Dogs don’t show a bullseye rash. The most common sign is shifting-leg lameness, where your dog limps on one leg for a few days, then shifts to limping on a different leg.
If you’ve been spending time outside with your dog in Hingham’s parks or wooded areas, watching for Lyme disease symptoms is important. Dogs are vulnerable to the same deer ticks that bite people, and they can fall ill with Lyme disease just like humans can. However, dogs don’t show the telltale bullseye rash, which can make detecting the disease trickier. Scarier still, symptoms often don’t appear until two to five months after the initial tick bite.
Some symptoms to watch for include sudden onset of fever, loss of appetite, and lethargy. Some dogs develop swollen lymph nodes near the site of the tick bite. In severe cases that go untreated, Lyme disease can cause kidney failure, which is life-threatening.
Shifting-leg lameness is particularly distinct because it moves from leg to leg over days or weeks. This happens because Lyme bacteria cause inflammation in the joints, and that inflammation can migrate. So if you see your dog limping and there’s no obvious injury, that’s a good sign to contact your vet. Doubly so if the limping changes location.
In the United States, between 1.4% and 13.3% of dogs test positive for Lyme disease exposure, depending on the region. Massachusetts declared Lyme disease an epidemic, and Plymouth County is a known hotspot.
This is already scary, but there is another concern: dogs can bring infected ticks inside. It’s not hard for a tick to fall off your dog and attach to a family member, especially children who play with pets on the floor or bed.
Prevention is easier than treatment, and that includes both the Lyme disease vaccine and monthly tick preventatives. And because Lyme disease takes 24 hours or more to transmit, daily tick checks are also a good line of defense against tick-borne disease.
For families who want to reduce tick populations in the yard where dogs play, Mosquito Squad of Boston Metro South's Complete Home & Yard protection in Hingham provides barrier treatments that reduce tick populations by up to 85-90% throughout the active season. A professional inspection identifies high-risk areas of your property where ticks are most likely to be found, including yard edges, leaf litter, and areas where your dog spends time. These areas are then targeted with treatments that help control tick populations before they can attach to your dog or your family.
By working with a trusted professional for all your outdoor pest control needs, from ticks and mosquitoes to other biting insects, you can help protect both your family and your pets from the worry of tick-borne disease.
