dollars helping these dogs get better and finding their forever homes. As an adopter of several dogs and cats infected with Lyme disease and co infections and fighting Lyme disease personally for the past 20 years, while helping so many foster dogs also fight these horrible diseases, I feel the best I can do is share what we have learned and hope our message is getting out there. I am often contacted by concerned pet owners from coast to coast due to the information provided at the IBR home page and many at risk dogs have been successfully diagnosed and treated once their vets learn about our successes.

For the past 3 years, Dr. John Rimkunas has been testing and treating most of the incoming IBR dogs after having adopted a Pointer and Beagle with at least 3 tick borne diseases including Ehrlichia, Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Having a DVM see how important the better testing is while helping our dogs recover has been a blessing.

The cost to test one of our dogs is close to $200. The cost to treat for chronic disease can be hundreds more. The test we use is through IDEXX labs and is code #371 which is IFA Serology for Ehrlichia, Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. We have found that the same company's highly promoted 4DX snap test technology misses early disease and since it only tests for one Ehrlichia and Lyme disease strain, dogs coming in from other parts of the country - especially the south- are not being properly diagnosed. The scariest part about the snap test is it also doesn't test for the Rocky Mountain spotted fever. We have found RMSF to be the most common co infection with nearly all of our infected dogs and the health complications from RMSF besides Lyme disease can be very troubling. We have found dogs infected with RMSF from coast to coast. Here is a recent test done on our special senior Pointer Shaun showing how the 4DX snap (top 4 values) missed his Lyme disease and RMSF- which show in the values below. Shaun came in feverish and with enlarged lymph nodes and swollen testicles. He was a sick camper.



Additionally, we have found that 100% of our heartworm positive dogs are also fighting tick borne disease. Finding the co infections in a dog already immuno compromised with a heart full of worms is critical to their long term recovery. Finding Olivia's tick borne co infections and treating while doing the slow kill method to kill the heartworms is helping her recover especially with the mange complication she came in with. So far she is making amazing progress!!



My oldest dog is Buckwheat. He was bit by a tick in 2008 and has been treated the past 8 years for Lyme disease. At 16 plus, he still has antibodies for Lyme disease and on recent testing RMSF, but thankfully long term treatment has helped him and my wish for every adopter is that they get their dogs into their teens and not have terrible health issues and huge vet bills along the way. When you Talk to the PAW, you are stating that you are not going to allow your dog to suffer and YOU WANT your vet to be better educated to help your pet live a happy long painfree life with better tick borne disease education.