What diseases do ticks transmit to dogs? The dog was bitten by a tick: what to do?

Spring days beckon to the forest or the river. Of course, your dog doesn't want to stay in a cramped apartment, so you take him with you so he can play to his heart's content on the fresh grass. Unfortunately, spring is also a time increased danger meet a tick. Having woken up after hibernation, these insects are very active; they need fresh blood to live and reproduce. If your dog is bitten by a tick, what should you do?

When to sound the alarm

What danger does a tick bite pose?

The acute form occurs quite often; we observe its manifestation within a week after the dog is bitten by a tick. "What to do at home?" - This is the question most often asked by pet owners. Unfortunately, without special tests and medications, you will not be able to do anything. Contact your veterinarian as soon as possible. There is a chronic form, which is extremely difficult to diagnose. A short rise in temperature and lethargy are replaced by an improvement in condition, after which the animal again refuses food. Such fluctuations can last quite a long time, but gradually weakness increases, the animal quickly gets tired, and it rarely has a good appetite.

How to properly remove a tick

If you missed this moment and find an already swollen ball of a drunken tick, then you need to remove it. Be sure to wear gloves; if the tick is a carrier of, for example, encephalitis, then upon contact with skin and mucous membranes there is a high probability of infection. To make the tick pull out its head a little, drip oil, cologne or nail polish onto it. About one drop once a minute. After a few minutes, grab the insect with a rope loop as close to the proboscis as possible and try to rotate it in one direction. Usually after two turns it comes out.

There's another one good way: Heat the tip of the needle over the flame and bring it to the place where the proboscis is immersed in the skin. Usually the insect immediately pulls out its head. Do not pull the tick, there is a high probability of rupture. The bite site should be treated with iodine or brilliant green and the tumor should be observed to subside. If it does not decrease, but on the contrary, redness and abscesses are observed, then you should urgently consult a doctor.

Difficulties in diagnosing the disease

If, in the case when a dog has recently been bitten by a tick, what to do is more or less clear, then if alarming symptoms"from scratch" the situation looks confusing. The fact is that the disease does not necessarily appear in the near future; it can “wait” for the moment when the animal’s immunity weakens. If a dog refuses to eat in the middle of winter, rarely will the owner remember that he removed the tick in the summer. But you need to remember such things and seek veterinary help in time.

One more point: an infected tick behaves slightly differently than a healthy one. Especially if it is a male, he can bite and, without sucking, fall off. It is almost impossible to notice this on a walk, especially on a dark, large dog. All that remains is to monitor your pet’s health status and not delay consulting a specialist.

The difficulty of diagnosis is that if a dog is bitten by a tick, the symptoms can be different. But almost everyone experiences a refusal to eat, apathy, and drowsiness. Trembling, shortness of breath and blanching of the mucous membranes are also characteristic. Often animals begin to roll over on their backs and whine, and they are tormented by pain in the abdominal area. Bitches may have vaginal bleeding.

If a dog is bitten by a tick, the symptoms will increase, so do not waste time, tomorrow it will only get worse. There may be unsteadiness of gait, refusal hind limbs. This is not typical, but vomiting and diarrhea do occur occasionally. A little later it is observed foul odor from the mouth, and the urine darkens and blood may appear in it.

First aid

There are situations when you are far outside the city, in a village, and your pet has begun to develop adverse symptoms. When the animal refuses to drink and eat, try to prevent dehydration. Try pouring 100-150 ml of liquid into your mouth every hour. If the animal is vomiting, it is better to give an enema or subcutaneous injection in the same amount. The body will take necessary liquid. If the animal is large and you cannot take it to the clinic for testing, do it yourself. Wipe the dog's ear with alcohol, use a sharp scalpel to cut the blood vessel located close to the edge, and collect the blood on a glass plate. Dry it a little, and you can go to the laboratory or veterinary clinic, and let your pet wait.

Treatment for your pet

As already mentioned, if a dog is bitten by a tick, the consequences can be severe. Therefore, in the spring and summer, you need to pay maximum attention to your four-legged friend. Even the slightest deviation in behavior may be a reason to consult a veterinarian. Tests for piroplasmosis are done quickly and are inexpensive, so even if you play it safe, nothing bad will happen.

Rehabilitation therapy

So, the dog was bitten by a tick. Piroplasmosis was identified and successfully defeated. It would seem, what more could you want. But the dog is still lethargic, sleeps and does not want to eat. This condition is normal on the first day, but if it does not improve the next day, you should tell your doctor about it.

In any case, within ten days you will need to take her to the veterinarian, inject her with vitamins, saline solutions, drugs that improve heart function, restore the functions of the liver, gall bladder, gastrointestinal tract. It is necessary to carefully monitor the condition of the animal; if there is the slightest deterioration, you need to undergo reanalysis for piroplasmosis.

