Borreliosis in dogs: causes, symptoms and treatment features

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Our pets, like people, are prone to various ailments. Do dogs get tick-borne encephalitis and borreliosis? Not everyone heard about the last misfortune. But the danger, meanwhile, should not be underestimated. Unfortunately, the answer to the question of whether dogs suffer from encephalitis and borreliosis is in the affirmative. And today the topic of our article is precisely this, not so well-known, but rather serious disease. That is, we will talk about the symptoms and treatment of borreliosis in dogs.

Tick-borne borreliosis, otherwise known as Lyme disease, is one of the most common diseases found in dogs. It is transmitted by ixodid ticks. The causative agent of the disease is the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, belonging to the group of spirochetosis.

The pathogen enters the body of an animal through a tick bite. A person is also susceptible to a similar route of infection. Signs of borreliosis in dogs are nonspecific.

An animal can get sick with it only in the warm season, but due to the long incubation period (for several months), the clinical picture can only be detected in winter.

What is this disease?

This name - borreliosis - is accepted in domestic practice by the name of the bacterium that causes it. The American version is Lyme disease (this is the name of the city where the pathogen was first discovered).

Wherever Ixodid ticks live, infection with this disease is possible. The causative agents of infection are already contained in the organisms of tick larvae. Not every insect is a carrier of the disease, but the risk of getting it is greater where there is a high level of coverage of this infection.

The disease can be "caught" in urban areas, but the "wild" (i.e. natural) environment creates much more prerequisites for infection.

From 5 to 10% of all dog populations are able to resist the dangerous bacteria. The risk of infection is less, the earlier the tick is removed from the animal. In addition, urgent intervention has a positive effect on the manifestation of symptoms of the disease.

The severity of the clinical picture is directly related to the concentration of the pathogen that has entered the bloodstream. If you have time to perform the procedure for removing an adult tick from a bitten place within a day, you can prevent the transmission and development of infection.

Tick-borne borreliosis in dogs: symptoms

The characteristic common feature for symptoms is their non-specificity. This means that in each individual case, completely different signs of the disease can be detected in different animals. This is due to the general systemic nature of borreliosis in dogs, that isthe ability to affect multiple organs and systems at once. In addition, specific pathogens prefer certain body tissues.

In this regard, the diagnosis of the disease can become quite a difficult task - there may not be pronounced clinical signs.

For the symptoms of borreliosis in dogs, the presence of two main stages is characteristic:

1. The first of them begins at the time of the bite and lasts from 20 to 30 days (in some cases - up to six months). At this time, the pathogen passes the stage of active development in the tissues of the skin of the animal, but it does not yet spread beyond the boundaries of the lesion. There are usually no specific symptoms at this time.

2. The second stage is called clinical. Its beginning is observed when the process of active migration of bacteria into the circulatory system of the animal develops, due to which they spread throughout the body.

Symptoms during this period depend on which system the pathological process is localized in.

If the musculoskeletal system is affected

A frequent sign of borreliosis in dogs is joint damage. This pathological process occurs in the majority of diseased individuals (about 80%). You can recognize the signs of a pathological condition by pain and swelling in the joints (or one of them), alternating lameness on different paws, occurring in periods of three to four days. Sometimes these attacks can be interspersed with "he althy" intervals of several weeks lasting.

The dog loses its appetite, gets tired quickly, does not want to move and is depressed. All of this often coincides with the onset of another lameness flare-up.

The manifestation of these symptoms is possible separately or in combination. You can observe them most often after 1-6 months from the moment of the tick bite. Diagnosis in this regard is sometimes very difficult.

If the cardiovascular system has suffered

When Borrelia attacks the heart muscle, symptoms associated with rapid breathing and heart rate can be observed. Since in general the organism of animals is usually quite resistant to the pathogen, the symptoms of borreliosis in dogs that are related to the heart may go unnoticed.

The infection will "hide" in the body for a long time until it causes a more significant complication - inflammation of the heart muscle. Depending on how severe the pathological process is, arrhythmia, pulmonary edema, cyanosis of the mucous membranes, as well as other symptoms of heart failure in the animal can be observed.

Neuroborreliosis: when the nervous system is affected

Due to the disease at a certain stage, a sharp deterioration in the general condition of the animal is possible. The dog's appetite disappears, spontaneous development of complete or partial paralysis of the limbs is possible, and the hind legs most often suffer. Such a state can last long enough, and the complete disappearance of its signs is possible.

If the nerve centers of the spinal or brainof the brain have undergone severe damage, disturbances in the motor activity of the animal's body may be irreversible. This manifests itself as permanent paresis, paralysis or dysfunction of internal organs. The dog is subjected to great suffering and often dies.

