It has been 40 years since multiple arthritis cases have been diagnosed in Connecticut in humans and later on in dogs. This case led to the discovery of Lyme disease treatment options and medications,
What Type or Illness is Lyme Disease?
Lyme disease is a bacterial infection. Like humans, dogs catch the illness from an infected tick. When a tick bites a dog the bacteria moves from the tick to the dog. In the wild, mice and white tail deer carry the bacteria, but experience no evidence of illness. When the mice or deer are bitten by a tick, the bacteria are transmitted from the tick to the animal. Generally, it is only caught through a tick bites, not through dog to dog contact, or human to dog contact. A dog is not communicable to other dogs in the house. When a tick bites an infected animal, it then extracts that bacteria and passes it on through a bit on another animal, such as a dog.
Lyme Disease in Pets
Lyme illness has an effect on pets in an alternative way than it effects people. In humans it can be terribly serious. In dogs, it is a mild insignificant issue. In most infected dogs, they show no evidence of illness. If a tick is half fed and then falls off, it is possible for the tick to go and bite another dog or person and spread the disease.
Geography
Lyme illness is essentially in the Northeastern United States, the Great Lakes and Eastern California. It is related to the size of the deer population.
Lyme Disease Symptoms
Dogs show signs like appetite loss and limping. In most cases symptoms are tolerable for the patient. Most infected dogs show no symptoms or signs of illness.
How Lyme Disease is Treated
Lyme illness is hard to diagnose with certainty. The difficulty is that since so many dogs are bitten and exposed, they have Lyme disease antibodies in the bloodstream. This causes the dogs to test positive for the disease. Because of this, most Veterinarians rely on a clinical diagnosis and a positive Lyme disease test. Treated dogs respond right away to treatment. The typical treatment calls for a course of antibiotics for 3 to 4 weeks.
Lyme Disease Prevention
Prevention starts with avoiding ticks if at all possible. If a tick jumps on a dog and bites and then is killed within 24 hours, the illness would not pass to the dog. If the tick is on the dog for over 24 hours, then the bacteria can be passed. Preventatives that kill or repel ticks can be effective as an approach for preventing the illness.
Cathy Doggins is the writer of many articles on topics such as this one sites that specialize in dog health anc care. When not writing about dogs, Ms. Doggins can be discovered caring for her 2 Labs and Jack Russell. When not playing with her pets, Cathy is a typical speaker on small and exotic animal rights and volunteers at her local shelter.
