Tick Diseases That Dogs Get

​Although small insects’ ticks can be deadly.  They lodge themselves in the skin of warm-blooded mammals, suck their blood, and infect and transmit several diseases.    

Tick Diseases That Dogs Get
By Pierre Mouchette | Real Property Experts LLC

Ticks, although they are small insects and seem harmless, they are deadly.  They lodge themselves in the skin of warm-blooded mammals and suck their vital liquid.  The problem is that they not only suck their blood but can infect and transmit several types of diseases.  If not treated correctly, they can become serious health problems.  Ticks do not fly but can crawl or fall onto their hosts, which is swiftly done as they live in the tall grass.
 
Lyme Disease
The most feared but common tick-borne disease is ‘Lyme disease,’ which is transmitted by ticks so small that the naked eye cannot see them.  When this happens, the diagnosis is more challenging to perform.  Once a tick of this type bites, it produces a circular red rash that neither itches nor hurts.  But it is spreading and generates fatigue, intense headaches, swollen lymph nodes, muscular facial and neurological problems.  This disease can occur more than once in the same patient.
This pathology is an infection that significantly weakens but is not fatal.  However, if not diagnosed and appropriately treated, it can develop problems such as:

• Facial paralysis
• Arthritis
• Neurological disorders
• Palpitations

Whether it generates heart, brain, or arthritis problems, Lyme disease will be treated through various types of antibiotics that are veterinarian prescribed.
 
Turalemia
The bacterium Francisella tularensis is the cause of turalemia, a bacterial infection transmitted by tick bites and by mosquitoes and the borriquera fly.  The animals most affected by this tick-transmitted disease are rodents, but humans can also become infected.  The goal of treatment is to cure the infection with antibiotics.
Around 5 to 10 days after being bitten, the following symptoms will appear:

• Fever and chills. 
• Painless ulcers in the contact area.
• Irritation of the eyes, headache, and muscle aches.  
• Stiffness in joints, shortness of breath. 
• Weight loss and sweating.

Human Ehrlichiosis
A disease spread through tick bites infected by three different bacteria: Ehrlichia chaffeensis, Ehrlichia ewingii, and Anaplasma.  The problem with this disease is that it is more common in children because symptoms usually begin 5 to 10 days after the sting, and if the case becomes severe, it can cause severe brain damage.  For both pets and humans, part of the treatment is administering antibiotics, among other medications, for at least 6 to 8 weeks.
Some of the symptoms are influenza, loss of appetite, fever, muscle and joint pain, headache, chills, anemia, low white blood cells (leucopenia), hepatitis, stomach pain, severe cough, and in some cases, a rash.
 
Paralysis by Tick
Yes!  Ticks are so powerful that they can even cause loss of muscle function.  When they attach to the skin of people and animals (in most cases dogs), they release a poison that causes paralysis, and it is during this process of subtraction of blood, the toxin penetrates the bloodstream.
Paralysis starts from the feet and goes up all over the body.  In addition, it produces flu-like symptoms such as muscle pain, exhaustion, and shortness of breath in most cases.  Intensive care, nursing support, and insecticide baths will be needed for treatment.  Dogs are affected mainly by paralysis from a tick bite; however, cats may also suffer.
 
Anaplasmosis (human granulocytic ehrlichiosis)
Anaplasmosis is another disease that ticks can transmit.  It is produced by an intracellular bacterium transmitted to humans by the bite of three species of ticks (deer: Ixodes scapularis, Ixodes pacificus, and Dermacentor variabilis).  In some cases, it causes gastrointestinal disturbances and, in other cases, it affects white blood cells.  Older people who have a weak immune system are more sensitive and develop life-threatening severe symptoms, in which case immediate treatment with antibiotics is necessary.
Diagnosis of the disease is difficult because of the non-specific symptoms, as they occur suddenly 7 to 14 days after the bite.  Most are headaches, fever, chills, myalgia, and malaise that can be confused with other infectious or non-infectious diseases and viruses.  
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