Ehrlichiosis

[The Bouncing Bog Trotter]

Hi, anyone know anything about this illness? My springer's litter brother who lives in our village just a few doors away is suspected to have just died from this. What can I do to protect my dog? His owner/my dog's breeder is devastated. Thanks in advance.

 

[horsies4coursies]

good tick prevention is paramount as it is a tick bourne disease - couple of links here for you - hope this helps

www.langfordvets.co.uk/diagnostic-l...arus/list-acarus-tests/diseases-transmitted-0
http://vetmedicine.about.com/od/glossaryterms/a/CW-Ehrlichiosis.htm

 

[kerenza]

I've never heard of this disease, but have recently moved to an area where ticks are a problem for my dog, Holly. This sentence jumped out at me:

'it is believed that ticks must feed for at least 24-48 hours to spread Ehrlichia'

I took Holly to a vet recently to see what she suggested with regards to ticks. I was not keen on using the collars as I had read reviews that they have caused seizures. The vet gave me something new on the market called Bravecto (I think). It's a pill that you give to the dog - gives 12 weeks protection against fleas and ticks. The ticks die and drop off within 12 hours. So far it certainly works - I still check her after walks and have brushed out (she is long-haired) a couple of very clearly dead (and still reassuringly small) ticks.

In an ideal world they wouldn't get on her in the first place - to this end I have made my own repellent spray using essential oils that ticks reportedly don't like. It does seem to be helping...but for me it's more a case of doing all I can as I hate the little *******!

I would ask your vet about tick prevention and in the meantime remove any ticks you see quickly. I have a tick remover shaped like a little hook (came with two sizes for different sized ticks) and it's very good and easy to use.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

I'm sorry to hear that your springer's litter brother have died, and I can understand that you're worried about your dog, since you live so close. But you say it is only the suspected cause of death, so hypothetically, it can have been something else than Ehrlichiosis.

As I understand it, Ehrlichiosis is a collective name for a few different tick-borne bacterial infections, caused by bacteria from the same family/genera.

I think that it maybe was about 15, 17 years ago or so, when I suspected that something was wrong with one of the bitches that I had then. She only had some vague symptoms, the one I had noticed most, was that it took her a few seconds more to stand up from a lying position. It was so vague, that I waited a while before going to the veterinarian, in case it was just something temporary/it took a while before I was convinced that I wasn't just imagining it.
The veterinarian tested for rheumatism, tick diseases and something more I think, and the result showed that she had Ehrlichia, or Anaplasmos (Anaplasma phagocytophilum) as it is now called in Sweden. So we had to give her tablets which the veterinarian prescribed to her, but then she became fine again. Afterwards, I realised that her symptoms was probably due to muscle ache/stiffness.

I've always heard that there is no tick repellent that works 100%, I'm not saying that to discourage people from using them, without only to point out that they're like condoms, works most of the time, but not always. So even if you use something, you still need to check for ticks.

If you doesn't find those ticks which still maybe find your dog appetising (before they've eaten, the ticks is after all quite small, and can be difficult to find in e.g. a thick undercoat), then, if you're lucky the tick didn't carry anything bad and your dog is okay, but if you're unlucky, your dog can get Ehrlichiosis, or something else, from the tick.

If you find a tick attached to your dog, it should always be removed as soon as possible, because as mentioned by kerenza, if they're carrying something bad, it is believed that they don't transmit it at once when they bite.

But, as far as I know, the incubation time between a tick bite, and when real symptoms can start to show, is usually about 1 to 4 weeks (please note, usually means that symptoms can show both sooner or later). Perhaps that is why some people misses the symptoms, or doesn't think about that it can be connected to the tick they removed from their dog for one or more weeks ago.

Read the links that horsies4coursies posted, but remember that if a dog shows symptoms like e.g. discharge from the eyes and/or nose, vomiting and diarrhoea etc, it can be caused by a lot of things, it does not have to mean that the dog has a tick disease, and will die like your springer's litter brother. As always, if you notice symptoms that can be signs of a serious condition, call your veterinarian for advice, or take your dog to the veterinarian.