Re-infection is possible. Immunity is not formed. Moreover, each subsequent infection will be more severely tolerated than the previous one. The animal may not survive the third bite.

Is encephalitis dangerous for dogs?

So far we have talked about the disease piroplasmosis. Encephalitis is primarily dangerous for humans, but against the background of weakened immunity it can also affect animals. If a dog is bitten encephalitis tick, symptoms can become quite severe. Incubation period- 2-3 weeks. Typically, the temperature rises, convulsions develop, motor functions are impaired, and paralysis is possible. Hypersensitivity of the head and neck often occurs, severe painful sensations. Behavior may vary from apathetic to aggressive. Later, facial paralysis occurs eye muscles. If a dog is bitten by an encephalitis tick, there is no specific treatment, and the prognosis is usually unfavorable, with a high probability of death.

Preventive measures

It is easier to prevent any disease than to treat it. Today there are many products on the market that are designed to prevent tick bites. This is a collar, drops on the withers, spray, powder. Since they do not provide 100% protection against ticks, owners often use several types together. For example, they put on a collar, supplement its effect with drops on the withers, which last for several months, and before each outing they additionally treat it with a spray. This significantly reduces the risk of disease and is much cheaper than treatment and rehabilitation therapy. But if the dog is bitten by a tick, the signs will not take long to appear. Don't reassure yourself that you have fully protected your pet. The faster it will be delivered correct diagnosis, the easier the treatment will be.

Let's sum it up

Summer outings in the company of an eared friend are very fun and enjoyable events. To prevent them from being overshadowed by serious illnesses, use everything from early spring available methods prevention of tick bites. But don't let your guard down. Usually even on the most early stages disease, the owner sees that the animal has changed slightly. Immediately start checking the temperature so as not to miss the characteristic jump, and immediately take your dog to the doctor.

The most dangerous types of ticks for dogs are:

Subcutaneous or ixodic. They cause unpleasant illnesses, such as piroplasmosis, the treatment of which can take from several weeks to six months.
Argaceae. Their sizes can vary from 3 mm to 3 cm, depending on whether the insect has had time to “eat.” Argas ticks are dangerous because they can transmit encephalitis, fever and plague.

Depending on the type of tick, dogs may develop the following diseases:

Symptoms

When attacked by ticks, the symptoms of the disease will depend on the form of the disease:

focal;
generalized.

The focal form is indicated by:

the formation of bald spots all over the body (on the chest, paws, head, stomach);
mild itching.

If we're talking about about the generalized form, then the dog appears:

bald patch covered with rough skin;
gray and red spots on the body;
unpleasant odor from the pet;
unbearable itching;
damage to internal organs.

The first symptoms of a tick bite are noticed within the first week. All these signs do not appear simultaneously, but incrementally. To prevent a generalized form of the disease, you must consult a doctor for diagnosis and determine a course of treatment.

Diagnostics

It is very easy to diagnose a tick bite yourself if you carefully examine your pet's body. However, to determine the type of disease, it is worth getting diagnosed by a veterinarian. Identifying piroplasmosis, he studies:

clinical picture;
animal history;
epidemiological data;
results of blood smear microscopy analysis.

Veterinarians should also take into account the general mood and condition of the dog and carefully monitor the course of its illness. A useful measure would be blood biochemistry and urine analysis.

Treatment

The data obtained during diagnosis allows you to correctly determine the type step-by-step treatment:
Destruction of the pathogen with the necessary drugs. These include “Veriben” and “Piro-Stop”. The drugs contain ingredients that are toxic to the pathogen.

Removing body intoxication. In this case it is reasonable to use:

saline solutions;
vitamin complexes;
some heart medications.

Duration of treatment and dosage medicines will depend on general condition animal. For some dogs, a month is enough to recover, for others it takes more than six months with follow-up tests.

First aid

At home, you can remove the tick from under your pet's skin yourself. You can find out the location of the bite by a small lump (seal):

Be sure to monitor the wound, because no one has canceled the inflammatory processes in it.

In addition, you can provide first aid to your beloved pet:

When dehydrated. Pour 200 ml of liquid into the dog's mouth every hour.
When vomiting. Do an enema or subcutaneous injection cerucal in ampoules. The dosage of the drug is 0.5-0.7 mg per 10 kg of animal weight.
If it is impossible to transport the animal. If your dog large sizes, you will be able to take your own blood for analysis. To do this, wipe the dog's ear with alcohol and make a small incision in the blood vessel. Blood sampling is done on a clean glass plate.
With weakened immunity. It is necessary to administer 25 ml of glucose 3 times a day subcutaneously. A complex of vitamins B6 and B12 (1 ampoule/day) will not be superfluous.

