It’s a great time for small game hunting If you enjoy small game hunting, this is your time of the year. My rabbit-hunting companions say that there are plenty of rabbits again this year, and the weather has been great for pretty much any outdoor activity. Rabbit hunting is fun and great exercise, for both the dog and the hunter. The briars you go through will keep your mind off your problems that’s for sure, because if you don’t pay attention to what’s in front of you could loose your nose to a briar. Well, that’s if you hunt with the crazy guys I hunt with. They think rabbits only live in the most uninhabitable, impenetrable parts of the land. For the most part, they are exactly right. I haven’t heard too much from the grouse hunters in the area yet. I know from my own adventures that I didn’t see a single grouse in the woods of West Virginia or Ohio this year. My area of Marion County never really had a lot of grouse to speak of anyway. I used to hunt for grouse over the hill toward the Mon River but I haven’t been near there in a long time. Last week I wrote about lyme disease in humans. Not long after, I received an e-mail from a local vet pointing out that lyme disease can also infect your family pet as well as humans. That was a great point and want to thank him for e-mailing me. Lyme disease in dogs differ from those in people, and usually occur much later after the tick bite. Clinical illness in dogs usually occurs two to five months after initial exposure and the likelihood of disease and the severity of the disease seems to vary with the animal’s age and immune status. Cats can develop lyme disease, but it occurs rarely in them, even in endemic areas. Other domestic animals such as horses have contracted lyme disease, but it does not appear to be a significant problem. Dogs show several different forms of the disease, but by far, the most common symptoms are a fever of between 103 and 105°, shifting leg lameness, swelling in the joints, lethargy, inappetence, and maybe most importantly, response to appropriate antibiotics. Arthritis may be a result of both short- and long-term infections. Most dogs that are promptly diagnosed and treated do not appear to develop arthritis, but a few dogs who do not respond completely to treatment or were not treated will develop progressive degeneration of the infected joints. A few dogs have developed severe progressive renal disease as sequelae to lyme disease. This severe kidney failure is non-responsive to treatment and death is often the outcome. Fortunately, this form appears to be rare. Usually, dogs will not develop any rash or the circular area of redness around the bite (erythema migrans) which is seen in people. Blood tests are available to assist in the diagnosis of lyme disease. The standard blood test detects antibodies made by the dog in response to infection with B. burgdorferi. Because of the lack of sensitivity of the blood test, many dogs show positive test results, but are not actually infected with the disease. Many animals are exposed to the organism, but fight the infection off on their own. These animals will have antibodies to B. burgdorferi but not have the disease. In an endemic area, almost 90% of all dogs will have a positive antibody test, so a single positive result means very little. As we mentioned earlier, only around 10% of the exposed dogs actually contract the infection. Tests must be used with several other criteria to gain a positive diagnosis. Suspected animals should have a history of tick exposure, compatible clinical signs, and have a rapid response to antibiotic therapy. In fact, clinical signs and rapid response to antibiotic therapy is how many diagnoses of lyme disease are made. If an animal that is suspected of having lyme disease does not clinically improve within 48 hours of starting antibiotic therapy, it is best to assume that it is not lyme disease and begin to do other diagnostic tests to find the source of the problem. Treatment for lyme disease is very straightforward and consists of using either a tetracycline or penicillin-based antibiotic. The two most commonly used are oral Doxycycline or Amoxicillin. A recent study showed that both antibiotics worked equally well. The antibiotics must be given a minimum of 14 days, but 30 days is recommended. Deer season has pretty much come to an end, but there’s plenty of stories about big bucks that have been killed recently. I found one really big buck that was killed in Wisconsin by a bowhunter on Nov. 1. At first, it was thought the buck would surpass the Milo Hanson buck but it was determined to be a non-typical. The so-called Field & Stream buck scored 233 2/8 non-typical, making it the number one bow killed non-typical of all time in Wisconsin. If you’re interested in seeing more on the buck, I have a photo and a some additional information on the blog section of my website
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