Ticks and tick diseases
As the weather thaws out and spring is nearly upon us, nature awakens from her slumber...so do the parasites. With the weather warming up, fleas and ticks are at their most active. This plus the added incentive for us to use the outdoors for longer periods of time, the chances of your pet picking up a flea or 2 from the outdoors is greatly increased. If you've stopped your use of flea and tick preventatives during the winter months, now's the time to start using them again.
Tick Borne Diseases
There are a couple of diseases that ticks can transmit to dogs and cats and I'll run through some of them. Some of these humans can get too - not directly off the dog but if the tick carrying the disease bites you too, then you can also come down with the disease and a lot of these diseases aren't very nice to catch and are sometimes difficult to diagnose because their symptoms are so 'vague'.
- Tick disease 1 - Babesiosis
- Tick disease 2 - Ehrlichiosis
- Tick disease 3 - Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
- Tick disease 4 - Lyme Disease
- Tick disease 5 - Tick Paralysis
This tick borne parasite is common in wild dog populations, foxes and is commonly found in Southern United States, Northern Queensland (Australia) and parts of Europe and South Africa and Asia. It seems to be more prevalent in dogs kept in a kennel type environment, but that could be because of the close proximity of the dogs and the fact that not every dog in the kennel is given the once over daily by the owners to check for ticks. Problem with babesiosis is that not all dogs that get the disease show any symptoms. These dogs serve to act as 'carriers' or reservois of the disease in the dog population. Symptoms to look out for are : intermittent fever, weakness, jaundice (look at the gums and whites of eyes) and they could have other more serious signs like bleeding internally etc. Prevention is the best in this case. In some dogs the disease is so severe, they will die from it despite all efforts to save them. Dogs that are survive the disease are never fully rid of the parasite. It continues to live in them and these dogs can suffer from relapses in future.
This is a bacteria that can be transmitted by the tick. Again the symptoms of this disease are pretty vague and most owners that have a dog with ehrlichiosis say that all they've noticed is that the dog has periods of lethargy, chronic weight loss and loss of appetite. There could be other symptoms in more severe cases which include arthritis, bleeding from the nose, muscle wasting and some neurological signs. Again treatment of the disease doesn't rid the dog entirely of the bug. Often it's a waxing and waning type disease where the dog recovers after treatment only to suffer relapses later on. For some unknown reason, German Shepherds seem to be more susceptible to getting disease - it's not known if it's because these dogs are commonly used in police operations in bushland or some other genetic predilection.
Another organism called Rickettsia rickettsii causes RMSF. Primarily a disease in the USA, it's also a tick borne disease and can affect both dogs and humans. Some dogs will not exhibit any clinical signs and act as reservoirs for the disease. Symptoms to watch out for in your dog are lethargy, weight loss, intermittent fever and possibly other signs like vomiting, diarrhea. In humans, the disease has symptoms of headache, fever, chills, aches, pains, and sometimes nausea and a tell tale rash on the wrists and ankles. The disease is treatable with antibiotics but as with all diseases, the earlier you catch it, the greater the chance of full recovery. Due to the lack of a chronic phase in this disease, it's 'easier' to catch ie the disease presents with symptoms a couple of weeks after the tick bite whereas in the case of Ehrlichiosis, it could be months down the track before the dog shows any signs.
Caused by a bacteria called Borrellia burgdorferi. Problem with this disease is that the tick that commonly spreads it (the Deer tick/Black-legged Tick) is that they are pretty small and therefore easy to miss unlike the ones which spread the above diseases which when engorged can get pretty large. Most dogs which come down with Lyme disease turn up with a limping problem and are running a temperature. It usually starts pretty mildly with the limping and then progresses to the dog refusing to use the limb at all. Some dogs are in so much pain (it affects all the joints) that they are bed-ridden and owners have had to carry the dog into the surgery. The earlier treatment is implemented the better the chances that the dog will fully recover and not suffer any long term side effects. Read more about Lyme disease symptoms in humans.
Not actually a disease as such but specifically in the Eastern border of Australia, there lives a tick called Ixodes holocyclus which results in a paralysis which will eventually kill the dog if not treated quickly enough with tick anti-serum. Usually you would notice that your dog's bark seems altered, it would act dull and depressed and then would be followed by a staggering gait. The paralysis spreads upwards to the neck and other muscles and the dog eventually dies from paralysis of the lung muscles.
Prevention is better than cure. Frontline Plus and Advantix are the proprietary products which both kill and repels ticks which cause the above diseases. Revolution only seems to work against the American Dog Tick and not the Deer tick which transmits Lyme Disease.
Ask The Vet plans available
- Sign Up for Membership $19.95/month
- Ask the online vet a question $8.95/question
- Find answers to common pet health and behavior questions $3.95/article
- Read up on previous ask the vet pet health questions for just $3.95