Summer + rainy season = Ticks -- What you should know about tick disease in dogs

What a summer! We’re having East Coast weather – humidity, rain, hot, muggy. Besides the swamp cooler being useless, what else do we need to think about? We’ve already had the plague here – now we need to think out tick diseases. The wildlife is carrying it – but we all moved here to be around wildlife. So here’s the scoop – humans and pets can get tick diseases and here’s what you should watch for:

There are 4 major tick diseases which affects dogs in the US: Lyme disease, Rocky mountain spotted fewer, ehrlichiosis and babesiosis.

Lyme disease: Lyme disease, named after the town of Lyme, CT, is carried by the black-legged deer tick (Ixodes scapularis) in the East and in the West by Ixodes pacificus or Ixodes neotomae. Larvae of the deer tick feed on mice, nymphs on mice and small mammals and the adult prefers to feed on deer, so those are the primary hosts at each stage of the tick’s life. Lyme is endemic in the Northeast and steadily growing in the Midwest and in California. The South and Southwest has a very low (1%) infestation rate.

Symptoms in dogs are generally present with signs of arthritis in the joints closest to the tick bites. Two to five months after being bitten, the lameness that is the primary indicator of possible Lyme disease can come on suddenly and severely; other times it comes on more gradually. You may see shifting lameness where the dog favors one leg, then another. Lameness may come and go, sometimes for weeks at a time. The dog may go off his food. Neurological damage is possible, seizures and changes in temperament, from dullness to extreme of aggression, have been reported in dogs with Lyme. There is no rash as it occurs in humans. Normally, Lyme is crippling but it doesn’t kill and the most common signs of the disease are almost always hidden. Lately, veterinarians reported signs of kidney and neurological problems with dogs infected with lyme disease.

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fewer: Despite its name, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is found mainly in the Eastern US and usually makes itself known in spring and summer (March to October) but cases of human RMSF have been reported in almost every state, Canada, South America and Mexico.
Dogs most at risk are young, generally large breeds(german shepards and dobermans especially) that spend a lot of time outdoors. Dogs over 3 or 4 years old aren’t as likely to get RMSF, possibly having acquired an immunity.
The onset of the disease is rapid. Four or five days after being bitten, the dog will become feverish (up to 105 degrees). Symptoms may include depression, loss of appetite, swollen lymph nodes, bruising on the skin or gums, tiny hemorrhages under the skin, muscle pain, retinal hemorrage, swollen or painful joints. A staggering gait, difficulty keeping his balance, is the dog’s most common neurological sign. Seizures are possible. A decrease in the platelets responsible for clotting (thrombocytopenia), is the most consistent finding in blood tests.
If left untreated, RMSF either kills quickly (the disease runs its course in approximately two weeks) or the dog gets over it and is then immune. Symptoms may range from slight through severe to fatal.
It takes two to three weeks for antibodies to be detectable but then their numbers rise sharply for several weeks before they level off and begin a long, slow, gradual decline over many months. Obviously the timeline is very tight here, so, since research indicates that death from untreated RMSF is more common than previously thought, a dog that appears to have it should be treated immediately without waiting for test results to come back.

Ehrlichiosis — Ehrlichiosis (E. Canis) has three stages. The acute stage is brief and the symptoms are easily missed; it may appear as if the dog has a mild and passing viral infection: snotty nose, diarrhea, fever, a general lack of his usual oomph. In a stoic dog especially, a change in behavior may be the only alert he gives you to get him to the vet.
It’s in this stage that the outlook for a cure is best. Very early on, however, testing is probably useless; until ten days to two weeks after infection, the immune system will not have had time to make sufficient antibodies for the tests to detect.
The acute stage over, the disease passes into the subclinical stage. This simply means a stage in which no symptoms are present. Cure, or at the very least, containment of the disease so that it cannot progress, is still a good possibility in this stage, which may last for years.
If the disease progresses to chronic, the outlook is grave, particularly in E. risticii and E. canis. Symptoms show up with a vengeance at this point. There are a lot of symptoms and they are easily mistaken for other diseases: intermittent fever or loss of appetite lethargy, total loss of appetite, gradual loss of body condition (esp. along the spine and around the eyes), viral tumors on the face/mouth/muzzle, hemorrhaging even when the blood count looks normal, clotting problems, low or high calcium levels, seizures, muscle wasting, skin infections, neurological signs, diarrhea, low platelet count, urine too alkaline, vomiting, hyper-reflective eyes, low white blood cell count, bleeding from nose or eyes, signs of arthritis, pneumonia, cough, kidney failure, increased thirst and urination, incoordination, neck or back pain, bleeding under the skin or a rash, swelling of the legs or joints, enlarged lymph nodes, irreversible bone marrow suppression.

