My dog has tick fever (Babesia). Why is his fever so short?

Hello, According to the attached diagnostic test results, Bruno tested positive for Babesia. Babesia is a red blood cell parasite that usually causes anemia but it can cause decreased platelets and kidney injury. I would advise you to discuss therapy with your veterinarian as soon as possible. The disease is treated with a couple of drugs but typically imidocarb.

Best take him to a veterinarian tomorrow as he will need a blood test and medication for about 3-4 weeks again against the babesia. There is nothing you can do tonight until you take him to the vet. He should be fine. Should his temperature go to 40C or above you need to take him to a vet tonight, either an out of hours service or a pet ER.

Your dog has a blood parasite transmitted by ticks, ie Babesiosis. Up to now, no single drug has effectively and consistently eliminated B. gibsoni from infected dogs and the side effects, as well as availability, of some of the medications limit their use. Here is information on B.gibsoni infection. You may want to discuss with your veterinarian, whwther he wants to proceed with treatment or just use supportive treatment. There is no virus involved. http://www.vetfolio.com/infectious-disease/babesia-gibsoni-an-emerging-pathogen-in-dogs

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! You can rest him as much as possible. Just like a sick person needs rest, they do too. However, this is concerning and warrants letting your veterinarian know as he may for example benefit from adding pain control medications added to his treatment protocol. They should be able to recommend further based on their knowledge of the case. Have a good day!

Hello there! First of all a small correction- tick fever is caused by Erlichia and not by Babesia Gibsoni, although both conditions are tick born diseases and often cause almost similar symptoms and can even be found at the same time, they are not the same and treatment for each is different (B.Gibsoni is treated with Imidocrab). So it is important to make sure what was the diagnosis exactly. Tick fever can both reoccur if your dog gets infested with ticks again or can reappear spontaniously even if it has been treated for, this is especial true for chronic erlichiosis, your dog might need treatment from time to time (it has nothing to do with winter though). In chronic tick fever condition treatment might need to be given for more that 21 days and sometimes steroids needs to be prescribed as well.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Itis good that Bruno is feeling better. Babesia gibsoni can be very hard to completely clear and is an infection that can remain in hiding/dormant with no outward clinical signs. Therapy with variety of different medications has been tried with varying success. Months (2-3) of therapy is often needed. It is important that control of the vector (ticks) be a priority in preventing reinfection if the current infection is cleared.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Not all ticks carry the bacteria that leads to tick fever, so it is likely because a tick with tick fever has not bitten your dog yet. Unfortunately, once dogs get an infection, they do not develop long term immunity and can get the infection again. To protect a dog from getting tick fever, it is recommended to have the dog on a flea / tick preventative such as Frontline, Bravecto, Nexgard or Simparica. I prefer to use the Nexgard or Bravecto as I've seen the best results with both products for preventing ticks and fleas. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please take the time to mark this question as helpful or not as it helps us to improve on the quality of our answers to other pet owners. Thank you kindly!