In addition to medications, the dog needs to be provided with a minimum of physical activity and proper nutrition during the disease and in the future. Even after full recovery, at improper diet the animal may have kidney problems or develop pancreatitis. When a weakened pet refuses even his favorite foods, the doctor prescribes nutrient droppers and recommends following the following diet:

meat purees (veal, lamb, rabbit or turkey);
buckwheat and wheat porridge;
corn or olive oil;
dietary dry food.

Drug treatment

Today you can vaccinate your pet against piroplasmosis using the Pirodog vaccine. It forms a strong immunity to the causative agent of this disease.

At early start treatment, the dog begins to recover on the second day. But when running forms full recovery may not occur at all. Veterinarians most often prescribe the following drugs:

A tick bite can go unnoticed by your beloved pet or “leave” behind a number of complications:

CNS disorders;
renal failure;
anemia;
heart failure.

Bad consequences are provoked not only by the causative agent of the disease, but also by the consequences of the treatment itself. Therapy may include toxic drugs with various side effects. Thus, “Imidocarb” is quite capable of disrupting the balance of neurotransmitters, causing allergic reaction. Veterinarians advise softening the effect of the drug with antihistamines.

A complication such as anemia may persist for a couple of weeks after recovery. During this period, you should not expose the animal to strong physical activity, if possible, limit his movements.

Prevention

An excellent remedy and effective “barrier” against ticks for four-legged animals will be acaricides, which are included in collars, aerosols, ointments and other medicines:

"Bolfo";
"Fipronil";
"Sentry";
"Frontline";
"Certificate".

Do not use Azidine and Berenil as prophylaxis. This is due to the high toxicity of these agents.

You can also prevent tick attacks using special drops or sprays on the withers:

Advantix;
"Hartz"
"Serco";
"Leopard".

Upon contact with treated wool, mites die before they penetrate the skin. Drops and sprays should be used a couple of days before going outdoors or traveling outside the city. It is necessary to treat, among other things, the animal’s paws, head, armpits and ears. It is important to treat long-haired breeds prophylactic agents in double volume.

Any self-medication can harm the dog, so at the first symptoms of a tick bite you should immediately consult a veterinarian.

In spring and summer, ticks representing high danger for animals.
To survive, they need animal blood, so there is a chance that a dog could be bitten by this insect.
The owner therefore needs to know what prompt measures he should take if a tick is found on a pet.

When the dog's life is in danger

They have very fast period reproduction, so if you do not react promptly to a bite, there is a high probability that the dog will die. Therefore, for many owners, even the sight of a tick on a dog is a cause for fear. However, when you find an insect, you should not panic, since the bite does not always cause serious illness.

An insect that is not infected is not considered dangerous even if it bites a dog and drinks blood.

Therefore, it is initially important to remove the tick correctly and monitor how the animal behaves for a while. If found unusual changes, then this will already be a reason to contact a veterinary institution.

What are the consequences

They contribute to the rapid destruction of animal cells, therefore affecting all processes in the body.

The consequence may be intoxication, which occurs very quickly after infection.

About a week after the bite you can see clear symptoms the onset of the disease.

If the disease progresses very quickly, symptoms may appear literally the next day after the bite. If you notice an unusual condition in your dog, it is important to know what you can do yourself at home to alleviate the animal’s condition.

However, it is not recommended to do self-treatment, which may be ineffective, since to save a life you must first take tests and give the dog suitable medications. You should immediately contact a veterinarian.

The disease sometimes occurs chronically and slowly, and if a dog is bitten by a tick, the symptoms are as follows: a slight rise in body temperature, moderate lethargy. Usually after a while the dog stops eating. This condition can last for a very long time, but the owners should see the changes that appear and contact the clinic.

How to remove a tick

Pour a little regular sunflower or olive oil. You need to pour a drop every minute, and this will cause the tick to pull out its head a little.

Another method of removing ticks involves using a needle. It is preheated by fire and brought to the place where the tick has attached itself. This causes him to quickly pull out the head.

You should not pull the insect while working, since you can simply tear the body away from the head, and it will remain in the dog’s skin.

After the procedure, the desired area of skin is treated with brilliant green, and then you need to observe for a while so that a small tumor does not appear. If it is detected, you need to contact a veterinarian.

Difficulties in recognizing the onset of the disease

Very often, after identifying and removing a tick, animal owners cannot understand whether their pets have real symptoms of an incipient disease.

It happens that the disease begins to manifest itself only after for a long time after a bite.

This usually occurs due to the weakening of the pet’s immunity. There are cases when symptoms begin to appear in winter, although the tick was removed in the summer.

