Tick Borne Illness

[Maureen deHaan]

Just a heads up for anyone like me who never had this happen to them...

My husky Nika, presented with a 105 fever, lethargy and no appetite starting on April 1 (NOT an April fools!)  Took her to the vet on call the next day. Did CBC, Snap 4DX and full exam. Everything normal - gave her a fever reduced and amoxicillin - Tuesday saw our regular vet - her fever persisted -  her normal  vet(who I trust very much) looked over her blood work  was at a loss and thought it viral due to the low WBC count.

Finally on Thursday, still feverish we switched her to Doxy,  (at the suggestion of a vet tech friend in another state) I asked the vet to do a Fast Panel PCR (full tick borne illness blood work). Nika came back POSITIVE for Anaplasma phagocytophilum -  After talking to another friend who works in the world of blood - learned that many tick borne illnesses can show up NEGATIVE on the quick tests if they have not sero-converted in the dog's body yet - in other words - early stages of infection with no antibody levels to test positive for -

By the time the tick panel came back the Doxy was doing its work and Nika was back to feeling great, no fever, eating heartily and full of happy husky energy!

Just wanted to pass on what I have learned in this upcoming very nasty tick season...If you dog presents with the above symptoms and the 4DX is negative and WBC low - splurge on the very expensive PCR panel - It was well worth the expense!

[Cheryl Gilbert]

One thing I didn't see mentioned on the NADAC list on this topic (and I realize I'm late but I'm just trying to learn how to use this forum) is that dogs with ehrlichiosis and I suspect anaplasmosis will often have elevated liver function tests (ALT and AST), low platelets and often low white blood counts.  This combination in an ill dog should bring the idea of a tick related illness to the forefront.  I lost a 12 year old golden to ehrlichiosis.  She had no specific symptoms....just seemed to be doing somewhat poorly which I attributed to age but when I took her in she indeed had ehrlichiosis and died from it about a month later after extensive treatment.  NASTY disease.