Babesiosis — Babesiosis is a disease of the red blood cells and results in varying degrees of hemolytic anemia (essentially destruction of the RBCs that carry oxygen to the blood). It seems to hit greyhounds extremely hard but any dog that contracts it may become severely ill. It can come on sharply (acute) or violently (peracute) though neither of these stages is common in the US…or perhaps the disease simply isn’t often recognized for what it is in either of these stages. It’s generally found in the subclinical stage, where there are no apparent symptoms, or the chronic stage in which the disease is well-entrenched and symptoms are obvious .
The brown dog tick, is the usual culprit in the transmission of babesiosis; however, transmission has also occurred by direct, blood to blood transfer in fighting dogs, and by the transfusion of infected blood. Infected bitches have been known to pass the disease to pups in the womb.
In the United States, Babesiosis canis shows up mostly in the South but it does occur in other areas.. Babesiosis gibsoni is found all over the country but most often appears in pit bull terriers.
The dogs most at risk are those brought into an endemic area. These dogs are prone to severe infection. Evidently, those that are born in an area where babesiosis is prevalent get the infection while they’re still protected by the colostrum in the mother’s milk and, as a result, become immune carriers.
Clinical signs include fever that comes and goes, red or orange-colored urine, loss of appetite and the dog becomes too thin, his bones are more prominent, his coat is dull and there is at least some loss of muscle mass.
Because there is a foreign invader in the red blood cells, the dog’s immune system will start to destroy them, adding to the destruction the babesia are causing. A drop in the platelets which aid in blood clotting can make things even worse; this is especially a problem in B. gibsoni. As if that weren’t enough, the immune system may begin destroying uninfected RBCs as well. Half of all dogs with babesiosis will need transfusion. Severe inflammation is common and localized inflammation of the central nervous system can occur.

Testing: In order to make a diagnosis, one of the first things a vet will do is run a Complete Blood Count. A CBC can be very helpful, showing up things like reduced platelets or an increase or decrease in white blood cells. However, it’s important to remember that a normal CBC does not mean that a dog is free of a tick-borne disease. The CBC alone is not enough to rule them out. In fact, a negative titer on an IFA or ELISA test is not enough. Tests are only part of a diagnosis.

Treatments: A semisynthetic tetracycline, doxycycline is the drug of choice for Ehrlichiosis, Lyme Disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. It is an antibiotic. All antibiotics destroy or inhibit bacteria and don’t differentiate “good” from “bad”; they wipe out beneficial bacteria in the dog’s gut right along with the disease-causing organisms. It’s a wise idea, then, to give the dog probiotics as long as he’s taking doxycycline and for several weeks afterward to avoid the gastrointestinal problems that can develop if he’s left without this help for eight weeks or more.

Tick Removal: The Right Way to Remove a Tick
Use a tool specifically made for removing ticks, a pair of sharp tweezers (not blunt ones) or a small pair of curved forceps.
Grab the tick right behind the head, i.e., as close to the skin as you can get, and PULL SLOWLY – STRAIGHT OUT. Don’t twist the tick, it isn’t made to unscrew. The tick’s hypostome, the part that penetrates the dog, has barbs like fishhooks, so slow, easy and straight out is the way you want to go. Do not pull out ticks with your bare hands, you are putting yourself in risk to contract the disease!

