Ticks and Mosquitoes
Could they be secretly infecting your dog?
Lyme Disease-Anaplasmosis-Ehrichiosis-Heartworm Disease
Your dog can be exposed to these infections in almost any outdoor location where deer ticks, black-legged ticks, brown dog ticks and mosquitoes can be found.
Diagnosing can be difficult because signs aren’t often present. However, we can run a very simple blood test to see if your dog has been exposed. If that test is positive, we will often run additional tests to identify the extent of infection and other related health conditions. We recommend a parasitic disease screen (4DX snap test) at every annual checkup.
Good tick control and heartworm prevention are vital. We can offer a vaccine for Lyme disease and a number of pills and topical products to help with other diseases.
- Lyme disease: can be found in every US state and dogs are 50% more likely to get Lyme disease than humans.
- Anaplasmosis an emerging tick disease, is surpassing Lyme disease in some areas in North America.
- Ehrlichiosis is the second most common canine infectious disease in the US(after parvovirus)
- Heartworm infection rates remain unchanged over the past 10 years. despite tremendous awareness of the disease.( caused by mosquitoes)
Most common signs of infection:
Lyme disease-Lameness,fever,swollen joints, kidney failure, Anorexia and not themselves
Anaplasmosis: Lack of energy, high fever, very painful swollen joints, loss of appetite, vomiting and diarrhea.
Erlichiosis: From mild to severe: Loss of appetite, depression,fever,painful joints, bloody nose, and pale gums
Heartworm Disease: No sign at first, then: mild persistent cough, Reluctance to move or exercise, tiredness after moderate exercise, reduced appetite and weight loss
