Protect Your Dog From Lyme Disease

By Jeff Nenadic

Lyme disease is a disease that affects the pets. It has recently been accepted and recognized and infects the pets. It is a dangerous disease which is known to cause paralysis in advanced stages. Hence, one should be aware of this disease so that timely medical help can prevent your beloved pet from further suffering. Humans too can be affected by this. Pets are more prone to this disease from spring through fall.

The Lyme disease is common in Northwestern and Midwestern parts of US. Over 40 states have reported numerous cases since 1975. The carrier of this disease is deer tick which is transmitted to pets from white-tailed deer and white-footed mice. The deer tick can not hop or fly on its own and needs to be carried over. It waits on the grounds among the plants in wooded areas or tall grassed areas where the deer, mice and ticks are found in abundance. The ticks then stick to the bodies of these animals whenever they pass by.

These ticks generally stick and bite the head, ears, feet and neck of the dog. Unfortunately, the bite is not like the bees and mosquitoes and causes no pain. Thus, it is difficult to detect the disease until advanced stages. At times, the full bodies of the pets can be infested by ticks and yet the pets do not show any sign of pain. Hence, one has to be alert and get the dog regularly checked up.

Lyme disease symptoms include fever, sluggishness, plus sudden lameness accompanied with pain, warmth and swelling in the joints of the pet. At times, the tick bite can cause inflammation of the skin and round areas around the bite are formed. However, this can go unnoticed due to the thick fur and coat of the dog. If you suspect anything amiss, consult the vet immediately as an early treatment is good and beneficial for the dog. As the disease advances, both rear and front limbs are attacked. Later on, both the chest and respiratory muscles are attacked. At times, the respiratory muscles can become non-functional which can suffocate the dog. As the disease progresses, paralysis occurs and the hospitalization of the dog is inevitable in the advanced stages.

You can always learn more of this disease from the amazon.com site which has a host of books, literature by using search phrases like Lyme disease dogs. You can also modify your searches by your choice like rank, name, price etc. This can be done via the drop down option available on the search page. In case, you are short of money, you can always note the names of the books you liked from the Amazon site and search your public library for them or even more books. You can then borrow them and read them in the spare time at home or office. You can also search ebay.com for a host of information (books, cassettes, videos etc.). You can check out the prices at the price comparison site, MySsimon.com. Besides, you can also perform an online search via google.com.

About the Author: Written by Jeff Nenadic from My Dog Shop - check for current specials on chew toys online.

Source: www.isnare.com

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