Ticks and lyme disease in Dogs - should I be concerned? Dog tick?
Unfortunately, Ticks are year round problems on Vancouver island and do carry lyme disease.
the term dog tick is loosely used when infact most are deer ticks ( in BC the most common one to transmit
Lyme disease is the Western black-legged tick - Ixodes pacificus. However regardless of symantics theses ticks will attach to dogs and can cause lyme disease.
Lyme disease is often poorly diagnosed or not diagnosed at all but somethings that may aid in diagnosis is clinical signs and history. Lyme disease often is not noticed for several months after a tick has attached. Clinical signs include:
Lethargy
decreased appetite
occasionally fever
shifting leg lameness (can cause polyarthritis)
Ticks need to be on the skin for 48 hours prior to causing tick borne illness. If you do find a tick and are unsure how long it has been on please talk to your veterinarian, tick panels can be performed that can detect tick borne disease exposure.
Treatment is possible but diagnosis and monitoring is paramount.
Prevent is the best treatment (our clinic uses the following products - high efficacy and saftey ratings):
Advantix - prevents fleas and ticks - Topical applied monthly year round
Nexgard - prevents fleas and ticks - oral tablet given monthly
Lyme vax is also available - but again prevention is the key
the term dog tick is loosely used when infact most are deer ticks ( in BC the most common one to transmit
Lyme disease is the Western black-legged tick - Ixodes pacificus. However regardless of symantics theses ticks will attach to dogs and can cause lyme disease.
Lyme disease is often poorly diagnosed or not diagnosed at all but somethings that may aid in diagnosis is clinical signs and history. Lyme disease often is not noticed for several months after a tick has attached. Clinical signs include:
Lethargy
decreased appetite
occasionally fever
shifting leg lameness (can cause polyarthritis)
Ticks need to be on the skin for 48 hours prior to causing tick borne illness. If you do find a tick and are unsure how long it has been on please talk to your veterinarian, tick panels can be performed that can detect tick borne disease exposure.
Treatment is possible but diagnosis and monitoring is paramount.
Prevent is the best treatment (our clinic uses the following products - high efficacy and saftey ratings):
Advantix - prevents fleas and ticks - Topical applied monthly year round
Nexgard - prevents fleas and ticks - oral tablet given monthly
Lyme vax is also available - but again prevention is the key