Lyme Disease – What It Is and How to Prevent It
As the weather gets warmer, a lot of dog owners are starting to get outside and enjoy nature a bit more. That’s great! However, with this comes the potential your dog could pick up a tick, and that tick could carry Lyme Disease. Since April is Prevent Lyme Disease in Dogs Month, we wanted to try and help the cause 😉
First, let’s test your Lyme disease IQ:
- What causes Lyme disease? The simple answer: a bacteria.
- How is it transmitted? Again, there is a simple answer: ticks. Most commonly, it is the deer tick (a.k.a. the black-legged tick).
What are the symptoms of Lyme Disease in Dogs?
This is a bit more in-depth, because it can take at least 48 hours after a bite for the infection to develop. Even then, it takes several months to start seeing noticeable clinical signs. So, it’s hard for owners to remember that their dog was even bitten months before.
- Some of the early signs: lethargy, elevated body temperature, decreased appetite, lameness/limping, and muscle/joint soreness. If it goes unnoticed, the symptoms could progress to: vomiting, diarrhea, increased water consumption, collapse, and even seizures.
- Two tests can be used to confirm Lyme disease:
- C6 Test – tests for antibodies against a protein called “C6”. If they are present, that suggests an active Lyme infection. These antibodies can be found in the bloodstream long before a dog shows symptoms, and up to 3-5 weeks after an infection.
- Quantative C6 Test – done if the C6 test is positive. It determines if the amount of C6 antibodies is enough to justify treatment.
Related: Are You Up To Date On Your Poison Prevention?
What is the treatment?
Usually, it is supportive care for the clinical signs, and antibiotic therapy. But, the longer the dog has had the infection, the harder it is to eradicate the disease completely. So, your dog may require antibiotic injections and anti-inflammatory drugs to help them.
Integrative and holistic methods to support your dog’s immune system could also help them recover. These can include: acupuncture, probiotics, and other complements to Western treatments.
6 STEPS TO PREVENT LYME DISEASE IN DOGS
- Use tick prevention. There are a multitude available.
- Brush and comb your dog on a regular basis. After a walk is best so the tick doesn’t have time to bite.
- Perform tick searches – especially after being in wooded areas or areas known for ticks.
- Pick off ticks. If you find one, pull it off with tweezers or use a liquid tick remover.
- Use insect repellents around your home. Keeping them away from where you dog spends most of his time is a big plus.
- Reroute rodents. Rodents are hosts for ticks – keep them away, you keep them away from your dog.
Paraphrased from Dog Fancy magazine.
Related: 6 Ways to Give Pet First Aid Without An Emergency Kit
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