If you notice the first symptoms, you cannot hesitate, so you should immediately contact a veterinarian.

Usually, after being bitten by an infected tick, observe dangerous symptoms possible within a week. If the disease develops very quickly or even at lightning speed, then the signs can be seen the next day, but often they simply do not exist, resulting in the rapid death of the animal.

However, most often the dog’s temperature initially rises to 42 degrees, but it drops in just a couple of days, and later it may become low. Once the tick has been eliminated, you need to check your pet’s body temperature periodically throughout the week.

The difficulty in defining a disease is that different dogs there may be various symptoms. Most often they consist of poor appetite or even abstaining from food, bad mood and lethargy, pets begin to sleep a lot.

There may be shortness of breath and minor cramps, trembling, or the appearance of white spots on the mucous membranes. With more late period As the disease progresses, the animal begins to lie on its back and may whine, which means that its stomach hurts.

Bitches are characterized by bleeding from the vagina. Symptoms usually increase and worsen as the disease progresses; at the first sign you should consult a doctor. The most dangerous is the animal’s inability to move its hind legs. Urine becomes darker over time, and late stages there may even be blood in it.

How to provide first treatment or assistance to a pet

If, when signs of piroplasmosis are detected in a dog, it is not possible to see a doctor, every dog owner should know certain actions that will help save the pet.

It is important to avoid dehydration, so even if you refuse to drink and eat, you must urgently and often offer water, it can be poured from a syringe. When vomiting the best solution there will be an enema.

Large dog It is very difficult to take to the clinic for tests, so the owner can handle this work on his own.

To do this, you can make a small incision in the ear where the blood vessel is located and collect required quantity blood onto a glass plate, but first wipe the incision site with alcohol. The sample is sent to the clinic, where tests will be performed to determine the presence of the disease.

You can administer glucose and vitamins subcutaneously, but they only help strengthen the dog and cannot cure it.

How to treat a dog

Consequences of this disease are considered quite severe, so it is better to prevent it using various preventive measures. If there is any suspicion of the disease, you need to quickly get tested for piroplasmosis, which is performed quickly and inexpensively.

Treatment should be based only on information received from the treating veterinarian. It is better if certain drugs are prescribed only on the basis of the test results obtained.

However, if the treatment is incorrect, this can lead to damage to the animal’s liver and kidneys, a decrease in immunity, and then it will be impossible to cure it completely.

If piroplasmosis was discovered after a tick bite in an animal that was quickly cured, it is important to pay a lot of attention to the pet for some time and provide it with optimal conditions for recovery. After treatment for one day, the dog will be lethargic and calm, there will be no appetite and a cheerful mood.

If this condition continues for several days, this is a reason to contact the veterinarian again. Ten days after treatment, you need to inject the dog with vitamins and other drugs that have a positive effect on the immune system, liver, heart, intestines and stomach.

If your pet’s condition suddenly worsens sharply, you should be tested for piroplasmosis again, as there may be reinfection, which will be tolerated by animals much worse than the first. Only a very small number of dogs survive the third infection.

The danger of encephalitis for pets

If a dog is bitten by a tick, the consequences are as follows: the animals become ill with piroplasmosis, but often they become infected with encephalitis, which is dangerous not only for animals, but also for people.

The symptoms of this disease are usually very severe, and they include very high fever, convulsions and paralysis, and the functioning of the urinary system is disrupted. May appear severe pain in the neck or head.

The incubation period can be quite long, as it is often even 3 weeks. It is very difficult to cure a dog from encephalitis, so the mortality rate from this disease among animals is high.

What prevention is considered successful and effective at home?

It is better to initially perform certain actions that will prevent infection.

These include thin black collars with a specific smell, drops that need to be applied to the dog’s withers. You can buy sprays or powder that are used to treat the entire coat.

The use of these funds together is considered effective. As a result, you can significantly reduce the possibility of a tick bite, and, accordingly, the occurrence of a serious disease. Such preventive measures will cost less than complex treatment.

What significant results can be drawn?

If in spring or summer time people want to get out into nature with their pets, they must take care of their safe and effective protection to prevent possible insect bites. This can protect dogs and people from serious and difficult-to-treat diseases.

If you notice any changes in your pet’s behavior, it is better to contact a veterinarian as soon as possible so as not to trigger the disease.

What does a tick look like?

This is interesting! The oval body is covered with a chitinous “shield” and rests on eight articulated legs. In the female, only a third of the body is protected by a shell, which is why most of it freely expands (from drinking blood) almost three times.

The bite of ixodid ticks can be dangerous not only for people, but also for pets. Diseases in dogs often arise from ticks; symptoms may not appear immediately, but only after some time. Therefore, it is important to monitor changes in the dog’s condition as quickly as possible.

