10/11/2022
We were called around 6 in the morning by a lady who was worried about her dog being severely sick. She said she had to leave out of town and she can not bring him to us. We immediately rushed to the client's premises to inspect the dog.
The dog was quite aged & was in very bad shape. Once inspected we found a million ticks on the dog. This poor boy was having chronic tick fever.
The disease has 3 stages – acute, subclinical, and chronic. The acute stage occurs 1-3 weeks after the dog is bitten by an infected tick. This stage is usually mild. During this stage, the dog will seem tired, decreased appetite, and sometimes fever.
In the subclinical stage, the bacteria hide from the immune system in the spleen so the dog seems normal. A dog can stay in this state for months or even years. Despite the normal clinical appearance, a blood test may show some changes in the CBC, such as a mild decrease in the platelet count.
In the chronic stage, the dog will show clinical signs again. These may be fever, tiredness, inappetence, and paleness. We might also see hemorrhages or hematomas as a result of the decrease in platelet count. Diagnosis is never based on a single finding but on several tests.
Based on the severity of the dog's condition we had to board him at our center for a speedy recovery. Luckily the dog is slowly curing the fever. He has gone through a blood transfusion & is on regular medications for his fever, tiredness & paleness. This poor boy has a very less amount of platelets which might take longer to get him back to normal living.
Don't take ticks & fleas for granted! Dogs diagnosed and treated early for tick fever generally recover well, with few complications. In some cases, lifelong immunity will occur after the infection has been cleared.
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