Lyme Disease

Lyme Disease in dogs can be a nasty, quite debilitating condition.  For this reason, it is important to recognize Lyme Disease symptoms so you can act quickly if your dog shows symptoms of Lyme Disease. 

Symptoms of Lyme disease in both humans and dogs resemble those of Rheumatoid Arthritis.  Indeed, Lyme Disease as a condition has only identified in the past thirty or so years, as formerly it was probably misdiagnosed as Rheumatoid Arthritis.  In 1975, when there were an unusually high number of cases of Rheumatoid Arthritis diagnosed in children in Lyme, Connecticut, further research was carried out, and a discrete condition was identified, and named “Lyme Disease”.

Lyme Disease in dogs is transmitted as it is in humans, through the bite from a tick that carries certain bacteria.  It is the bacteria that causes Lyme Disease.  Tick bites from ticks not carrying these bacteria cannot transmit Lyme Disease to the dog or person being bitten.  At least three known types of ticks can carry the bacteria that causes Lyme Disease in dogs, but by far the majority of ticks that carry the bacteria are the Deer Tick, also called the Black-Legged Tick.  A Deer Tick bite, therefore, has a relatively high likelihood of transmitting the bacteria that causes Lyme Disease.

This tick is known as the Deer Tick, because Deer are it’s primary host (ticks being a parasite).  But these ticks will also feed on other types of animals, including both people and dogs.

Canine Lyme Disease is prevalent in the Northeastern states from Maine to Maryland, as well as Minnesota, Wisconsin, Oregon and Northern California.  It is also found in most parts of Australia, particularly bush and country areas, as well as in parts of Europe, China and Japan. This is because in these areas, ticks more commonly carry the bacteria that causes Lyme Disease.

Another tick bite from a tick known as the Paralysis Tick – common in Australia – causes paralysing toxicity and other allergic reactions.

Early symptoms of Lyme Disease in your dog are likely to include what might appear to be a sore foot or leg.  Certainly one of the first symptoms of Lyme Disease will be limping.  Further investigation will then be likely to reveal lymph node swelling in your dog’s affected leg, and your dog is very likely to have an elevated temperature.

If you fail to seek treatment for Lyme Disease very promptly, your dog may suffer paralysis  Even if treated at this stage, your dog may well suffer recurrent, or chronic Lyme Disease.  This may also include permanent joint or nerve damage and damage to the heart muscle. 

Treatment for Lyme Disease in dogs, so that the condition does not progress to chronic Lyme Disease and/or permanent joint or nerve damage, will consist of antibiotics.

Preventing tick bites is therefore the obvious key to preventing Lyme Disease.  Removing ticks should be seen as a secondary line of defense only.

Preventing ticks on dogs is similar to, and can be achieved in conjunction with preventing fleas.

A tick is a parasite.  It is a blood-sucking invertebrate, more closely related to spiders, scorpions and mites, than to insects.

The tick has three stages in its two year life cycle – larvae, nymph and adult.  As a larvae, the tick has six legs, and eight when it develops into the nymph stage.

It is the nymph tick that is most likely to transmit Lyme Disease, as it embeds itself into your dog’s skin for several days before it is either detected or your dog shows symptoms of Lyme Disease.  The nymph tick is often only the size of a pinhead, whereas the adult tick grows to the size of a watermelon seed. 

Dog owners are often surprised that their dog has developed Lyme Disease, as they are careful with tick removal from their dog.  Many dog owners are not aware that nymph ticks are in fact very small and making tick identification very difficult as a result.

If you’re wondering about how to remove a tick from your dog, I’m going to describe the process of effective tick removal here:

Place the tips of tweezers or edges of other removal devices around the area where the mouth parts and head of the tick enter the skin. With a steady, slow, motion, pull the tick away from the skin or slide the removal device along the skin, pulling the tick away as you do so.

There are specific tick removal tools.  If using one of these, then of course, follow the directions carefully.

You may hear wild tales of burning ticks off – don’t do it.  Keep match heads, whether burning, or not, right away from your dog.  It does not work to remove the tick, and you may cause a nasty injury to your poor dog.

Be careful not to jerk, crush, squeeze or puncture the tick as your remove it.  Next, disinfect the area around the bite site using a good disinfectant from your pet first aid kit.  A solution of colloidal silver is good for applying to the tick bite area, followed by tea tree oil.  Or use tea tree oil alone if you don’t have colloidal silver at hand.

If you live in an area where Lyme Disease is known, then it is best to place the removed tick into a seal-able container and place it in the refrigerator for later tick identification in case you notice symptoms of Lyme disease appear later – symptoms do not always occur immediately following the tick bite, so be aware of that.