160 Bear Christiana Rd
Bear, De 19701
302-322-6488
Dr. Jim Berg
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Dog Questions
Dear Dr. Berg,
I found a tick on my dog and it was pretty big. I pulled it off and flushed it down the toilet, but now I'm wondering
if my dog may have gotten Lyme Disease. How can I tell?
D. B., Bear
Dear D.B.,
Lyme disease is a disease, and the name comes from the fact that one of the first places that it was recognized
was in Lyme, Connecticut. We don't know everything about the disease, but it is believed to be carried primarily
by deer ticks. Deer ticks live on deer and don't cause any disease in the deer, but the ticks drop off and may
feed on other animals, including dogs, and infect them with the disease.
There are two primary ticks that I see on animals that come in the hospital: the Brown dog tick and the Deer tick.
Deer ticks are smaller in size, more oval in shape, and tend to be a grayish color. The brown dog tick is larger,
more rectangular in shape, and may have stripes down its back. The nymph form of the deer tick (which only has
6 legs if you look carefully under magnification) is particularly hard to find since it is about as big as the
period in this sentence, and tends to bury itself deep in the skin.
The best way to remove a tick is to grasp it as closely to the head with a pair of tweezers, then pull SLOWLY.
If it comes out cleanly, you usually will be able to see a small white piece of skin in its mouth. You can also
use a "tick puller", which may veterinarians sell, that looks somewhat like a measuring spoon with a
slit in the side. You work the edge of the slit around the tick, and it comes off in the spoon, then you pour
the tick out of the spoon without every having to touch it.
It is perfectly normally for there to be a scab left behind where you pulled the tick off, and there will also
often be a cyst that will form where the tick embedded its mouthparts deep in the skin. You can clean the area
with peroxide if you wish, but usually there is no need to put anything on the bite. The cyst that forms will
usually go away on its own in 3-4 weeks. If you are worried that the bite may be infected, have your veterinarian
check it out, and he can prescribe an antibiotic if it is needed. It is not known for sure, but many people believe
that the tick must be attached for at least 12 hours before infection can occur.
If a dog gets Lyme disease from a tick bite, you may not be able to tell for a few days, a few weeks, or even months.
The usual symptoms are a fever of unknown origin, tiredness, and soreness in one or more joints. Your dog may
walk very stiffly or with an arched back, and some of the joints may swell. The soreness may come and go, and
it may shift legs. One key is that there is no history of an injury with the soreness. A dog can be extremely
painful, objecting when you pet him or try to pick him up.
If you suspect that there may be a problem, it is a good idea to take your dog to the veterinarian for an examination.
He can help determine if the symptoms are suspicious, can take a temperature (most people at home still don't
really want to take temperatures, I find), and can check for any ticks or tick bites. If a tick bite is found,
about 50% of the time it may have a characteristic "bulls-eye ring" around the tick bite that is purplish
in color and that looks something like a bruise. Most of the time, however, the tick or the tick bite may not
be seen, due to the small size of the tick and the hairy coat of the dog.
There are two primary blood tests that he can do to find out if your dog may have Lyme disease. The first and
most common test that is done can be done right in your vet's office, or easily sent out to a central lab to perform,
and is called an ELISA test. This test detects antibodies that your dog may be forming against Lyme disease, which
means that he has had exposure to the disease. One complication is that if your dog has had Lyme vaccinations,
this test will almost always be positive due to the antibodies that the dog has formed as a result of the vaccination.
What do we do then?
There is a special test that we can run that can tell the difference between antibodies that a dog carries from
the vaccine vs. the antibodies that he would form from a natural infection. It is called a "Western Blot
test", is a very accurate test, and is the only test that is usually run on dogs that have previously been
vaccinated with Lyme vaccine.
If you dog is suspected to have Lyme disease, in general the earlier it is detected, the more successful the treatment.
Many veterinarians feel that an antibiotic called doxycycline is the "drug of choice" against Lyme disease,
but it can sometimes cause vomiting in some dogs; some veterinarians will use Amoxicillin or other antibiotics
very successfully to treat an suspected Lyme disease infection. In severe cases, your dog may have to be hospitalized
for several days and undergo intensive treatment with intravenous drugs. It can be a very rewarding disease to
treat, and often produces a dramatic improvement in only 2-3 days.
If Lyme disease is ignored or not treated early enough, there are much more serious problems that may result.
Two of the more severe are fatal heart valve disease as well as irreversibly kidney failure. It is very important
if you suspect your dog may have Lyme disease to seek out EARLY treatment.
When Lyme vaccine came out many years ago, it was not very effective and it had a lot of side effects. Some dogs
vaccinated became feverish, and even acted very sore as if they had Lyme disease. These days, the vaccines that
we have recently used seem to have very few problems with side effects, and the data that supports their use shows
a great increase in effectiveness.
Please remember, though, that no vaccine is 100% foolproof, and that even vaccinated dogs CAN come down with Lyme
disease. So it is important to practice wise tick control measures in our area, where Lyme disease is a known
threat. Try to keep your dog out of wet, low-lying areas with tall grass, and use appropriate tick-control measures
on your dog and your yard. Your veterinarian can help you choose an effective program that will minimize the risk.
There's just one question about all this that I'd like to know. What good are ticks? Why are they here? I have
never seen another animal eating a tick, but they must be food for some other animal. Surely they can't be at
the top of a food chain. And while I'm at it, what good are mosquitoes…and FLEAS….what possible good could they
be?
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