TICKS CAUSE A DISEASE IN DOGS CALLED BABESIOSIS
WHAT IS BABESIOSIS?
Babesiosis, also known as piroplasmosis, is a tick-borne disease. It is transmitted mainly by ticks of the genus Dermacentor reticulatus, which harbor pathogenic Babesia protozoa in their salivary glands. Babesia canis dominates in our area, but Babesia gipsoni, vogeli and microti brought from other countries in Europe and Asia are also found. Protozoa enter the dog's bloodstream when the tick feeds. Infection most often occurs no earlier than after 48 hours, although there are known cases of infection after 8 hours, when the ticks had previously fed on another animal. These protozoa attack the dog's red blood cells - by multiplying in them, they cause their breakdown, and thus cause anemia and, as a result, numerous symptoms of the disease. There are vaccinations against babesiosis in the world, but their effects have not been fully investigated and their effectiveness has not been confirmed.
SYMPTOMS
The disease develops very quickly and insidiously. It may have a chronic, sub-clinical course - but this form is rare. Most often, the disease is acute or hyper-acute, in which the first symptoms may appear as early as 7 days after the tick bite. They are often hardly noticeable by the owner: the dog becomes apathetic, has less appetite, has less strength and most often has a fever. Then you can notice pale conjunctiva and mucous membranes. There is also weakness of limbs, muscle tremors, and unsteady gait. At first, the symptoms are subtle, but with each passing hour and day they intensify, and additional, more serious symptoms appear, such as rapid breathing, irregular heartbeat, complete apathy or even lethargy. Characteristic symptoms of babesiosis include fever, dark urine, and yellowing of the skin and mucous membranes (jaundice). Additionally, vomiting or diarrhea may occur. Sometimes the symptoms are very non-specific
How to safely remove a tick
Always have a ‘tick removal kit’ ready at home so you don’t have to spend time getting everything together if you do identify a tick. This kit should include a tick removal tool (you can buy it online like Amazon, Ebay or any pet shop), gloves, a jar with a lid, rubbing alcohol and some antiseptic wipes.
- Put on your gloves. As ticks spread disease through the bloodstream they could infect you through any broken skin.
- Place your removal tool or tweezers around the part of the tick closest to your pet’s body, being careful not to pinch your pet’s skin.
- Using a steady pressure, gently twist the tick until it releases its grip. Try not to move suddenly, or twist too hard as you don’t want the tick to regurgitate whatever is inside it back in to your pet, or for any of it to be left behind.
- Put the tick in the jar and examine it to check it’s still in once piece and nothing has been left inside your pet. If you are not sure for how long tick been on your dog please take this tick to the vet.
- Add some rubbing alcohol to kill the tick. Keep it in the jar somewhere for a few days until you’re sure your pet is well. If you pet starts to display any symptoms such as a reluctance to move, fever, extreme tiredness, loss of appetite and swollen lymph nodes then take both your pet and the tick to VET straight away so they can check them over and be sure of the parasite that infected them.
- Disinfect the bite site with disinfecting wipes or some fresh rubbing alcohol. Keep an eye on the site and contact VET if it becomes red or inflamed.
