Vet Intern Discovers Tick on Dog’s Ear Moments Before Euthanization

breitbart ^ | 2016/05/24/ | Jerome Hudson

[Salamander]

*Every* exam should include a very affordable SNAP 4DX Plus test.

It’s a life saver.

[Salamander]

https://www.idexx.com/small-animal-health/products-and-services/snap-4dx-plus-test.html

Request your vet start stocking these.

[Ditter]

Thanks. I had dinner with my vet brother yesterday but I forgot to ask him about this. He retired last year and sold his clinic. He maintains his vet license and can get meds for my dogs for somethings. I pay him with shrimp gumbo. ; )

[SJackson]

Outdoors/Rural/wildlife/hunting/hiking/backpacking/National Parks/animals list please FR mail me to be on or off . And ping me is you see articles of interest.

Worth noting that, though rare in all instances, this paralysis is carried by more than wood and rocky mountain wood ticks, even deer flies, and has been known to occur in humans

[Daffynition]

Ollie ...after the shave...

[Daffynition]

**They took the dog to the vet for a range of tests, but veterinarians couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him.**

I wonder if the tests were done by the same DoveLewis Animal Hospital that found the tick infection.

Do standard *tick tests* used by vets, vary in results?

[vetvetdoug]

The tests that detect tick diseases do not show the toxin that paralyzes warm blooded animals. Careful history and examination of the patient is the only way to diagnose tick paralysis. There are no aberrations in the CBC or panel to indicate that there is a tick or tick paralysis. We see quite a few affected and arachnid parasiticides and doxycycline are routine treatment along with anti-inflammatories. Any dog with paralysis is checked for Labrador exercise intolerance, coonhound paralysis or similar diseases along with the ubiquitous tick paralysis. Before looking for the zebras we check for the horses.

[Daffynition]

Thank you darling for all the useful info.

I was most interested in the *Labrador exercise intolerance* you mentioned ...I believe our 5 y/o Lab has experienced this. I searched (EIC) and found more info.

Stuff that is good for a layperson to know. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Very familiar with this, as we life in Tickville, USA. Beau spent a few thousand dollars saving one of his best hunting dogs from the disease. I lost my Lady Lab, Miss Lucy, to Lyme’s disease, too, last year.

Horrible, nasty stuff - with no end in sight, and we do everything RIGHT - shots, tick collars, nearly daily tick checks, pre-emptive antibiotics, etc.

It’s awful.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

In Labrador Retrievers, it effects the kidneys, so if you have a Lab, look for signs of excessive urination and excessive thirst.

Unfortunately, it may be too late by then, but still...maybe you’ll have a Miracle Worker Vet on your side? ;)

[vetvetdoug]

Back in the 1980’s I participated in a study looking for Lyme Disease in dogs from NW Alabama, NE Ms, and West Tennessee. Dr. Ehrlich for whom Ehrlichia is named after conducted the study. In over 100 samples we found no Lyme but roughly 60% of the dogs were positive for RMSF or Ehrlichia. I even had one household where the people had Lyme disease but their retrievers had only RMSF but no Lyme. Lyme is fairly rare but the other tick diseases are common. Sometimes we just treat for “tick” disease with doxy and the dogs get better and I am betting there are a myriad of tick diseases out there that haven't been characterized.

[tubebender]

We had the exact some thing happen to Spook the black lab 30 years ago. We had a old old logger living on our mountain property as a caretaker and when Spook went down he started looking and found the tick on the belly near a hind leg. I called a vet 20 miles away on a radio phone and he agreed to meet me at his office on a Sunday, he removed the tick and gave us some meds to treat him. The dog lived another 6 years.
“Best damn dog I ever had”