Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in Dogs

My next door neighbor Earlene has an adorable little Papillon named Riley and he and Chester are best friends. Here's Mr. Riley in all his cuteness:


Three weeks ago Riley became very lethargic, had a fever, wouldn't eat, wouldn't play, and was basically all out of sorts, BUT there was no rash, vomiting or diarrhea. To make a long story short, after 3 vet visits, multiple blood drawings, x-rays and extensive physical exams the vet concluded that Riley had contracted Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever from a tick. Riley was put on the appropriate antibiotics and he is all better.

I don't mean to scare anybody with this story, but I want to make everyone aware that even if your dogs aren't very outdoorsy they can still get tick-borne illnesses. Riley is always on his Frontline and is thoroughly brushed and checked over by his Mommy every few days to check for mats, ticks or any other annoying things. We live in a townhome community in Richmond, VA and there are plenty of trees but no deep woods nearby...just your normal suburban lawns and hardwood trees.

Always make sure to check your furbabies for ticks and if they have one on them make sure you remove it correctly, especially if it's head has become embedded.

Here's a very good article on Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in dogs: http://www.vet.uga.edu/VPP/clerk/otis/

And here's how to correctly remove ticks: http://www.ehow.com/how_2257_remove-ticks-pets.html

Thanks for your time!

Wow ... thanks for the heads up ... Glad to know Riley is all better. :flwr:

Wow, poor little guy. :shock: Glad to hear he recovered from that. That's good information to pass on, I don't think most people even realize that you could be dealing with such illnesses in a suburban environment. But one infected tick is all it takes and it's worth it to remind everyone of the danger. :thnx:

oh look at you, you made my heart drop!! I hate having the suspense of waiting until the end of the story.. Good thing he's alright. Thanks for the reminder. Where was the tick on him? Sorry I am not too familiar with how ticks work except for I know they leach on and suck blood and also transmit disease. Was the vet able to find the tick or had it backed out? I remember a long time ago my grandma's pug got a tick and my dad lit his bum (the tick!) on fire to make it come out!! Crazy huh?

Your friend's papillion is beautiful!! So glad he's alright! :flwr: For his sake, AND Chester's! hehe

One of our dog walking friends had a story that they used a cigarette on the ticks bum..... but the dog moved and he end up burning himself) - I really would'nt recommend it as it is to dangerous with the dog fur..... but it is a funny story.

Earlene never found the tick and the vet was unable to find where it had bitten because Riley is so furry!

Just always remember to check your babies after long walks under the trees!

You can buy a handy tick remover so that you ensure the head is removed- its by Mikki. My mum also has some herbal stuff she puts on so they drop off ( I presume it has the same effect as methylated spirits)

Vaseline also kills them as it suffocates them. I also use an electronic head lice comb that I got for the kids (hate using chemicals) it zaps them and they let go :badgrin:

Maxx came in from our garden one night with 28 ticks on him :yikes I always Stronghold them but these had just gotten on him off a hedgehog that had wandered in :x

What fun and games we had with the zapper then, with Maxx wriggling because he doesn't like the noise it makes and hubby sitting there (not helping of course) and saying errrrrrrrrrrrrr yukkkkkkkkkkkk and all sorts of other helpful noises :roll: :x

OMG 28 of them...... are they attracted to Maxx, poor fella.

I think they are Claire Unfortunately, it's a part and parcel of living in the countryside :roll: We get loads of wildlife in the garden which I love but the ticks - grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I know if I'd left them alone the Stronghold would kill them but I couldn't leave my poor baby with all these horrible things stuck to him :yikes :yuk:

Donna,

I am sorry, but I just have to ask this question..

Does the zapper make the ticks stink?

lol icon_blshing

I was just going to post something on this very subject and did a search to see if anyone had experienced this. It's very scary, as it means Frontline and other typical tick meds are showing resistance.
My sister's Lab was diagnosed with this late last week. She's doing better now, but it was very scary. All of the tests came back negative, but all of her symptoms were pointing to what they initially thought was Lymes. Her vet was saying she has seen a few other cases of RMSF as well, so they discontinued the tick treatment and moved onto anitbiotics. She's now doing much better.