April is The Prevention of Lyme Disease in Dogs Month! What Is Lyme Disease? Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that can affect humans, dogs, cats and other mammals. Its primary carrier is the deer tick, which often feeds on rodents in its early stages. Later, the tick can attach to a dog or human and transmit the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. Clinical signs include depression, swelling of the lymph nodes, loss of appetite and fever, as well as lameness and swollen, painful joints. Renal failure can also be a consequence of Lyme disease. Thankfully, this disease has not been prevelent in our area, therefore, our veterinarians do not recommend vaccinating for this disease, unless you will be traveling with your dog to areas where they will have high exposure. We can check your dog for Lyme disease with a simple blood test here at the clinic. This test only takes 8 minutes and is the test we run to check your dog for heartworms. It also checks for Anaplasmosis and Erlichia, which are also spread by ticks. Make sure you are using a tick preventative on your dog. At CCAC we carry Frontline Plus, a topical preventative, and Nexgard, an oral beef flavored chewable preventative. These need to be used monthly to be effective.
Posted on: Sun, 27 Apr 2014 19:00:00 +0000
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