Tick-Borne Parasites In Dogs

[isanbirder]

My GSX went off his food, became lethargic... and gradually weakened. I took him to the vet, and had a blood check done... with a horrifically low red blood cell count, and massively overloaded liver. She said it was caused by tick-borne parasites.

She gave him a month's supply of antibiotics (to kill the parasites) and blood support pills (I don't know what they were). After the month's pills (and he hates pills), he's raring to go, eats like a horse, and comes to me an hour or more before feeding time to ask for his food.

Now my toy poodle bitch seems to be going the same way, off her food, lethargic. I shall take her to the vet tomorrow.

Both dogs (plus my two others!) have been regularly dosed with Ivermec. I have found there is no problem with fleas, but they still get a few ticks.

We live in the sticks, and the dogs run free... and have a two-hour walk every morning through the paddyfields.

[Nignoy]

Surely after a walk in the paddy fields you pat your dogs down to check for ticks or any lumps and bumps??it only takes a couple of minutes and it saves you future vets bills, this has always been our habit whether in the forests of germany, or the wilds of the Somtam triangle in isaan, even here in country queensland we have to be really care ful, having a bottle of ballistol or any other fine machine oil handy to give ticks a quick squirt is always a bonus, 5 mins later ticks are dead and fall off, problem solved,

[F1fanatic]

I feel for you as one of my dogs was seriously ill with tick-borne blood parasites twice. I had my other dogs checked and they had the parasites too, although they were not showing any symptoms.

The problem is that it is already too late when you remove the tick as they have already bitten the dog and passed on the parasite.

[LeCharivari]

It sounds like ehrlichiosis, a parasite transmitted by ticks which can lead to kidney failure and be fatal - two of my dogs died from it a couple of months ago.

One showed the same symptoms as yours, so when he was tested positive with a Snap test I had them all tested and two others, which had appeared completely normal and healthy, also tested positive. The first wasted away over a couple of weeks, another appeared physically to have recovered but his blood results remained bad and a month later he went in a week, and the third that also tested positive seems to have made a good recovery as his blood results have been back to normal for a couple of months, although he is now starting to show his age a bit more.

I can't recommend strongly enough that you have Snap tests done for all of them, IB, even if they seem perfectly healthy - the Snap tests give a reading on the spot in a few minutes.

The problem, as you have said IB, is that Ivermec, Frontline, etc, only kill the ticks after they may have already passed on the parasite - as does patting a dog down and removing them, as F1f said. Unfortunately the only way of checking is with a Snap test, followed by a blood work up to see if treatment is successful, and very often (as in my case) there are no symptoms until the infection is advanced so there is no reason to check and treatment may be too late.

GSDs are apparently the most prone breed to infection, IB, and they can also appear to recover and then relapse some time later (the second of my dogs to die was a GSD/Ban Kaew mix), so unless you've done so it would be a good idea to have another Snap test and a blood test done for him when you check the poodle (and the others), just to make sure. The pills were probably Samarin and Ketosteril, which are available from most pharmacies if you need to give them for a long time to prevent renal failure.

Good luck.

[isanbirder]

Thanks for the information, LeC. I'll ask the vet about a Snap test this morning.

[elfe]

always be on the spot with tick prevention - ivermec and/or spot-ons, the chance of getting blood parasites is largely reduced. the first stage of ticks where they are extremely tiny you cannot find them and they can get fully sucked without you noticing. check at vet if you suspect, as if in progressed stage where liver and kidney are already affected it might be too late.

[elfe]

good advice from charivari. usually it is not only one bloodparasite and almost always they got babesia too which can only be detected with good microscope. babesia the worst in my experience and of course it is worse i more bloodparasites, also anaplasmosis very common. as you say, even after long treatment the symptoms can come back later and still kill the dog, so always check and give supplements. if ticks infested your house, spray and inject dogs with ivermec twice in 15 days distance to kill offspring. dogs who go for walks prone to carry home ticks every day, it is a never ending battle

[Nienke]

Hhhmm ticks, tell me about it. It's so common here.

Early stages of tick disease mimic many other diseases and is very easily overlooked ( so don't beat yourself on this). This can be: dog skips a meal or two, or doesn't eat its meal at all, or eats much slower than usual. Recurrent soft feces, sudden fever which goes unnoticed. Liver problem while everything else seems normal. Eye discharge. Anemic. Low platelets. Etc.

Chronic stage can show: ongoing liver problem, seizures, muscle and joint pain, arthritis, loosing weight while eating normal, recurrent anemic and/or low platelets,and many more.

Now, when I have or hear from a dog that shows any of these sx, I always have a blood test done (RBC, WBC and platelets) and liver kidney check, plus (as said before) the Snap test.

