Pets Lyme Disease

The litany of symptoms and problems your pet faces with this disease range from pain and swelling and eventually arthritis if not treated, to the most severe cases which could cause kidney failure and sudden death.

Pets Lyme disease is much more common in dogs than in cats, but because it has become so widespread, cats are also more at risk now than ever before.

This disease has been recorded now in 49 of the 50 states as well as Scandinavia, all of Europe, the former Soviet Union, Japan, China, and Australia. In the United States, it is much more predominate on the Pacific Coast, the Midwest and Atlantic Coast states.

In these areas, over 75% of dogs and a growing number of cats are exposed to this disease. With this disease, a vector illness simply means that any animal is capable of transmitting diseases that are carried by mosquitoes, fleas, ticks, mites, or rats, or more commonly, from host to host.

The host in this case, is a tick referred to as lxodes ticks.

Lyme disease in your dog or cat is caused by spital shaped bacteria refereed to as “borrelia burgdorferi” or a spirochete.

Although this is classified as a “zoonosis bacteria” which is capable transmitting a disease from an animal to humans, it is important to note that Lyme disease cannot be transmitted from dog to dog, dogs to cats, or either pet to humans.

In order for your dog or cat to catch this disease, they will have been bitten by this tick and the tick than transmits the bacteria into the hosts (your dog or cat) bloodstream when it feeds on their blood.

The most common signs of Pets Lyme disease is arthritis, which in turn can cause pain in one, or in some cases, several joints. This can be followed by swollen lymph nodes, deep dehydration, mild to very high fevers, and a sudden loss of appetite. In several cases of this disease, your pet’s kidney may start to fail, which may lead to the death of your pet, although this is very rare.

Humans will develop a skin rash that looks very similar to a “target”, but this is rarely, if ever, seen in pets.

As with most any disease that is carried by a bacteria, the best preventive measures you can take as a pet owner, is building up your pet’s immune system. In helping to prevent many of the issues caused by Pets Lyme disease, it is important to build their immune system over time.

In the production of antibodies, your pet’s bodies utilize many of the B vitamin family, especially B6, in building up the immune system.

The essential mineral zinc also plays a very important role in a robust immune system as does Vitamin A, Bets-carotene, and vitamin E because of its effectiveness as an anti-oxidant.

Vitamin C is dosages of 500mg to 1000 mg a day also acts as an antioxidant as well as an immune builder. The bacteria that cause Pets Lyme disease live on mice, deer, and other small animals and than it is transmitted to your pet by lxodes ticks.

Ticks are bloodsucking invaders of your pets, but it is also important to remember that ticks don’t cause the diseases, they just spread the disease.

While the actual bite of the tick to your pet is inconsequential and does them no harm, the bite carries viruses and or bacteria.

Of the two families of ticks, the hard ticks and the soft ticks, the lxodes tick (hard tick) is potentially more dangerous as it attaches to your pets for several days. It is extremely important that you check you pet frequently, especially if they have been in wooded areas for ticks, as research has shown that ticks must be attached for at least 12 hours to actually cause harm to your pet.

Cats that have become infected with this disease may show symptoms of lameness, unusual breathing, fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, and potential eye damage.

However, many cats, although they are infected, show no symptoms at all.

Dogs infected with Pets Lyme disease, as mentioned earlier, are affected much more severely than cats.

They may show symptoms after a week or so of a very high fever between 103 to 105 degrees, as well as becoming very lethargic with almost a complete loss of appetite.

Dogs with this disease may also experience lameness and start shifting from one joint to the next, and they may also, in the severest of cases, experience kidney damage or failure, as well as heart disorders or neurological disorders such as aggression, confusion and even may develop seizures.

Or, they may show absolutely no symptoms at all, again making this a very difficult disease to diagnose correctly.

Pets Lyme disease is also very difficult to diagnosis as it resembles several other bacteria caused diseases, and diagnosis is quite often made initially on the geographic area that your pet would live in as well as signs of arthritis.

There is a blood test that will measure the antibodies to the amount of bacteria, but most dogs will naturally have a high measure, and thus, a positive test indicates only that your pet may simply have been exposed to the disease at some point in time.

Treating Lyme disease in pets early is extremely important as the disease can hide for extended periods in your pet’s bodies in clinically latent states.

This is why your pet may have recurring symptoms that can happen in cycles and flare up after months, years, and in some cases, even decades.

Treatment of Pets Lyme disease, however, once diagnosed, responds very rapidly to antibiotics, and symptoms that do surface, will regress very rapidly.

If it remains untreated, it can and it most cases, does, become chronic.

Prevention is the best treatment, and protecting you pet from potentially tick infested areas, examining your pet thoroughly for ticks 2 to 3 times per week, proving them tick collars and supplementing them properly to build their immune system, is a must for all pet owners.

There are several very good brands of several types of vitamin and mineral supplements and preventive collars to choose from.

Natural Treatments for Pets Lyme Disease

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