Prevention: There are no natural prevention which helps 100% against ticks. In mildly infested areas, you can try natural tick collars or sprays available in your local health food store. In heavily infested areas you need chemical based tick prevention, such as tick collars, sprays or spot-on preventatives such as Frontline. please always consult with your veterinarian about the safest and most affective prevention in your area.

Keep watchful, get things checked out if you have any concerns. These things are treatable if you tend to it early.

Facts about Canine Lyme Disease

The first diagnosis of Lyme Disease was made in a resident of Lyme, Connecticut in 1975. Over the decades, the seriousness of this debilitating tick-borne disease has made many people weary of wandering outdoors during seasons when ticks are active. If you live in the Northeast or upper Midwest states, there’s a good chance you know someone who has had a Lyme Disease diagnosis. A decade after being diagnosed in people, Lyme Disease was first recognized as a condition that also affects dogs.



What exactly is Lyme Disease?

Lyme Disease is an infectious disease that is caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi, which is found in several varieties of ticks, but is mostly associated with the common deer tick. The disease is transmitted when a tick carrying the bacteria bites a dog—or human—and feasts on the host’s blood. It should be noted that not all deer ticks carry the disease, and not all bites from infected deer ticks successfully transmit the disease. For the bacteria to be passed into a dog, the tick must have been attached to the dog for about 48 hours.

So if a tick is removed from a dog shortly after he is bitten, there’s a good chance the dog will not contract the disease. However, deer ticks are extremely tiny and are difficult to see, especially when covered by a dog’s fur. Your vet is trained to spot and remove ticks. If you happen to notice a tick on your dog and want to attempt to remove it, use small tweezers and carefully grasp the tick where it is making contact with the dog’s skin. Then gently lift the tick away. If you suspect that it’s a deer tick, take your dog—and the tick—to the vet for examination.

What are the symptoms?

Lyme Disease isn’t easy to diagnose, especially in senior dogs, because the initial symptoms can be mistaken for other conditions, such as arthritis. Lyme Disease symptoms include limping—which can shift from one leg to another—swelling of lymph nodes, lethargy, loss of appetite, and fever. Initially, the affected dog may simply experience mild joint and muscle discomfort in his limb(s). However, the pain can become severe over time, and multiple joints can be involved Even with treatment, Lyme Disease can cause permanent joint damage. There have also been reports of severe progressive kidney disease linked to Lyme Disease.

Is there treatment for Lyme Disease?

Lyme Disease is generally treated with antibiotics. In many cases, affected dogs respond well to those meds. However, if treatment is halted too soon, the dog may get a relapse. Even in dogs that show full recovery, the bacteria that causes Lyme Disease may still be present in their bodies, even though the dog no longer displays the symptoms of the disease. Senior dogs with severe cases of arthritis—in addition to Lyme Disease—and those dogs that are severely affected may also be treated with pain relievers.

How can Lyme Disease be prevented?

Since Lyme Disease is serious and can be debilitating, dog owners want to take measures to prevent their pets from contracting the disease. Here are a few things you can do to help minimize your dog’s chance of getting Lyme Disease.

Avoid areas that are likely to be tick infested. During the seasons when ticks are active, try to avoid taking your dog into heavily wooded areas or other places where large deer populations live.

Spray your immediate home/lawn area with an appropriate insecticide. If you decide to use an anti-tick spray, make sure it’s safe for dogs.

Vaccinate your dog.

If you live in a high-risk region, ask your vet about the latest generation of Lyme Disease vaccinations. He may recommend one that he deems effective.

Use a topical anti-tick insecticide. There are currently several brands of topical insecticides on the market. They generally help in two ways:(1) By repelling ticks, and (2) By killing ticks that manage to attach themselves to dogs. Ask your vet about the brands he recommends. Please note that most flea and tick collars are not effective against the ticks that cause Lyme Disease. Only collars with amitraz have been shown to kill the ticks that spread this disease.

If you live in—or your dog has visited—a Lyme Disease hot spot and suspect that he is suffering from this condition, do not hesitate to take him to the veterinarian for an examination.

(content courtesy if pedigree.com)