When we hear of ticks, we are aware of the several diseases they tend to spread and I know I have mentioned it on this page, the reason why we must protect our pets against these harmful ticks. One of the diseases that ticks can cause to our pet is, lyme disease. The illness is caused by the bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, it is transmitted through certain ticks. Horses, cats, dogs, and humans can get infected with lyme disease.
It is difficult for lyme disease to get diagnosed, so prevention is the best bet, speaking of prevention, we are speaking about protecting our pets against tick bite, immediately taking out ticks, and vaccinating dogs against the disease if you live in endemic areas.
Most times, a dog infected with the bacteria will still appear healthy, without any sign at all, the display of symptoms usually starts within 3-30 days and it is displayed in stages. A rash is a common sign of Lyme disease, it comes into he form of a single circle that spreads slowly from the site of tick bite, usually it feels warm but it's not always painful or itchy. Accompanied symptoms of this first stage are; headache, joint stiffness, fever, muscle pain, swollen lymph node, and tiredness.
At the second stage, it is a combination of the symptoms of first stage in addition to, stiffness or neck pain, weakness on both or one side of the face, immune system activity in heart tissues causing irregular heartbeat, painful swelling around the heart, activities of immune system in eye nerves causing pain or loss of vision, pain that starts from the back and hips, spreading to the legs.
At the third stage, it is called late disseminated stage, symptoms from earlier stages in combination with other unexpected symptoms may be generated. This stage comes with arthritis in large joints especially around the knees . The pain, stiffness, and swelling may now last longer than usual. Stage 3 symptoms becomes more evident between 2-13 months after Infection.
Infection happens when animals and humans are bitten by blacklegged ticks, the ticks gets infected when they feed on the blood of an infected wildlife like rodents, these ticks remain infected all through the next stage of their lives. An infected adult female tick or nymphs, can spread the bacteria during their next blood meal, but this is applicable when they feed on their host for minimum of 24-48 hours, what this means is, early identification of the ticks will prevent spread of the disease, but most times, it is always not easy for ticks to be seen on pets, especially during the early stage.
Black legged ticks are more active from early spring through fall, humans and pets may get bitten while relaxing at the back of their homes, or during an outdoor activity like camping or hiking. Lyme disease is not a zoonotic disease, so it cannot be spread from pets to their owner, but since the both parties share the same environments, they often come up with similar symptoms.
Since Lyme disease is caused by bacterium, then it can be treated with antibiotics. Treatment mostly lasts for four weeks, and may recur after pet is bitten by an infected tick. Remember ticks are mostly found in wooded, sandy, and grassy areas, they get to the animal's body when they climb unto a leaf, short trees, blade of grass, where they patiently wait until their sensors are able to detect the presence of an approaching animal, they either drop or crawl to.
Not every dog can be vaccinated for Lyme disease, you must check with the vet who will carry out an appropriate diagnosis to determine if the pet can get the vaccine or not. There are various tick prevention tips, speaking with your vet on the method advisable for your own pet will help you protect them from the dangerous Lyme disease.