For E. canis and Anaplasmosis, the usual treatment is doxycycline. This can be taken together with the liver support pills, but the (RBC boosting - iron) pills have to be given separated from the doxy.

In those cases where the platelets were (dangerous) low the vet gave an anabolic steroid shot, sometimes followed up with prednisone pills. I know of a few dogs that pulled through with this treatment.

IME, dogs that have entered the chronic stage, where the parasite has entered the bone marrow, will die of the tick disease in the end (unless another disease pops up, such as cancer). Doxy can't reach the parasites there. When a dog in a chronic stage shows sx, you will see an acute flair-up of this chronic stage, and it's the acute flair-up that's treated. Over time, which can take 5 to 6 years, the parasites destroys the immune system.

If a dog shows positive on a SNAP test, but doesn't show sx, it only tells that the immune system is doing it's job, as it is forming anti-bodies against the foreign objects. Should we interfere with this marvelous, and still so much unknown, system by stuffing a dog full with ab's already at this point? I do not have the answer to this, but have my doubts.

[isanbirder]

Thanks for all the helpful posts. I took the little dog along to the vet this morning (limited choice of vets in Buriram; this one is young, helpful, and, I think, she does a good job). She did a blood test, results as expected, parasites, and the blood and liver similar to the big dog, but nothing like so bad. She tended to advise against the SNAP test; she said it only works the first time (antibodies make it show positive after treatment), and doesn't tell you about the blood and the liver.

Since I came back, I've been busy disinfecting the place, not, I may say, for the first time.

So the little dog goes on pills, and my other two small dogs go in for a blood test as soon as possible.

The GSX seems to be in fine shape now, but of course I shall have to keep checking.

[BambinA]

"She gave him a month's supply of antibiotics (to kill the parasites) and blood support pills (I don't know what they were). After the month's pills (and he hates pills), he's raring to go, eats like a horse, and comes to me an hour or more before feeding time to ask for his food."

The antibiotic drug is a bacteriostatic drug in tretacycline group. I think you vet gave doxycycline since it is more efficiency. More of the supporting TX is kinda vit B. Bare in mind, E. canis is kind a recurrent. You may have to observe your dogs signs in future.

In fact, this blood parasite is responded so quick with the drug but it does not mean in future your dog(s) wont get this one again.

Edited July 1, 2012 by Tywais
Fixed font

[isanbirder]

I'm fully aware that the problem may recur... and that the worst case scenario is that I may lose all four dogs.

[Nienke]

Welcome back Bambina! Does this mean you finished your studies and are back in Thailand?

[bina]

the SNAP is , for many vets, at least here not in europe, expensive - i remember one of my vets bringing sets back with him from france, but mostly using differential diagnoses for ascertaining if the dog has any of the diseases or not.

.... here , if dogs come in with ticks, and there are known cases of any of the tick related diseases in the area, the dogs get treatment started, while waiting for blood checks to come back from pathology (teh same as getting antibiotics for throat infection when strep is suspected)... and if one dog in the family has is, then all dogs get treated... the thing is, when in 'remission' form, tests dont show ... when there is a flare up, then often no need to test... mostly doxicillin is the drug of choice here, for a month... funnily, here, no vitamins are given, although blood can be given once... (there is a problem to give again if i remember due to antigens, etc since dogs arent blood typed)...

i suspect that here, at least, most dogs here in our town are chronicly infected but non symptomatic

i think in the fields/farms of issaan it would be difficult to prevent tick infestations, alls needed is one tick to get any of the diseases, and apart from supershield for horses (dip or spray), ive found that nothing but nothing else works that well.. the supershield spray or dip is meant for horses or dogs only (super poisonous to cats!!) it is supposed to be sold by vets only but here, shops also carry it. it is super strong, but worth every penny/shekel. it seems that our ticks are immune/resistant to frontline, et al... at least here up on the mountain and also in two other areas close to us . this is the first year we have not had huge infestations... ive also kept both dogs super shaved down.

if there is one animal that i really really hate, it is ticks... i watch them waitning with their little front feet in the air testing for heat of an animal to go by, and then leaping on to the unsuspecting animal , usually lilee , where they crawl in to little closed in areas like between the pads , wehre they blend in , and causing havoc. ichhhhhhhh...

bina

israel

[isanbirder]

Just to cheer up this rather grim thread.... my toy poodle after two days' medication is a changed dog. She came out for the walk this morning, though I didn't call her ("Don't you leave me behind!"), and joined in some of the fun with the two other small dogs. She's not back to eating normally, though.... but there are 26 days' medication to go.

[Sheryl]

Be warned, this can relapse

my niece's little pom al;most died from this.

it's very common in Thailand.

