Understanding Dogs that get diseases caused by ticks
By: Tippy and Turbo


Many dog owners only learn about tick-borne diseases
of dogs when their own dog becomes sick and receive a
diagnosis of one of the common tick-borne diseases to which
dogs and other canines are most vulnerable. By that time it
is often too late, and the dog dies of the disease.

Here in the United States there are four common tick-borne
canine diseases: Lyme Disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever,
Babesiosis, and Ehrlichiosis. Lyme disease can be chronic,
and the other three can be fatal, unless they are diagnosed
early and treated aggressively.

There are other types of tick-borne disease that trouble
dogs and their owners in other parts of the world, including
the bite of the Australian Paralysis Tick.

If ticks are found in your area of the world, even if you
live in an urban or suburban area you should protect your
dog as well as you can, check its body over thoroughly and
often, and realize that ticks can be and often are carried
even into your home by people and cats. Consequently, even
if your dog in indoors all of the time the possibility of
infection still exists.

It is not always easy to spot the symptoms or diagnose tick-
borne disease. If your dog is lethargic, losing weight,
simply not itself, take it to the veterinarian for testing.
Even if the symptoms seem to go away, take it for testing
since TBD symptoms can come and go as the disease
strengthens.




There are medications for these diseases but the treatments
must be administered aggressively, and there is no guarantee
of recovery. For this reason, prevention is certainly the
best cure. The only method of preventing tick-borne diseases
in your dog, other than moving to a place in the world that
has no ticks, is to keep ticks off of the dog.

Your veterinarian can recommend products that will help.
Advantix and Frontline are a couple of the commonly used
medications that kill ticks on a dog. If you have problems
(As I do.) with the idea of applying a systemic poison onto
your dog's fur and skin, there is also a collar that will
kill ticks and make them detach from the dog. Your
veterinarian will advise you about what will work best for
your individual dog.

Contracting a tick-borne disease does not mean that your dog
will die. But it does mean that it needs veterinary care, so
prevention is the best cure.



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