Ticks – beware complacency

By Dr Hilldidge Beer

I have a large garden and my dog never goes into the veld.” “We stick to the coastal paths for our walks.” “I check my dogs for ticks every day and pull them off when I see them.”

These are just some of the justifications pet owners use for not applying parasite control to their pets, yet every one of these actions is dangerously misguided and puts their pets at risk of a fatal disease. For their size, ticks carry a deadly punch. A single bite from the smallest tick can kill your dog.

The diseases ticks carry By far the most infectious in South Africa is biliary. Also known as tick bite fever or ‘bosluiskoors’, it is caused by a tiny parasite (Babesia canis) which is introduced into the body by a tick bite. This parasite then enters and destroys red blood cells. Biliary in dogs has a lot in common with malaria in humans.

Symptoms including listlessness and lethargy, a loss of appetite and a high temperature. Yellow faeces, brown or bloody urine and pale gums (white or yellow) are usually signs of advanced disease. The very sudden and severe form of biliary causes death within a few hours.

Ehrlichiosis is carried by the brown dog tick. Signs of ehrlichiosis can be divided into three stages: acute (early disease), sub-clinical (no outward signs of disease), and clinical or chronic (long-standing infection). In the acute phase, infected dogs may have fever, swollen lymph nodes, respiratory distress, weight loss, bleeding disorders (spontaneous haemorrhage or bleeding), and occasionally, neurological disturbances (they may seem unsteady or develop meningitis). This stage may last two to four weeks and some dogs may eliminate the infection or head in to the sub-clinical phase.

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