The first symptoms of an ixodid tick bite

Skin inflammation after a tick bite are much more common than the reaction of the nervous system to damage from toxins.

Usually, within 2 - 3 hours after the bite, you can notice the first symptoms on the dog’s skin.

How pronounced they are depends on many factors: the general condition of the dog, the type of tick, the duration of the insect’s presence on the skin.

A tick that has drunk blood greatly increases in size

Symptoms skin manifestations:

the bite site swells, turns red, and becomes hot to the touch;
the dog is bothered by itching at the site of the bite, it tries to reach the wound with its tongue;
approximately 2 days after the bite, skin inflammation may occur with the formation of nodules (granulomas).

IN in rare cases If the wound gets infected, suppuration may occur on the skin.

A nervous system reaction to toxin poisoning from a bite rarely occurs.

Usually susceptible to this small dogs. Development risk neurological disorders even depends on climatic conditions. Typically, tick saliva is more toxic on hot days than on cool weather.

Symptoms of nervous system intoxication:

In severe cases, breathing difficulties occur and the animal may die from suffocation.

However, severe intoxication is rare. More often neurological symptoms limited only by paralysis hind legs. The greatest danger is infectious diseases which may develop subsequently.

Symptoms of diseases caused by ixodid tick bites

Only later long time Dogs can develop diseases from tick bites. The owner of the animal most often does not associate the manifestations of these diseases with the bite. Due to the long latent (incubation) period, it is sometimes difficult for a veterinarian to diagnose the disease. Therefore, the manifestations of such diseases should be carefully studied.

Piroplasmosis

Piroplasmosis - . The causative agent of the disease is the simplest microorganism - piroplasma.

Red blood cells die, and body tissues begin to lack oxygen.

The disease does not always appear immediately

The disease can appear either a few weeks after the tick bite or a few days later. Piroplasmosis cannot be diagnosed independently; you should immediately contact a veterinarian. Without treatment, this disease leads to fatal outcome.

In very rare cases, piroplasmosis can be transmitted from a sick dog to a person.

What symptoms should alert a dog owner?

The color of the urine becomes dark (from reddish to black).
The animal becomes lethargic and apathetic.
Body temperature rises.
The dog refuses to eat, but drinks a lot.
The mucous membranes of the skin turn yellow.
Breathing becomes difficult.
Diarrhea and vomiting occur (sometimes with blood). For more information about the disease, see this video:

Lyme disease, or tick-borne borreliosis

The causative agent of the disease is Borrelia. This is a fairly common disease in dogs caused by tick bites.

Symptoms of borreliosis are often mistaken for symptoms of the flu.

The disease affects the joints, heart and nervous systems of the animal. The disease is dangerous because the first symptoms may be mild. Lyme disease can begin immediately with severe joint damage.

If you have borreliosis, your pet may develop a rash.

It's important not to miss early signs borreliosis, which can occur 1 to 6 months after a tick bite:

increased body temperature;
swelling lymph nodes;
muscle and joint pain;
gait disturbance, sudden onset of lameness.

If treatment is not started at this stage, then after 2 - 3 months more severe manifestations of the disease may occur:

increased muscle pain, decreased muscle tone;
severe inflammation of the joints with pain and swelling;
paralysis of limbs, movement disorders;
increased heart rate and breathing;
frequent urination, blood in the urine.

Veterinarians treat borreliosis with antibiotics. If treatment is started in a timely manner, the symptoms of the disease gradually disappear. Joint pain can only persist for a long time. If treatment is started late, at the stage of paralysis, paresis of the limbs can remain for life.

Bartonellosis

More often, dogs in the countryside or in the country are infected with bartonellosis. But infection is quite possible in a city forest park.

Bartonella attacks blood cells, causing red blood cells to stick together.

The disease may persist for a long time hidden form, without showing oneself in any way. Acute bartonellosis is extremely rare; most often the disease becomes chronic.

Due to the sticking of red blood cells, the dog has problems with the cardiovascular system

Arises heavy defeat cardiovascular system and brain, which manifests itself in the following symptoms:

hemorrhages in eyeballs, subcutaneous hemorrhages, increased bleeding;
rhinitis (runny nose) with nosebleeds;
arrhythmia;
hind limb weakness;
fever, loss of appetite, lethargy;
inflammation of the eyelids;
inflammation of the brain;
anemia;
sudden weight loss (sometimes to the point of anorexia);
increased drowsiness (lethargy);
enlarged lymph nodes;
pulmonary edema, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing. About bartonellosis, using the example of the manifestation of the disease in cats, see this video:

Diagnosis is based on the results of a blood test for antibodies to the pathogen. Special treatment bartonellosis has not been developed by veterinarians.

