We are seeing many more ticks in our practice, which can carry Lyme and other diseases. A 2010 tick survey by the Tompkins County Health Dept revealed that 50%of the deer ticks collected carried the Lyme organism.
This concerns us for 2 reasons: 1) Humans and dogs can both get Lyme disease, but humans are FAR more likely to get Lyme disease from a deer-tick bite than a dog, and more likely to get serious long lasting symptoms. 2) Ticks on your dog means there are ticks in your area that can possibly get on you and your family. Therefore if you find ticks on your dog you should be checking yourself for ticks twice a day.
Tick prevention is the very best way to prevent Lyme disease in people and pets!
In our opinion all dogs and cats that have exposure to ticks (every dog walked or let run anywhere except town streets) should be on tick prevention. The best preventions are products that both REPELS ticks and causes ticks that have bitten to back out or die.
Lyme Disease is uncommon in dogs. If 100 dogs are bitten by 100 Lyme carrying deer ticks (the tick must be on the dog for at least 48 hrs) only 5%or less will ever show symptoms. ALL of them will test positive. Vaccination to prevent Lyme symptoms in dogs is still controversial, has limited effectiveness and may lead to further complications in some vaccinated dogs. For this reason we do not currently recommend vaccination, nor do we routinely test for Lyme disease in dogs that have no symptoms, regardless of how many ticks have bitten them.
The common symptoms of Lyme disease in dogs are fever, lethargy and lameness that occur 2 to 5 months after a tick bite. If Lyme disease has been diagnosed in your dog, it is easily treated with 4 weeks of antibiotics. Symptoms occasionally can recur and need retreatment months or years later, and may be associated with additional tick bites. A rare and difficult to treat kidney form that may have a genetic basis has been seen, and may involve co-infection with other bacteria. Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers and Shetland Sheepdogs are more susceptible to this form.
Please see this article for more information on Lyme Disease and Vaccine.
