Tick-Borne Diseases and Your Dog.

We’ve had a few warm days of rain and with the snow melting my thoughts are turning to spring. That means that if you haven’t had your dog on year round flea and tick preventative (which we recommend) it’s time to start thinking about getting your dog started on it for the warm season.

You may think to yourself: Why do it? I’ve never seen a flea or tick on my dog! My answer is maybe you didn’t see it or maybe that’s true but you many not get that lucky next season. Flea and tick preventatives are an important part of your pets care. You may think of fleas and ticks only as a direct problem, causing biting, scratching and even infestations. However fleas and ticks have the potential to transmit of number of diseases to your pet!

This includes:

Tapeworms: Fleas transmit the tapeworm Dipylidium caninum, which can cause weight loss in pets. You may notice small rice grain looking sections in the stool.

Lyme’s Disease: A disease of many animals and humans, Lyme’s disease is caused by the spirochete bacteria Borrelia burgdoferi. Most animals will not have any symptoms but it can cause shifting leg lameness due to joint inflammation, anorexia, weight loss, lethargy, systemic inflammation, kidney disease, and rarely, heart disease. It takes 24 hours for the deer tick to transmit the disease so remove any ticks you see immediately. However, once infected, it may be weeks to months before signs of the disease are seen.