Just like with people, also in dogs, Lyme disease is a very grave illness. There are an estimated 20% of ticks infected in the Czech Republic. And because despite the use of antiparasitic agents, your dog might get a tick from time to time, it’s good to know, how this disease manifests itself in dogs.
Dogs get a tick in no time. They often move about nature, to which they are somewhat closer with their stature than us and the fur is an ideal boarding bridge for ticks. They sweep out all kinds of high grass or bushes, so they are perfect collectors of these parasites. Little wonder that despite the use of antiparasitic agents, we have to pull out one tick from time to time.
Besides, a possible transmission of Lyme disease by other bloodsucking parasites such as fleas or mosquitoes is being researched now.
However, the main carrier still remains the castor bean tick. The incidence of ticks with Lyme disease ranges between 2% to about 40%. It depends mainly on local incidence of Lyme disease. Since it is the bacteria Borrelia that is responsible for the disease, which gets into the digestive tract of the tick only while it sucks blood of an infected animal. The infection rate of ticks in our republic is estimated at 20%.
For the dog to get infected with Lyme disease, the tick must be attached for more than 24 hours. That’s why a timely discovery and removal of the tick plays an important role. Therefore, check your dog after every walk, or at least every evening.
For the disease not to break out clinically depends not only on the amount of the transmitted Borrelia bacteria, but also on the health of the dog and the strength of its immune system. Correct removal of the tick is also important, but I’ll tell you about that next time. Lyme disease may break out in a dog even after several months from the infection, for example, when its immunity is weakened by another disease.
You surely know that a warning sign of an infection in humans is reddening of the place of attachment of the tick with a distinctive rim that appears after several days from the infection. In animals, however, this symptom doesn’t appear. So a timely detection of the infection is more difficult in dogs.
How do you detect Lyme disease in a dog then? According to veterinarians, among the most frequent symptoms belong:
In later stages of the disease, more severe and much more dangerous symptoms set in, such as damage to the heart, brain or kidneys. However, these symptoms can set in even in the absence of the ones mentioned above. The heart and the nervous form are rare, but all the more dangerous. In the nervous form, even a total paralysis might occur, along with seizures or painful spasms. Kidney damage will limit their function and it is often accompanied by swellings of the limbs.
The main diagnostics of Lyme disease lies in a serological blood examination for antibodies or a direct find of bacteria in the joint or other bodily fluids.
Lyme disease can be diagnosed even by examining the attached tick. After you remove it, you can send it for examination where they will find out, whether it was infected. This way, you will detect the disease in time, however, the standard examination that detects tick encephalitis, Lyme disease and ehrlichiosis will cost you 1,990 crowns, just for Lyme disease it's 740 crowns. That’s why it pays off to have it done only in case you suspect the disease: for instance, if the tick is full and therefore it was attached for longer than a day and if you move around a place where the infection rate of ticks is high.
The treatment is usually lengthy and difficult. Not only are antibiotics administered for a minimum of two weeks, they also have to be accompanied by a symptomatic treatment of the symptoms as well. In addition, the lengthy treatment will also heavily burden the dog’s organism and your wallet.
Therefore, as with everything, proper prevention is essential. In case of Lyme disease that lies mainly in the mentioned use of antiparasitic products and a regular check of the fur. It also pays off to treat the dog bed regularly with a suitable repellent, along with other places where the dog often stays.
And if you want to be even more confident that your fluffy friend won’t get infected, you can have it vaccinated against Lyme disease. The best time for vaccination is the period before the tick season, that is in January – March.
Even so, it may get infected. Since the vaccination is only about 50% effective. However, in connection with other prevention, it still significantly decreases the possibility of an infection.
Every one of us has for sure encountered diarrhoea in our fuzzy friend. Usually, there’s nothing to fuss about, the body reacts to food that it isn’t capable to digest or that didn’t do it good. However, it is good to know, when we are capable of...
I have been sharing with you my experience with dogs and other animals for quite some time now and it occurred to me to wander a little bit into history as well, but into an interesting one! I’d like to introduce you to several well-known dog...
Allergy is a disproportionate reaction of the immunity system to common stimuli. It cannot be cured, but we can suppress its manifestations. In the last years, allergies in pets and dogs especially are on the rise. Currently, about 10% of house-dogs...
Today, we are going to take a look at the Feline Infectious Peritonitis - FIP, an utterly exceptional virus illness that always has a fatal end. Most of the cats get into contact with the viruses that cause FIP in their lifetime, even though the...
We can divide dog owners into two groups. The ones that allow the dog in bed and those that feel that this is no option. Let’s take a look at what such bed sharing with a dog actually entails.
If you like going on treks with your fuzzy friends, geocaching is something precisely for you. This way, you will liven up your trips and maybe you even discover places that you wouldn’t have found otherwise. I and my pack can’t get enough of it.
Contrary to dogs, cats have a strong bond with the place where they live. That’s why moving is very stressful for them and this stress may cause a number of diseases. It’s a good idea to plan everything well, so that you could make the situation of a...
Even though the dogs went through long years of domestication, they still retain fundamental instincts as we do. They might not be as strong as in wild dogs, but they still play a very significant role in the life of a dog and in their behaviour. So if...
Even though it’s been a long time since our four-legged furry friends lived a feral life, they still have the laws of the pack rooted deep down inside them. It is not acquired behaviour, the need to live in a pack is determined by genetics. And if...
It is no news that the dog isn’t only a pet and that it can also help saving human lives in various catastrophes. But have you ever thought about what it means for dogs to become rescuers? You haven’t? Well, then it’s the right time to set off together...
The usual pregnancy period in female dogs is indicated at about 58 – 65 days, the average is 63 days. In case of the nutrition of a pregnant female, possible changes in diet can be likened to the changes in diet of pregnant women. Pregnant female dogs...
The most frequent reason why your dog starts to gain weight is simple, as in most of people: they consume more energy than they spend. Some owners wave their arm at a well-intended warning that their pet has gained weight, stating that the dog is...