It is not possible to completely cleanse a dog’s body of Bartonella.

Antibiotic therapy (doxycycline, azithromycin) and symptomatic treatment inflammatory processes.

Granulocytic and monocytic ehrlichiosis

The disease is caused by rickettsiae. They affect blood cells - monocytes and granulocytes. The incubation period lasts 1 - 3 weeks.

There are 2 forms of the disease: granulocytic and monocytic. Common symptom is sudden lethargy. The animal refuses to eat and walk, and constantly lies in one place.

This disease also affects the hematopoietic system

Symptoms of granulocytic ehrlichiosis:

increased body temperature;
inflammation of the eyelids;
convulsions;
joint pain.

Symptoms of monocytic ehrlichiosis:

If ehrlichiosis is suspected, a blood test is performed to determine antibodies to the causative agent of the disease. The disease is treated with antibiotics. IN acute stage the disease is completely cured. However, if ehrlichiosis has become chronic, complete recovery usually does not occur. Then the symptoms of the disease persist throughout the animal’s life.

Symptomatic treatment is carried out, and in incurable cases - palliative therapy.

It is important to treat within the first 2 weeks after the onset of symptoms, while the disease manifests itself acute form. Otherwise, irreversible changes in the body may occur.

Hepatozoonosis

This rare disease found in the southern regions of Russia. Its symptoms are similar to those of many others infectious diseases, which makes diagnosis difficult.

The causative agent of hepatozoonosis affects neutrophils and monocytes in the blood.

For a long time, a dog can be a carrier of hepatozoonosis and not have any deviations in health. The disease begins to manifest itself when immunity decreases. Often, symptoms of hepatozoonosis occur when a dog is infected with piroplasms.

Symptoms of hepatozoonosis:

To identify the disease, the polysize method is used chain reaction(DNA diagnostics). But such analysis is carried out only in large veterinary laboratories.

Specific treatment does not exist.

Treatment of individual manifestations of the disease is carried out. It is never possible to completely rid the animal of the pathogen. Hepatozoonosis most often becomes chronic, when periods of exacerbation are followed by remissions.

Symptoms of dog diseases caused by scabies mites

Microscopic scabies mites are different types. Each type of mite causes its own specific disease: sarcoptic mange, demodectic mange, otodectosis, cheyletiosis and notoedrosis. Diseases caused by scabies mites have similar symptoms. The main manifestations of such diseases include severe itching and hair loss.

Dogs with sarcoptic mange suffer from severe itching

Sarcoptic mange — frequent illness dogs, caused by scabies mites. It is caused by sarcoptic mange mites.

Most of the symptoms of this disease are associated with itching and scratching.

the dog behaves restlessly, nervously;
red dots appear on the body, claw marks are visible;
ulcers and bloody crusts appear on the skin;
Dandruff appears in the fur (especially around the ears).

Sarcoptic mange cannot be cured on its own. The disease is diagnosed by a blood test and examination of scrapings from the affected skin. For more information about the manifestation of the disease in dogs, watch this video:

Demodectic mange is not transmitted to other animals or humans. To identify this disease, an extensive diagnostic examination is performed.

Otodectosis - ear scabies.

Dogs become infected with otodectosis mites from each other through close contact.

Without treatment, the lesion begins to spread to the deep parts of the ear. As a result, the dog may lose hearing. The disease may be complicated by brain damage.

Otodecosis can cause hearing loss

Therefore, it is important to notice the first signs of ear scabies.

the dog rubs intensely against various objects;
the animal shakes its head, tilts its head towards the sore ear;
sticky discharge is noticeable in the affected ear.

Cheyletiosis and notoedrosis have similar symptoms and pose a danger not only to the dog, but also to humans.

The cheyletii mite burrows into the upper layers of the animal's skin.

Most often the neck, back or ear area is affected. You can see following symptoms:

Manifestations of notohedrosis are similar in symptoms to cheyletiosis, but are more severe. The notoedrosis mite burrows deep into the skin. The hair falls out, and a rash in the form of blisters forms on the animal's face. Notoedrosis, like cheyletiosis, can be treated at home only after diagnostic tests.

Helping a dog with ticks

If an ixodid tick has attached itself to your dog's skin, it is necessary to remove it from the body. It is better to carry out the procedure for extracting an insect with gloves, because a tick bite is dangerous for humans.

The bite site should be lubricated with oil.

Then grab the insect's body with tweezers and slowly pull it out. Do not remove the tick with sudden movements. The head may remain in the dog's skin and cause inflammation. After removing the insect, the wound must be treated with iodine.

Body temperature should be measured daily. If suspicious symptoms appear, contact your veterinarian immediately.

