Lyme Disease in Dogs

Yes, Lyme Disease doesn't just occur in humans, but in dogs as well. But determining the ailment in pets is harder than it is in people. The bacteria could be inside your pooch for several months without displaying any signs of it. A rash, the first symptom of the disease shown by humans, won't be seen in dogs because they don't get rashes. The other give-aways of it are similar to many other common sicknesses, making it even harder to determine. Though it won't be much help for ruling it out as a possible disease, I'll enumerate the symptoms for you anyway.

The most common primary sign of Lyme Disease would be laziness - not suddenly but gradually at a semi-fast pace. It will become less and less active. Like take walking for example. Your pooch would usually walk with you for 5 kilometers. The next day it'll only be able to walk 4 kilometers, then 3 kilometers for the next time, so on so forth. It won't be long before it may refuse to walk and in worse cases refuse to play sometimes. Though this sign wouldn't be of much help if your pet is already old and naturally inactive, a real pet owner should be able to see if it's lazier than usual.

Another sign could be not wanting to eat. No matter what you cook it would eat little or nothing of it. A food deprived pet will lose weight. Eventually you'll be seeing its ribs and skull more clearly. This is coupled with a fever, sometimes and most likely reaching very high degrees. Inflamed lymph nodes would then become more visible and pain will be felt in its joints. At this point, it will have a much harder time moving because it would be having arthritis to deal with paired with lethargy. In time some internal organs will be affected, leading to other secondary illnesses.

How does Lyme Disease spread - the answer is mainly by ticks and other biting insects. A tick sucks blood from an infected animal, and transfers it when it sucks another. The same process goes for the other biting insects. Another transfer method would be direct contact with infected bodily fluids. So as you can tell the ailment spreads easily. If your pet has showed any, many, or all of the symptoms of contamination, bring it to a veterinarian for screening and immediate treatment. To prevent Lyme Disease from infecting you dog, vaccinations and booster shots will be needed. Have your pet take regular baths with the aid of soap for killing ticks and other biting insects.

It would take hours before they could transfer the bacteria – use doggy powder formulated for killing the little critters. Let the bugs fall off dead, and be sure not to forcefully remove the them to prevent the bacteria from spreading. Don't let your pet enter flea infested areas and try to keep your place clean. You won't just be ensuring the safety of your dog, but yours and your family as well.