FYI, Fatal Tick Bite in Dogs

[Citydude]

That's great news! Glad he's on the mend.

 

[milligjg]

We had to put our cat down last year. He was at the vet for a week and could not shake his fever. We finally had to put him down and the vet did an autopsy & sent tissue samples to a lab. Found out it was a tick bite that had been on a Bobcat and it is fatal to cats. The tick gets on a Bobcat then attaches to a small cat and that's it. It is more of a southern thing and our vet had not seen it this far north.

Eddie, good looking dog, good luck with the recovery

 

[Buppies]

Thanks for sharing our families love of dogs never stops. Very beautiful animals

 

[kryptzard]

This is very common here in the east. All my dogs have had tick born issues. They go lame for about 3-4 days then their immune systems pick up ... Over 20 years of seeing and experiencing this . I listened to a pod cast yesterday on Npr about it. We do not treat it here. The vet on the podcast even said the best practice is to let it take its course. It's scary at first, but send after about 2 lame events which are about 1-2 years apart... Nothing happens till they get closer to the end of life. There is no way to get rid of the spirochetes. Having studied acid/base physiology, I found the best thing to do for preventative is to give montmorillonite bentonite clay in the water to your pets to help deter the chance of overgrowth of the bacteria. Best wishes with it! I know first hand how helpless the dog gets, carrying them out and holding the backside up so they can eliminate isn't fun...

 

[MacLawn]

Well, I've been away for a while, and then see this tick problem!! Oh me Eddie, what a nightmare for Aiden! Man, I'm sure glad he's better! I agree with what all have written. Here's my tick and flea solution, as advised by my vet: GET, just GET the Soresto tick/flea collar!! Man, that thing works! And for 8 months! My chocolate lab/boxer mix has been wearing them for about 4 years now, I mean she does NOT get ticks now! The occasional nasty buzzard blood sucking little devil tick might get on her a bit, but they die almost immediately. And, vet told me they are safe even if dog were to chew on it. I just replaced hers, and that one was on over 9 months. I try to stay with the 8 month change though.

I'm in Mississippi, where ticks are so bad, there's a road named Seed Tick Road!! Deer all over, seems like too many deer around here. And, I'm in the "city", if you can call 25,000 people a city. Deer run the roads here. I reckon that's why so many ticks.

I absolutely loathe those nasty blood sucking filthy scumbag parasites. Hate'em too.

 

[EddieWalker]

This is very common here in the east. All my dogs have had tick born issues. They go lame for about 3-4 days then their immune systems pick up ... Over 20 years of seeing and experiencing this . I listened to a pod cast yesterday on Npr about it. We do not treat it here. The vet on the podcast even said the best practice is to let it take its course. It's scary at first, but send after about 2 lame events which are about 1-2 years apart... Nothing happens till they get closer to the end of life. There is no way to get rid of the spirochetes. Having studied acid/base physiology, I found the best thing to do for preventative is to give montmorillonite bentonite clay in the water to your pets to help deter the chance of overgrowth of the bacteria. Best wishes with it! I know first hand how helpless the dog gets, carrying them out and holding the backside up so they can eliminate isn't fun...

The way the paralysis works is that it strips the lining off of the nervous system that control the muscles. This is also how MS works in humans. It starts with the farthest away muscles and at first, they just become weak, and appear clumsy. Their back legs stop working first, then their front legs, and then their neck. After that, internal organs stop working. Usually the lungs are the first internal organ to stop. When this happens, the dog dies.

From those we have met who have had this happen, their dogs have all died in less then five days from when they realized their was a problem. Actual time is closer to a week to ten days from being bit by the tick and having the reaction. Not all dogs have the reaction, and in the grand numbers of dogs out there, it's fairly rare. But just in my area, the one vet we went to told us that is last case was in December. He gets a few of them every year.

The one common mistake pet owners make when this happens is they wait to see if their dog will get better on it's own. Do not do this, it's very tempting, and almost what we did. You have to get rid of the tick. If you don't find it, that doesn't mean it isn't still there. You also have to treat them for the tick with a pill that will kill any ticks that are on them. If you want, you can avoid not giving them the steroids and antibiotics, but that would just make recovery that much longer, and drawn out. Once the tick is removed, they should slowly recover. Rest and nutrition are the most important part of it.

 

[newbury]

Eddie -
Thanks for posting back w/ pics.
Now go kill some tics.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Wow, I hate ticks. Glad to see your pup getting better.

 

[s219]

Beautiful dog -- glad things are improving!

 

[95XL883]

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Hi Eddie,

Thanks for the update. It's good to hear Raiden continues to improve. I love that second pic. Both of you are just smiling away.