It is important to identify the first signs of scabies. These diseases cannot be treated at home without diagnostic examination. The owner should carefully monitor the condition of the pet's fur and skin. If signs such as itching, hair loss, or the appearance of bald patches appear, you should seek help from a veterinarian.

Contact should be avoided domestic dog with stray and sick animals.

It is important to monitor the hygiene of the animal.

Vaccine against ear mite(otodectosis) is usually used more in the treatment of the disease than for prevention.

With the onset of warmth, the risk of attack by bloodsuckers increases many times over, and this applies not only to people, but also to our smaller brothers. In the spring-summer period, the bite of ixodid ticks is especially dangerous, since during hibernation a large volume of toxic substances. In addition, they are carriers of various pathogenic viruses and bacteria.

When does a tick become a victim? pet, you need to make sure that he is not infected with piroplasmosis. This article tells you what to do if your dog is bitten by a tick, the symptoms and how to treat the animal at home.

How high is the risk of infection?

Pyroplasmas multiply very intensively, therefore, in the absence of emergency therapy Only 2% of a person’s friends who are attacked by a bloodsucker survive.

Knowledge of such statistics does not add confidence to the owners. Knowing that the dog has been bitten, many owners easily panic, which is definitely not worth doing. Yes, it is common for pets to return from a walk “together” with pests, but not every arthropod is a carrier of viruses, but only 14%. After removing the bloodsucker, you will need to carefully observe how the dog behaves, and any change in well-being should be a reason to immediately seek qualified help.

Signs of a virus infection

Injury skin Ixodid pest manifests itself with certain symptoms. If the owner controls the condition four-legged friend, then notice warning signs, which are the body’s response to foreign invasion, is quite simple.

Thus, the general symptoms appear:

excessive worry aggressive behavior;
frequent scratching of the problem area;
head shaking ( characteristic symptom penetration of individuals into the auricle);
causeless howling or whining;
lethargy, apathy;
partial or complete refusal to eat;
increased temperature;
the appearance of blood in the urine.

In this case, it is important to establish the correct cause-and-effect relationship between the attack of the arthropod and feeling unwell pet, since a sign such as decreased appetite does not in all cases indicate a bite.

If you have any doubts about the reliability of the diagnosis, it is better to consult a specialist at a veterinary clinic.

VIDEO: Symptoms of piroplasmosis

What does a bloodsucker look like?

Ticks are representatives of the arachnid family, having a body covered with a chitinous membrane and 8 pairs of limbs. There are quite a lot of photos of these arachnids on the Internet, allowing you to get a complete picture of appearance any of their varieties. If a dog has been bitten by a tick, that is, the process of penetration of the oral apparatus under the skin and subsequent blood sucking has already occurred, then visually a well-fed individual will resemble a pea of a dirty gray-yellow hue. The size of the arachnid in this case is determined by the volume of blood consumed.

Features of behavior

To minimize the risk of arthropod attack, a thorough examination of the body after each stay on the street, especially after walking in natural environment habitat of bloodsuckers - in forest and steppe areas, should become a habit.

Not all medications, including aerosols or ointments, designed to protect your pet, can work quickly in right moment, since the reaction of a tick that smells the scent of a victim turns out to be lightning fast.

The insect instantly clings to the dog’s fur and also quickly crawls into the skin

Bloodsuckers are selective; they prefer areas of the body that are difficult for the animal to reach, where there is a dense network blood vessels located closer to the surface. Therefore, there is a high probability that traces of their presence will be found in the following places:

in the groin area, on the stomach, where it is difficult for the dog to reach, and the bloodsucker is attracted to the delicate skin and blood vessels located here in large quantities;
areas around or inside ears;
armpits forelimbs;
lines of the spine, on the ribs.

A bite from an infected tick on a dog will certainly manifest itself with corresponding symptoms, but not immediately. Cause similar phenomenon explained by the characteristics of the organism of harmful individuals. By injuring the skin, they salivary glands secrete an anesthetic, numbing the affected area, which eliminates painful sensations in an animal.

As a result of removing the bloodsucker, a tumor often remains. This phenomenon may be due to the reaction immune system for the presence of a foreign protein. In this case, there is no pain, discomfort, purulent discharge, the body independently neutralizes salivary secretions, and after a couple of days the lump disappears without a trace.

Sometimes a bump on an animal's body indicates the beginning of development tick-borne encephalitis or sepsis, therefore requiring urgent medical intervention.

Tick attacks: what is the danger?

As already mentioned, pathogenic microorganisms carried by arthropods, entering the blood, contribute to the destruction of red blood cells, which causes disruption of metabolic processes and severe intoxication. IN normal situation When a dog is bitten by a tick, the body signals this 5-10 days after the attack. However, it is worth taking into account the form of the disease: hyperacute is characterized by the manifestation of the above-described symptoms after only a day; in the acute form of babesiosis (pyroplasmosis), a gradual deterioration in the animal’s well-being may be observed over the course of a week.

