Veterinarian warns cases of dogs with Lyme disease on the rise in N.S.

As summer winds down, families may be planning last-minute camping trips for the long weekend. But as you head out into the wilderness, an associate professor from the Atlantic Veterinary College at UPEI is advising daily tick checks for you and your doggy friends.

Dr. Michelle Evason specializes in small animal internal medicine at the university, and she told CBC's Information Morning an increasing number of dogs are testing positive for Lyme disease in Nova Scotia; a preventable condition that can have fatal complications.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What about this increase in the number of dogs in Nova Scotia getting Lyme disease? What are you hearing?

With the increase in the range of the [black-legged] tick that carries the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease, we're seeing more and more ticks in Canada, and particularly in Atlantic Canada. Nova Scotia is considered a Lyme disease risk region, so it's not too surprising that we're seeing more dogs positive for Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease. We also know that we're seeing an increase in human Lyme disease cases.

Of course, dogs run through the shrubs and bushes, and ticks hang onto them, and then some of those dogs that are bitten can develop Lyme disease.

In some cases they actually die from this. How does that disease manifest in some of those dogs that get bitten by these bacteria-laden ticks?

For approximately every 100 dogs that become positive for the bacteria, about 10 of those will go on to develop clinical disease signs.

Those are usually mild. They might develop lameness, they might feel a bit off and not want to eat, and that tends to resolve quickly, particularly when their veterinarians catch it and prescribe them an appropriate antimicrobial.

However, in what we think is about one per cent or slightly more of dogs, they can develop a severe disease called Lyme nephritis, and that can be fatal.

What do you do if your dog has Lyme nephritis?

If you're concerned and you live in a high Lyme disease risk region like Nova Scotia, contact your veterinarian, especially if you're noticing things like your dog acting a bit off, not wanting to eat or drink, if you know that you've found a tick attached to your dog. Some dogs will drink and urinate more.

What's tough about this is there are other infectious diseases in Atlantic Canada such as leptospirosis, which can cause similar signs to Lyme nephritis. Dogs may drink and urinate more and show signs that are consistent with acute kidney disease. It's important to try and figure out exactly what's going on with that dog so you can target treatment appropriately.

Does having a dog who has contracted Lyme nephritis put your family at risk of getting Lyme disease?

People can't get Lyme disease from dogs. Lyme disease comes from the bacteria that's carried in a tick.

On the other hand, if people and dogs both live in an area where there's a lot of ticks carrying that bacterium, then everyone's at risk.

I guess they could bring that tick into your home, it finishes feeding and then attaches to the nearest warm body?

You're absolutely correct, and that's why it's so important to have your dog on veterinary-approved tick-prevention products.

Consider vaccination for things like Lyme disease, as well as leptospirosis, which people can also get sick with, to try to reduce the risk to everyone.

So you find a tick, and you get out the tweezers to remove it... how do you get it out?

Look for the hot spots on a dog around the head, neck, armpits and groin region. 

If you find a tick, you take the pair of tweezers, grab the tick near the base — being careful not to squeeze the tick itself — and then you just pull straight out.

Don't use any of the old wives tales methods of putting petroleum jelly on it or trying to burn it off. That doesn't work and it just freaks everybody out.

And then send the tick off to the research lab?

You can certainly do that. There's a collaborative group that I work with through the University of Guelph, www.petsandticks.com. They offer tick identification and in the future, tick testing, and there are certainly labs in Atlantic Canada that offer the same thing.