MOUNTAINVIEW ANIMAL HOSPITAL
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The Scoop on Ticks |
Lyme Disease...
Lyme disease was discovered in dogs in Lyme, Connecitcut in 1984 and has spread rapidly throughout the U.S. In 2001 alone, almost 18,000 cases were reported to the Center for Disease Control and is believed that only 1 in 10 cases found are actually reported. Ninety precent of cases occur in the Northeast.
Lyme is a bacterial disease. A deer tick transmits a corkscrew shaped bacterium from the spirochete group.
The disease is transmitted to the dog when an infected tick bites and feeds. After the tick begins feeding, spirochetes begin to migrate to the salivary glands of the tick and from there into the dog. Currently Columbia County is the number one (1) County in New York State with the highest count of lyme disease.
Anaplasmosis...
What is it?
Anaplasmosis is a tick-borne disease that is transmitted when an infected tick bites your dog. Humans can also be infected by tick-borne diseases, but you cannot catch the diseases from your dog. You would be infected by a tick bite of your own, and usually humans are affected by a different species of ehrlichiosis.
What are the signs?
Once your dog has been infected, she may show signs of the disease or she may not. Here are a few of the many things that can occur from Anaplasmosis:
• Decreased appetite
• Bruising
• Clotting abnormalities
• Depression
• Lethargy
• Fever
• Bloody stool/diarrhea
• Enlarged liver
• Swollen limbs
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Enlarged spleen
The most common signs:
Anaplasmosis can lead to a life-threatening thrombocytopenia (decreased platelet level). It is unknown whether the disease causes decreased platelets directly, or if the body is triggered by the disease to decrease platelet production. In any event, when your dog has decreased platelets, he/she is at risk for bleeding. The bleeding could occur to the GI tract or chest, where you can’t see it. This is an important point to remember about bleeding.
How do I know if my dog has been infected?
We now have a test that can screen for exposure to Anaplasmosis. The 4Dx test tests for 4 different things, from just a few drops of your dog’s blood:
1. Heartworms
2. Lyme Disease
3. Ehrlichia Canis
4. Anaplasmosis (Ehrlichia equi)
This test is very sensitive and specific, meaning if your dog is positive, your dog has been exposed to the organism. If the test is negative, then it is very likely that it has not been exposed. False positives and false negatives are very few, but they can happen if your dog was exposed and just hasn’t mounted a detectable immune response to the diseases yet.
Preventatives:
*K9 ADVANTIX
*FRONTLINE
*PREVENTIC COLLAR
There currently is no vaccine for anaplasmosis.
