Lyme Disease

Canine Lyme disease is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi and is one of several diseases transmitted by a tick. Most dogs that are infected with Lyme disease do not actually become sick from it. Therefore, clinical signs are only seen in about 10% of infected cases and they include pain, fever, and lameness. Lyme disease can also lead to a very serious kidney disease but this fortunately is not seen often. Prevention is the key to any disease and a good tick prevention and removal plan will help prevent Lyme disease from affecting your pet. Transmission from the tick takes 24-48 hours to occur, so daily checking your pet for ticks is key. You want to remove the tick as soon as possible but take care to remove it all and not expose yourself in the process. The zoonotic potential is extremely small but care should still be taken. Keeping your pet on consistent, veterinary approved tick prevention will prevent the number of ticks your pet is exposed to. Whether to vaccinate for Lyme disease or not is a question you should ask your veterinarian. There is a vaccine available but it is not going to prevent infection 100% if your pet is overloaded with ticks. Also, as stated above, there are several diseases, not just Lyme, that are transmitted by ticks and pets often become sick with co-infections. Therefore, our focus at the Animal Hospital of Statesville is quality tick protection and screening to monitor the incidence of disease in our area.

- Dr. Nichola Gaither