Did you know that May is the Lyme Disease prevention month?
With summer approaching and tick season in the near, we wanted to give out extra information to be prepared!
Lyme Disease in dogs is one of the most common transmitted disease by Ticks. Lyme disease surprisingly only causes symptoms in 10 percent of our fur babies. Although it has been reported all through out United States and Europe, it is mostly found in the upper Midwestern states.
What to look for if you fear your dog has Lyme disease?
In most dogs the disease start to attack their body and the fastest way to tell is what is known as “ shifting – leg lameness”. This causes the dog to have joint pain and therefor causes lameness. This can go on for a couple days and then go away, this is not to be confused with “ growing pains”, so if you fear your fur kids may have these symptoms don’t hesitate to get a professional opinion. As the disease progresses it begins to attack their Kidney’s and eventually if gone untreated will result in kidney failure. More superficial symptoms that maybe noticeable include, difficulty breathing, fever, loss of appetite, heart abnormalities, and depression.
What causes this terrible disease ?
Lyme disease is caused by the bacteria called Borrelia Burgdorferi that ticks carry. Although the Ticks carry this bacteria, they are not born with it but rather pick it up from pervious animals that were infected. The infection that these ticks transmit do not attack our furry kids systems until after 48 hours of the tick being attached on them.
Treatment for Lyme Disease in Dogs.
The treatment for this disease varies amongst every dog. A Veterinarian will recommend putting your dog on a course of antibiotics, mostly Doxycycline, for a range of four to six weeks. Most dog parents see a change in as little as three days once the treatment is started, with others that may not be the case. Naturally we would ask what happens to all the symptoms including the lameness in the legs? Well, the treatment of
antibiotics should remove them all and should not need extra antibiotics to alleviate them. If your pooch does not improve, screening should be done to rule out other diseases.
Preventing Lyme Disease in your Dog
The most important resource to use are Tick and Flea preventative. If we can stop our pups from getting this terrible disease why wouldn’t we do everything we can! Talk to your vet and ask them which preventative would fit your pooch best. They have different options like a monthly chewable to collars they can wear all day long.
Taking care of the environment your pooch is in is another great way to lower the chance of possibly getting Lyme Disease. Ticks are known for drying out in direct sunlight, so keeping your fur baby off the tall grass and out of the woods should do the trick!
Let’s keep an eye out for those pesky ticks and help our fur kids beat Lyme Disease!