[F1fanatic]

This is an incredibly informative thread, but I find it a little confusing and would appreciate some simple advice.

When my dog came down with a tick-borne blood infection he was give 2 jabs (with a 10 minute interval iirc). The first was to prevent the second making him vomit from the second (again, iirc). He was also given lots of pills until his blood/liver counts etc. recovered. Is this still the treatment or have times changed?

Also, I didn't know this was recurrent. Would he need the jabs again if it recurs, or just the tablets?

[Nienke]

the thing is, when in 'remission' form, tests dont show ...

That's what I have been thinking. Thanks for that. I just got an older dog in that shows sx of tick disease (either E. canis or Anaplasmosis, or both) and has a history of having ticks, but the SNAP showed negative and the Eosinophils are in normal range. She is anemic, has a liver problem and is weak on all fours.

Also: a while ago an older dog with chronic tick disease showed platelets in normal range and slightly anemic, also a bit dehydrated. I asked if the dog had an acute flair-up of the tick disease, but the vet thought it was something different based on the blood results. The dog got IV for 2 days and ab's (not doxy), perked up to only regress again after a few days.

A week later another test: dangerously anemic. The vet told me, that due to dehydration the blood test result can change, and that it indeed was an acute flair-up of the chronic state.

Bastaaardooo ticks!

[elfe]

it could be babesia?!

[Nienke]

Yeh, for a moment the vet was thinking in that direction, but it wasn't. It was the far advanced chronic stage. The vet suspected that the bone marrow wasn't making red blood cells anymore.

[bina]

correct; when animals are dehydrated the blood resuslts are scewed ; however, a good vet would recognize that because usually the blood is 'thicker' when dehydrated giving better results for certain things (hemoticrit but worse results for liver/kidney function... which is why here vets treat as if it IS the tick born diseases BASED on symptoms, using the lab results mostly for deciding which supportive therapy is needed... anemia etc, if a dog comes in with ticks or was in an area with ticks, and is differentially diagnosed as NOT having other problems (cancers, etc) would most likely be treated as if it did have a tick borne disease.

this is especially true for dogs that live in rural areas or who were in areas with ticks... central tel aviv apartment poodles who dont go to parks would not be on that list, and the differential would be looking most likely for something else blood related (cancers etc).

btw, same as people. mild dehydration gives scewed resulsts as i can testify to also...

bina

israel

[isanbirder]

My other two dogs (the younger ones) both tested positive for the parasites, as expected, so I shall spend the next month thrusting pills down reluctant dogs' throats. Oh well, one does the best one can for them.

[bina]

try pills in tuna (the canned kind)... even a terribly ill dog will go for canned tuna, u dont need to give the whole can, since dogs work with smell, a bit of smelly oily tuna goes a long way (as long as the dogs are bolters and not chewers. some dogs chew more so feel the pills and get the taste in their mouths)

when giving to several different dogs, make a dish with a ball of the stuff for each dog, or hand each one a ball of the food/pill,, checking that they all ate theirs. unless your dogs are easiliy pilled manually (most dogs learn to ruuuuuuuuun whenthey see the pill box/container/wrapper, or even hear pills, if they are getting them for long periods of time.)

... the trick is to always give some food w/o the pill before giving the same food with the pill, so that he/she chows down the food without giving it a checkout sniff first. we also use nutella in small amounts, its gooey and the dog ends up salivating and swallowing no matter how much he doesnt want to. peanut butter works with dogs that are used to it. since dogs have cultured tatstes like their owners, american raised dogs seem to like the peanutbutter, here, tuna and the nutella... thai dogs?

[isanbirder]

Thanks, Bina. I'll try it. The GSX had his last pill (until he relapses)this afternoon, and I wished I could tell him! The three small ones... two are not so difficult, and the one I thought would really be a problem took his first pill easily this morning. I took him by the scruff (he's got a lot of scruff!), and opened his mouth and put the pill in with one hand... amazing!

[isanbirder]

The little dogs are proving fairly easy (you don't have to push the pills down so far) so I shall keep the tuna option in reserve until they get wise to what I'm up to. So far, no evasive tactics.

[cockerdoodledo]

The little dogs are proving fairly easy (you don't have to push the pills down so far) so I shall keep the tuna option in reserve until they get wise to what I'm up to. So far, no evasive tactics.

Crush pills between two spoons until dust add little water,into large syringe squirt into mouth

Use Bayticol 6% 1 and half mil into 2 litres of water fill smallish plastic spray bottle squirt onto dogs feet as it stands let it dribble through toes ever day or so, dust down with flea/ tick powder ever few days

[LeCharivari]

The little dogs are proving fairly easy (you don't have to push the pills down so far) so I shall keep the tuna option in reserve until they get wise to what I'm up to. So far, no evasive tactics.

