By Racheal Myers
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| A deer tick at various life stages. |
Ticks. Creepy-crawly, biting, blood sucking ticks.
These bugs are non-discriminatory feeders that attach onto
any mammal and engorge themselves on the host’s blood for days. Ticks come in a
variety of sizes and are hard to spot because of their brown and black colors;
they can be missed when combing out your pet or over looked as a mole on your
skin.
Want to know something else that is scarier than the ticks
vampire-like taste for blood and their soldier-grade camouflage techniques?
They can carry diseases such as Lyme disease, which is so prevalent in this
mountainous region we call home that 75% of dogs in this area will test
positive for it. What’s more upsetting? Lyme disease was discovered in people
in 1975. If your dog has Lyme disease, you may have it too. In this blog, I
will give the signs of Lyme disease in dogs,
How do Dogs Get Lyme
Disease?
Simply put, dogs get Lyme disease from tick bites, but not
all ticks carry the specific bacteria that creates the disease, called Borrelia
burgdorferi. There is no way of telling which tick has the bacteria. The tick
usually needs to be embedded in the skin for 24 hours before the bacteria
starts to be transmitted. Lyme disease is not transmitted from person to dog,
or vice versa. Only a tick bite can transmit it.
Do not assume that because your dog does not go outside
except to use the bathroom, it cannot get a tick. If your animal is walking on
grass or around bushes where other animals have been, and where other bugs are,
they can pick up a tick. Visiting animals or people can also bring ticks inside
the home, where the ticks fall off and search for a host.
What Are The Signs of Lyme Disease?
Lyme disease is often hard to diagnose because the signs are
non-specific and can take up to 6 months for symptoms to occur. In dogs, signs
could range be:
1. No appetite.
2. Inactive and not playful
3. Fever and enlarged regional lymph nodes.
4. Joints appear to be painful and swollen.
5. Walks stiffly, possibly with an arched back.
6. Recurrent acute arthritis and shifting leg lameness.
In people, signs of Lyme disease are fatigue, aches, fever;
flu-like symptoms that could easily be brushed. There is also a red, bulls eye-shaped
rash that would go around the bite site of a tick.
What to do if These Symptoms Occur?
Talk to your veterinarian. A Lyme test should be part of a
standard yearly check-up. In many cases, veterinarians use a test called a
Heartworm test that test for four different diseases, including Lyme disease.
It is a simple test that takes 10 minutes to run at the veterinarian’s office.
It does require 3 drops of blood.
If your dog comes up positive, a dose of antibiotics will be
given, and that should minimize any future symptoms. Your dog may always test
positive for Lyme disease, but one course of antibiotics may be all that is
needed to keep them healthy. You should continue to test yearly if your
veterinarian uses the Heartworm test, or if your dog tests negative.
For humans, a visit to your doctor is also required. A
typical blood profile will not usually test for Lyme disease, so make sure to
ask for it specifically. Treatment for people, as in dogs, is with a course of
antibiotics.
How to Prevent Lyme Disease:
Always use a flea and tick preventive. Frontline is usually
recommended most, and is easy to use. You apply one pre-made tube of liquid
medication between the shoulder blade of your dog each month. Be sure to apply
this two days before or after a bath, as the medication uses the furs natural
oils to disperse over the body.
Ask your veterinarian about the Lyme vaccine, a yearly
vaccine that is given just like a rabies vaccine.
In people, Lyme disease is growing at four times the rate
that AIDS is growing. Test your pet’s blood yearly. Always check yourself and
your dog after being outside in the yard, at the park, or on a walk. A
diagnoses for your pet maybe an early diagnoses for you.
For more information, visit these websites:
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