Canine Lyme disease is a common disease that affects dogs. Without treatment, canine Lyme disease results in multiple joint arthritis and body weakness. Research has shown that long-term infection may lead to kidney disease and neurological disease. Antibiotic therapy proves to be the most effective treatment method against Lyme disease.
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Description
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Canine Lyme disease is an infectious disease caused by certain strains of invading bacteria. The deleterious bacteria are passed onto dogs through ticks, who bite into the animal's skin and can transmit the bacteria within one to two days. Upon infection, Lyme disease can cause multiple systemic disorders, resulting in impaired body function over time. Canine Lyme disease differs from human Lyme disease in that canine Lyme disease does not show evident symptoms until many weeks after initial infection. Although Lyme disease bacteria usually does not result in death, certain precautions and treatments must be followed to ensure the health of the individual animal.
Symptoms
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Canine Lyme disease most commonly results in arthritis of the joints. However, Lyme disease is also known to produce a wide range of symptoms; dogs infected with Lyme disease may not show all the symptoms. Common symptoms include fever, lameness, anorexia, inflammatory joint disease, and neurologic disease in rare cases. In the long term, canine Lyme disease is known to cause glomerular disease, where substantial damage to the kidney results in possible kidney failure.
Treatment
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Antibiotic treatment for three to four weeks has been proven to be the best treatment against canine Lyme disease. Common antibiotics include doxycycline, ampicillin and amoxicillin. Selection of the specific antibiotic to use depends on the age of the dog, stage of infection and the severity of symptoms. Usually, an improvement in health should be clear within two days after the initial treatment. However, antibiotics will only relieve the Lyme disease symptoms and cannot rid the dog of the disease-causing bacteria. The Lyme disease bacteria is very persistent, and often survives the antibiotic treatment.
Prognosis
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Effective antibiotics will result in signs of recovery within two days of treatment. But since the antibiotics will not eradicate the bacteria, Lyme disease symptoms may recur within a few months---continual treatment may be necessary to ensure the dog's health. Ongoing research about canine Lyme disease is aimed at finding new ways of removing the disease-causing bacteria and providing more effective means of treatment.
Prevention
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Lyme disease prevention includes vaccination and removal of the disease-transmitting tick. Rapid removal of the tick may prevent initial infection if the tick is removed before it can transmit the bacteria. Customary methods for tick removal include tick repellents and careful grooming. In addition, vaccination is also available to protect dogs against canine Lyme disease. However, such vaccines are only effective for dogs that have never been exposed to the Lyme disease bacteria.
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