If the kidneys are affected

Disturbances in the functions of urination and urinary excretion caused by borreliosis in dogs are manifested in the form of frequent urination in small portions, accompanied by pain, traces of blood in the urine. In the absence of treatment of this important organ, glomerulonephritis may occur, followed by the development of renal failure.

Symptoms in this case come down to diarrhea and vomiting, a sharp decrease (up to a complete absence) of appetite, weight loss, thirst and increased urination. It is also often possible to observe the development of subcutaneous edema in the abdominal cavity and on the surface of the thighs from the inside.

We emphasize once again that this disease is characterized by unequal symptoms in each individual case. Pedigree animals are much more likely to suffer from disorders of the nervous system and joint problems. Outbred dogs are more prone to kidney disease. In addition, any of the complexes listed above can be present either by itself or together with others.

How to make a diagnosis?

Due to the wide range of signs and possible symptoms, the diagnosis, as already mentioned, is quite difficult. After all, such manifestations canoccur in many other cases. Perhaps the main sign indicating the likelihood of borreliosis is intermittent lameness, which the owner of the animal cannot help but pay attention to.

The veterinarian will have to carefully examine all the signs, not forgetting along the way about the possibility of simultaneously infecting the animal with a number of other diseases that can also be transmitted through a tick bite.

What awaits a sick dog in the clinic

Today, veterinary practice has the following diagnostic methods:

1. To assess the function of the kidneys, pancreas and liver, a biochemical and detailed blood test is performed. You definitely need to determine the level of sugar in the blood.

2. Parallel ailments can be detected by microscopic analysis of a blood smear.

3. Feces are examined to exclude the possibility of infection with intestinal parasites.

4. The blood is subjected to a study on the level of water-s alt metabolism in order to exclude the possibility of dehydration with electrolyte imbalance.

5. Urinary tract infection is detected using urine tests, including the determination of protein in it.

6. You may have to resort to a thyroid test to determine the level of hormones.

7. Heart problems, which are indicated by an abnormal rhythm of his work, are diagnosed during an ECG.

8. Organic pathologies of the joints are excluded by x-ray examination of the limbsanimal.

9. In addition, there are separate specific methods that can indicate the presence of bacteria or their metabolic products in the body.

Treatment of borreliosis in dogs

In order for the treatment to be successful, you should try to identify dangerous symptoms as early as possible. Veterinarians resort to antibiotic therapy. The most widely used drug in this case is "Doxycycline". But depending on the clinical picture, another antibiotic may be prescribed by the veterinarian.

Most often the treatment is successful. Positive dynamics can be observed sometimes after 2-4 days. If necessary, supportive therapy is prescribed.

Keep a sick animal in dry and warm conditions with limited physical activity until signs of recovery appear. It is recommended to maintain this mode for 4 weeks. If the main symptom of the disease is joint damage, it can be expected to disappear after 3-5 days from the start of therapy. In the case when this does not happen, you can think about the presence of another disease.

The symptoms of this disease do not always disappear completely and not in all animals. Even in the case of a complete cure, joint pain can persist for a long time. In addition, as a possible complication, paralysis or paresis is quite capable of remaining with the dog until the end of life.

How to prevent infection

The ixodid tick is widespread in our nature everywhere. It is found not only in forests, but also incity conditions. Therefore, every time during a walk, the animal is at risk of being attacked by parasites. To reduce the likelihood of infection, you should follow a number of simple rules:

1. Examine the animal every time you return from the street, especially if you live near a forest area.

2. It is convenient to look for a tick in thick dog hair with the help of the most ordinary hair dryer operating in cold mode.

3. Pay attention to the actions of the dog. When she itches intensely in the same place, there may be a tick there.

4. Do not be too lazy to check and shake up clothes and other things. After all, a tick is able to find its prey even in an apartment.

5. It is recommended to treat the animal's hair with a special remedy for ticks before each walk. The spray helps best of all with this, in the second most effective place are special drops applied to the withers. A special collar is usually ineffective.

What are the conclusions?

Now you know the answers to questions about whether dogs get borreliosis and what you should do about it. Remember: infection is possible only by the fact of a tick bite. Your pet will not be able to get infected from another animal. Likewise, borreliosis is not transmitted from a dog to a person, except in cases where the blood of a sick animal can get into an open wound.

Symptoms Revisited: Watch for signs of intermittent claudication accompanied by fever and lack of appetite in the backgroundgeneral depression. Look for signs of partial or permanent paralysis.

If the disease is not started, then if treatment is started on time, the prognosis can be considered favorable. Doing diagnostics yourself and trying to help the pet on your own is an unproductive occupation. If you suspect a disease, the only way out is to go to the clinic to see a veterinarian as soon as possible.