Must Read Article On Tbd

[racindog]

Information about mutating tick borne diseases in honor of Kirby. It will be years before veterinary protocols change and treatment options are inclusive of combination antibiotics. There is no way to know if the infection a dog contracts is tetracycline resistant or not, so we must always err on the safe side. Most local veterinarians do not have the information in this article yet and probably will not for several years. That means each individual owner needs to be well informed and become an active advocate for their canine companions. For e.g. a few years back, several strains of TBD were reclassified. One of the most deadly strains of TBD was always known as Granulocytic Ehrlichiosis. That extremely noxious strain was recently reclassified as Anaplasma Phagocytophilum. Here is the article:

http://leerburg.com/deathofadream.htm?utm_source=nlist&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=06042015

 

and also New Tools in the War.......

http://leerburg.com/toolsAgainstTBD.htm?utm_source=nlist&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=06042015

Edited June 5, 2015 by racindog

[MaryJane]

Thanks for sharing. It was a good read!

[cometdust1]

Yes, thankyou for the info. Having my heartdog die from Ehrlicchiosis 3 years ago and my current boy just finish a doxy treatment for lyme this info is good to know.

[Victor]

Thank you for posting this!

[NeylasMom]

That's all rather terrifying especially since Skye came up lame recently and I have been worrying about TBDs a little. Deep breaths Jen.

Edited June 8, 2015 by NeylasMom

[robinw]

What a sad story. TBDs are so strange. I usually recommend that people have their dogs checked for them if they are showing strange symptoms, or symptoms that don't make sense.

 

Bridge angel Phoenix was getting very tired during walks, to the point where he could barely make it across the street without resting. I took him to my vet, who had no idea what could be going. I remembered hearing about a vet 40 minutes away that a local adoption group used to test for TBDs. I took Phoenix in for testing, and sure enough, he has babesia. I called my vet, who made some comment about stupid American dogs (I live in Canada) bringing their diseases across the border. Needless to say, I changed vets and he was treated with imidocard, which had to be imported from the United States. It is a very painful shot that can have nasty side effects. Treatment began after the vet saw the nasty critters in a telescope.

 

My point is that lots of vets, especially in Canada, may not be aware of some tick diseases. Babesia is caused by the brown tick, which doesn't even live in Canada. Be vigilant for your dog.

[racindog]

What a sad story. TBDs are so strange. I usually recommend that people have their dogs checked for them if they are showing strange symptoms, or symptoms that don't make sense.

 

Bridge angel Phoenix was getting very tired during walks, to the point where he could barely make it across the street without resting. I took him to my vet, who had no idea what could be going. I remembered hearing about a vet 40 minutes away that a local adoption group used to test for TBDs. I took Phoenix in for testing, and sure enough, he has babesia. I called my vet, who made some comment about stupid American dogs (I live in Canada) bringing their diseases across the border. Needless to say, I changed vets and he was treated with imidocard, which had to be imported from the United States. It is a very painful shot that can have nasty side effects. Treatment began after the vet saw the nasty critters in a telescope.

 

My point is that lots of vets, especially in Canada, may not be aware of some tick diseases. Babesia is caused by the brown tick, which doesn't even live in Canada. Be vigilant for your dog.y

You are exactly right. The worse thing here in the US is finding a vet that even cares. It is difficult to get them to even send for a PCR test to their regular lab; and impossible or nearly so to get any quality diagnostic work using an outside expert. They really just don't want to be bothered. Their waiting room is already full of dogs waiting for vaccinations and allergy shots and its not cost effective for them to spend the time and go to the trouble to diagnose and treat your dog if it has a tick disease. Very sad to know that the technology is available to diagnose and treat and possibly save your dog and you can't find a single vet in a hundred mile radius that will bother. You should count your blessing that you at least have a vet that is willing to help you provide the best care. These vets here would no more go to the trouble of getting a med from across the border than anything. It wouldn't happen. They would just tell you that there is nothing that can be done. And it is not a question of money. I would happily pay an exhorbitant fee to get the best care-heck my insurance covers 90% of it-but they just don't want to be bothered with the 'extra' work required to utilize the outside experts and their resources.

Edited June 11, 2015 by racindog