Tick Borne Diseases in Dogs
Tick borne diseases in dogs are to be given much significance in these days because of the two reasons namely the increased frequency of occurrences and the increased worries had by both the dog and the owner because of the tick borne disease of dogs.
Babesiosis is one of the tick borne diseases in dogs. Brown dog tick is the main tick causing problem in these dogs.
The affected animals have often the bloody colored urination and the examination of the blood smear help to diagnose this problem.
In the veterinary clinical pathology laboratory, the tick borne diseases in dogs may be found out easily. In case of acute disease, the symptoms may be more evident.
If no therapy is initiated, then the dog affected may succumbed to death. However, there are cases that enter into the sub clinical cases also.
These sub clinical cases may not reveal the typical signs but the dullness may be pronounced in them.
In some instances, these cases may have an entry into the chronic phase. In chronic phase of this disease, the affected dogs may have vomiting, enlargement of spleen, intermittent Fever etc.
During the year 2003, among the tick borne diseases in dogs, it is the ehrlichiosis that has gained significance and is caused by brown dog ticks.
Unlike the deer ticks that cause the lyme disease, the incidence of infestation with the brown dog ticks is more and most of the times, about ten to twenty per cent of the blood smears examined in microscope reveal often this kind of protozoan problems.
Rickettsia organisms and neorickettsia organisms lead to the diseases since they are caused by ticks in dogs.
Among these tick borne diseases in dogs, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is one of the important diseases caused by rickettsia organisms. Hence, tick borne diseases should not be viewed in a casual manner and they need immediate attention.