- We are going to talk about Lyme Disease In Dogs Symptoms&Treatment and prevention.
- Knowing about Lyme disease in dog symptoms and treatment can help you deal with it.
- Lyme disease is the most commonly distributed disease by ticks all over the world.
- It can be extremely damaging to humans if it is not caught early and the same rules apply to dogs.
Lymes disease is an infectious bacterial disease caused by a bacterium from the genus Borrelia.
Lyme disease is zoonosis (tick-borne) and is transmitted to humans when infected ticks belonging to the genus Ixodes bite them.
There are 11 known species of genus Borrelia. and these three have been found to be responsible for spreading Lyme disease •
- Borrelia Burgdorferi
- Borrelia Afzelii
- Borrelia Garinii
Lyme Disease in Dogs Symptoms
There are an abundance of Lyme Disease In Dogs that can lead you to believe that your dog has Lyme disease and if you should encounter these symptoms, a visit to the veterinarian would prove to be quite beneficial.
- 1-Lameness of the Limbs
Many dogs will experience chronic lameness to the limbs after being affected due to the fact that their joints would be inflamed. - The minority of dogs may experience acute lameness that will last between 3 and 4 days but it will be ongoing for weeks on end.
- You will notice that your dog will have continuous lameness in one leg or it will switch from one leg to another which is commonly referred to as “shifting-leg lameness”.
- This particular Lyme disease in dog symptoms has proven to respond well to a round of antibiotic treatments.
2-Kidney Problems
- A more severe Lyme disease in dogs symptom is a problem with their kidneys.
- If you were to leave this symptom without treatment it could lead to glomerulonephritis which leads to inflammation and dysfunctional kidneys.
- Eventually, without treatment, it will turn into total kidney failure and your dog will exhibit symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, weight loss, increased urination, and fluid build up in the tissues.
3-Visible Problems
Although there are internal problems that your dog can have there are some visible symptoms that can alert you as well:
- stiff walking.
- touch sensitive.
- fever.
- depression.
- difficulty breathing.
- inflammation of their joints.
MORE ABOUT LYME DISEASE IN DOG SYMPTOMS
Although Lyme disease is a commonly known disease that affects a large amount of the population per year, it is still a debilitating disease that can bring forth a slew of detrimental effects, especially to your pets.
In some ways, dogs react worse than humans to Lyme disease and so the effects can be extremely detrimental to their bodily functions.
Between vomiting, lameness in legs, and flu-like symptoms, dogs exhibit an immense amount of symptoms relating to lyme disease. If you have noticed any of the above ailments, you should book an immediate appointment with your local veterinarian to ensure that your dog is put on the antibiotics that they need.
Lyme disease in dogs Symptoms are a lot harder to notice than on humans, but if you notice any of the symptoms mentioned above, do not hesitate to contact your vet as soon as possible
Lyme Disease In Dog Treatment
Lyme Disease In Dog Treatment is possible in the early stage. If your dog shows any of the previous Lyme diseases in dog Symptoms, testing can be done to confirm the disease and it can be cured by vaccination.
Lyme Disease In Dog Treatment includes administration of an antibiotic and symptomatic medication to relieve Lyme Disease In Dog symptoms.
1-Antibiotics
Most Lyme disease infections can be completely cured with antibiotics. Lyme disease can be cured completely with antibiotics like amoxicillin, doxycycline for 3-4 weeks
2- Painkillers
To relieve the patient of the pain and inflammation accompanying Lyme disease, painkillers might also be required, but Do not administer pain medicines to a dog unless advised by a vet.
How To Prevent Lyme Disease In Dogs
.Ticks are tiny arachnids that spread a number of different illnesses like tick-borne relapsing fever, bovine anaplasmosis and ehrlichiosis to name a few.
There are two kinds of ticks that are known to carry the Borrelia bacteria, the deer tick, and the black-legged tick. Both species can be found in North America.Deer, fox, elk and other animals that carry ticks spread them closer to your environment and there is a risk that you or your dog develop Lyme disease.
As with any other infection, in Lyme disease too, prevention is better than cure.
Ticks
It is possible to prevent Lyme disease in dogs and other pets by making the environment as “unfriendly” as possible for ticks.
1-Begin by keeping your grass well trimmed and remove long grass around your yard. Ticks do not like dry and sunny areas.
2-Try to create more sunny and dry areas around your home and you can minimize the risk of being bitten.
3-You can also prevent Lyme disease in dogs and other pets by creating natural tick barriers
4-Build a fence around your yard to prevent your dogs from going to the forest and prevent deer and other animals who often carry ticks from coming to your yard. Another way is to create a barrier our of wood chips or rocks.
5-When you allow your dog to run through a field and/or forest, you should always inspect their body for ticks to ensure that one hasn’t latched onto their skin
6-Patios or decks can be a problem in the summer when it is warm outside, you can try to prevent tick bites by trimming or removing trees and shrubs that are near your patio.
7-Make sure you keep the grass short and lay wood chips under your patio to make it as “unfriendly” as possible for ticks.
8-People who live in the countryside are used to let their dogs run free. This makes it hard to control if your pets get in contact with ticks. There are different tick prevention products on the market like tick collars for dogs that seem to be effective.
Lyme Disease Vaccine For Dogs
- Lyme disease has become the most tick-transmitted disease in the world.
- While there is no treatment to protect humans from this disease, there is Lyme disease vaccine for dogs that are available.
- It is a disease that is concentrated mostly in the Northeast in the United States with California and Michigan having cases as well.
- While humans and dogs are the ones that get the disease majority of the time, some cats have been diagnosed with it as well.
So what do you need to consider before you go about and get the Lyme disease vaccine for dogs?
-First, not all dogs need the vaccine. Your dog might not be in an area where the disease is currently at and while this is not 100% protection as birds, squirrels and other animals can enter your yard bringing the ticks with them, it is a good place to start.
-Next would be to consult with your veterinarian and see what they might be experiencing. Chances are they will be able to let you know if the threat exists in your area and if you should take the precautionary steps at protecting your beloved pet.
There are many types of Lyme Disease vaccine for dogs available, your dog should administer most of them yearly. There are three different types of Lyme disease vaccine for dogs. each one is slightly different in how they work to battle this disease.
1-Fort Dodge’s Vaccine introduces a small amount of dead Lyme disease bacteria into the dog’s system. These ensure that if the dog becomes infected that the body will have a small number of antibodies already to rapidly reproduce to fight off the Lyme disease.
2-The next Lyme disease vaccine for dogs is the Merial’s Vaccine. It produces the protein that the tick uses when feeding and that hides the Lyme disease as it spreads throughout the bloodstream.
3-The last one is Intervet-Schering-Plough’s Vaccine, it is similar to Merial’s Vaccine in that it targets the protein in the tick’s saliva. The added benefits of this type of vaccine is that it fights the bacteria simultaneously.
There is no reason to not seek out a Lyme disease vaccine for dogs if you are worried about your family pet becoming infected. Lyme disease is a dangerous disease that affects dogs and humans alike and has become more of a problem over the last decade.