Canine Tick Borne Disease
Diseases can be transmitted to your dog by ticks. While not all ticks carry disease, many do, making it important to remove ticks from your dog as soon as you see them. If you have a dog that is regularly exposed to ticks have him checked regularly for infections. There are few common tick-borne diseases that are found often in people and animals who have been bitten by ticks.
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Erclichiosis
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Early stages of ehrlichiosis have symptoms similar to a typical viral infection, including diarrhea, fever, runny nose and fatigue. If your dog has been exposed to ticks and experiences these symptoms you should take it to the vet to be tested. As ehrlichiosis progresses it attacks the immune system's ability to fight the disease and symptoms, making them much more prevalent and incredibly uncomfortable for your canine. Ehrlichiosis is treatable, but the longer it progresses, the more medication and recovery time is needed.
Babesiosis
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Babesiosis is a disease that attacks a dog's red blood cells, causing anemia. Symptoms of babesiosis include fever, red or orange urine, loss of appetite and a noticeable amount of weight loss. Later stages of the disease can cause the dog's immune system to turn on it, causing further symptoms. If babesiosis is caught early it can be treated with drugs. Dogs infected with babesiosis that goes untreated will typically need a blood transfusion to survive.
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Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
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Rocky Mountain spotted fever is a disease that shows up most often in larger breed dogs and humans. Four to five days after infection, dogs will typically have symptoms including a high fever, swollen lymph nodes, bruising on the skin, loss of appetite and trouble walking. There are several drugs available to treat the disease. If left untreated, Rocky Mountain spotted fever will typically either kill a dog in two weeks or less, or the dog will get over the disease and be immune to it in the future.
Lyme Disease
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Lyme disease is one of the slowest moving tick-borne diseases. Symptoms of lyme disease can appear several months after a dog has been bitten by a tick. Symptoms include swollen lymph nodes, swollen joints, seizures, arthritis in joints near the tick bite and joints that are warm to the touch. If not treated the disease can ultimately kill a dog.
Rickettsial
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Early stages of rickettsial are much like symptoms of the flu: swollen lymph nodes, decreased appetite, fever and nasal discharge. Later on, if left untreated, dogs can experience more severe symptoms including anemia, unexplained weight loss, diarrhea, cough, eye discharge and they may vomit bile. Drugs can treat the disease if caught early, if left untreated a dog will eventually die from the disease.
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