Treatment at home without results laboratory research and individually selected therapy taking into account a specific case is pointless.

The owner’s initial task is to contact a veterinary clinic. For example, when chronic form piroplasmosis, difficult to diagnose, such signs as elevated temperature and apathy may alternate with sudden improvements in condition. Moreover, such an unstable picture has been observed for quite a long time. This looks like a cumulative effect, which will sooner or later make itself felt if tests are not done in time and assistance is not provided. qualified assistance.

VIDEO: How dangerous is a TICK IN A DOG? Symptoms of deadly diseases

Bloodsucker extraction methods

What signs indicate a bite are now clear. It is equally important to be able to remove the bloodsucker correctly. You should know that they tend to travel for a long time through the victim’s body (about 4-6 days) before they begin to suck blood. The situation when the owners comb out the fur of their four-legged friend after a trip to the dacha and manage to stop the attack attempt by filming one or more uninvited guests is not uncommon.

To provoke the arthropod to pull its head to the surface, oil or cologne is used, which is dripped into the affected area at intervals of a drop per minute. When the head has appeared a little, a thread loop is thrown over it like a lasso, as close as possible to the suction site and carefully rotated clockwise or counterclockwise. Two or three turns and the arthropod comes out without any problems.

Another proven method of influencing a bloodsucker that has managed to fix itself in the thickness of the skin is with a needle. First, its tip is properly heated with a lighter or candle, after which it is brought to the place where the individual’s proboscis immerses. With such manipulations, the arthropod will definitely react.

When the body ruptures, the entire volume of toxic substances will automatically enter the dog’s body, thereby aggravating the severity of the symptoms. The wound must be treated with an antiseptic; all that remains is to observe the lump.

Possible complications

piroplasmosis;
Lyme disease
hepatozoonosis;
erchiliosis;
bartonellosis;
intoxication.

Any of these complications requires medical care, the symptoms and treatment of diseases have their own characteristics, let’s consider one of these pathologies using the example of babesiosis - non-communicable disease, which is seasonal.

Medical history: piroplasmosis (babesiosis)

The causative agent of piroplasmosis is a species of pathogenic microorganisms Babesia canis. Since the bite is accompanied by a violation of the integrity of the skin, the virus enters the pet’s body along with the blood. This infection, even with proper treatment, can subsequently have complications. There are two stages of the disease, each characterized by certain symptoms:

The onset is characterized by decreased appetite, lethargy, weakness, apathy, a slight increase in temperature, sharp increase daily norm water consumption - the dog will drink more often than usual. These signs appear during the first two to three days, after which you feel better, and then the symptoms resume.
When the disease enters the second stage, in which active process destruction of red blood cells is observed complete absence interest in food, the dog constantly lies down. The urine takes on an intense dark hue, often becoming greenish in color. The animal suffers from bouts of diarrhea. The mucous membranes of the mouth and eyes become jaundiced, the pulse is threadlike and weak, movements become weak, and paralysis of the limbs may begin.

It should be noted that acute piroplasmosis most often affects pets that differ weak immunity or who do not have antibodies to the infection in their body, that is, they have not had it before.

Most severe course the disease is observed in purebred dogs, which breeders try to cross with close relatives for the purity of the breed.

VIDEO: Why dogs die from bites

What to do if you are bitten?

The development of unfavorable symptoms of piroplasmosis can begin at the most inopportune moment. Being in rural areas, it is extremely difficult to get qualified help, so it is important to know how to provide first aid. If your pet has already begun to refuse to drink or eat, it is necessary to prevent possible dehydration. To ensure a regular supply of fluid, you will need to forcefully pour the pet into the oral cavity up to 150 ml of water. Vomiting requires an enema or injection liquids in a similar volume.

A large dog may make it difficult to transport to a veterinarian for testing, so the owner will have to draw the blood himself. The surface of the ear is pre-disinfected alcohol solution, after which an incision is made using a scalpel in the place where the network of blood vessels is located closer to the edge of the ear. The released blood is collected on glass, allowed to dry, placed in a closed container and delivered for microbiological examination.

The danger of tick-borne encephalitis

If piroplasmosis is successfully treated, although it has unpleasant consequences in the form of the possibility of re-occurrence of the disease, then in the case of infection with the encephalitis virus, everything could end up even worse. Although it's spicy viral infection poses a danger, first of all, to people; with weakened immunity, it can develop in the body of animals. The disease is characterized by severe symptoms - high temperature, development of seizures, violation musculoskeletal functions, resulting in an increased risk of paralysis.