Crush pills between two spoons until dust add little water,into large syringe squirt into mouth

That's the option I ended up with for one of my dogs after he couldn't swallow solids any more, adding it to syringes of goat's milk every couple of hours day and night which kept him going for a couple of weeks until he just drifted away quietly; unfortunately that wasn't even an option with the other one (the Ban Kaew/GSD cross) as he had had to be kept muzzled most of the time as he was too dangerous/unpredictable. Once he showed signs of relapse, a month after he had appeared to make a recovery, I tried changing his diet to Science Diet K/D (renal support) but he wouldn't touch it (too solid) or any other "decent" dog food and would only eat the cheapest Big C canned dog food (mainly jelly) in increasingly small amounts for a week until he stopped eating completely.

He went from an apparently healthy, eating well, normal weight, etc, 9 year old to a very sick, emaciated 15 year old in a week, dying a few days later as his liver and kidneys gave up completely. We had always taken his muzzle off once a week for shampoo time and he never objected to being muzzled (fortunately!), putting his noze into a clean muzzle when it was held up for him, so taking it off whenever he was fed wasn't a problem and I left it off for his last few days which seemed to surprise and gratify him. I had been feeding him separately so there wouldn't be any problem with the other dogs while he was eating (Bassets can smell food a mile away, and always want it!) and after he turned his nose up at his food completely for the second time I knew he didn't have too long so instead of putting his muzzle back on, as usual, I put it down and opened the door to let him back out under the house; he looked at me with his one eye (he had been shot in the head when young) and quietly, stiffly and with a lot of dignity slowly walked over and licked my hand (something he had never done before) and walked outside and laid down. He drank some water occasionally for the next couple of days but it was obvious when his time was up so I spent the night beside him on a mat with my hand on his shoulder until he gave a final cough and passed on. Lucky it wasn't raining.

When my dog came down with a tick-borne blood infection he was give 2 jabs (with a 10 minute interval iirc). The first was to prevent the second making him vomit from the second (again, iirc). He was also given lots of pills until his blood/liver counts etc. recovered. Is this still the treatment or have times changed?

Also, I didn't know this was recurrent. Would he need the jabs again if it recurs, or just the tablets?

Exactly as you described, pills as detailed above; if it recurs its a question of going through the whole process again, with or without the jabs depending on how long it is since the previous time. The problem is that the second time (and any subsequent times, if he recovers and relapses again) his liver and kidneys will already have been weakened and his immune system affected so he will go downhill that much quicker than the first time, whether it is a month or a year or a number of years later so by the time you notice any problem, even with regular blood tests, it will probably be too late even if the medication will have any effect.

All you can do is "the best one can for them" and enjoy their company while it lasts - there's no point brooding over what might happen.

[Machang]

Hi people.

Try doctor clarkes parasite cleanse. It's not medicine from the vets it's all natural and can be used by humans also. Good luck.

[isanbirder]

Just an update for all the people who inserted helpful posts on this thread.

Dum, the GSX, finished his course of pills three weeks ago, was clear on his blood test, and seems fine.

Booky, the toy poodle, is not difficult to dose, except that she tends to roll on her side while I'm giving her the pills.

Snowy, her son, called that because he's coal-black, has to be held slightly off the ground by the scruff, and then is easy to dose.

Long, the interloper who arrived in our shop four months ago, same size, is the easiest of the lot.

No need yet to resort to coating pills in tuna, crushing them between spoons, etc.

Of course, I'm not forgetting that the parasites may recur, in which case I am wondering if the kindest thing isn't to let them slip away in due course of nature. A decision I hope I don't have to make.

[F1fanatic]

Thanks LeCharivari for the info.

I misunderstood 'recurrent' - thinking it was like malaria (can stay in the system forever) as opposed to they can pick them up again from another tick.

Isanbirder - v happy to hear that your dogs are OK following the treatment, but don't just give up if it happens again. One of my dogs has had this problem two or three times! (I lose track as up until recently - touch wood - there was always something going on with one of my dogs....). He is still here and doing just fine.

[isanbirder]

Thanks LeCharivari for the info.

I misunderstood 'recurrent' - thinking it was like malaria (can stay in the system forever) as opposed to they can pick them up again from another tick.

Isanbirder - v happy to hear that your dogs are OK following the treatment, but don't just give up if it happens again. One of my dogs has had this problem two or three times! (I lose track as up until recently - touch wood - there was always something going on with one of my dogs....). He is still here and doing just fine.

Thanks, F1fanatic, the recurrence... or repeat infection... is what I was concerned about. If it's a new infection each time, of course what I said about letting them slip away just doesn't apply.