Lyme Disease Dogs

Lyme disease is a tick borne disease that affects animals and dogs are not in any way exempt. The disease is also known in scientific terms as borreliosis and is transmitted by the borrelia burgdorferi, a type of bacteria commonly found in ticks. The disease is also known to affect human beings. The disease is more prevalent in dogs and other animals including wild animals. It is however interesting to note that the disease is not transmitted form one person to the next nor is it passed from human being directly to another human being. The main risk therefore of staying with an infected animal in close proximity is the fact that a tick that is attached to such an animal may drop off before it has had its fill. In such a situation, it would automatically seek another host to get its fill. If the former host was had been infected, then the same tick will transmit the disease causing bacteria to the next host.

Naturally, ticks do not jump from one animal to another unless they have been forced to. If an animal therefore remains with the tick until it gets its fill, the chances are that such a tick will eventually falloff and die a natural death. If this happens in this style then the disease cannot be transmitted to another victim.

How do dogs catch Lyme disease?

Just like any other animals, if dogs get bitten by the carrier ticks, the result is automatic infection. The risk of transmit ion from one animal to another is further increased if the animals are confined together in one kennel or housing. Dogs living together give the carrier ticks a better chance of falling off from one animal to the next especially as they spend most of their time together. Under such circumstances, it is normal to get an entire group of animals suffering from the disease.

Symptoms of Lyme disease in dogs

The symptoms of Lyme disease in animals may take quite a long time to manifest. Clinical tests have proved that a dog bitten by the carrier tick may take as long as five months to show tangible signs that can be noticeable. Depending on the dog in question's immune system, the symptoms may show much earlier as from abut two months after the bite. Some of the most common signs in an infected dog would include lameness, great loss of appetite and lethargy. Others mostly develop very high fevers with temperature rises of up to 105 degrees. In some rare cases, the infected dogs may experience serious kidney problems which may even lead to death if not checked in time.

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