Why is my dog wobbly, sleepy, and shaking her head after a tick?

Ticks can cause illness, but it is also possible that something else is wrong and the tick has nothing to do with it. I would encourage you to have her evaluated by your veterinarian soon. They may recommend an x-ray and / or blood work to help diagnose the problem. With intact females I am always concerned about a uterine infection called pyometra as well. It can cause lots of vague symptoms. I would recommend taking a fresh poop sample with you when you go to the veterinarian as well. Best of luck and I hope she improves soon. Thank you for using Pet Coach.

I'm sorry Holly is so sick! A dog's temperature is normally 101-102.5, so she doesn't have a fever. If you have removed a lot of ticks from her in the past, her symptoms of being very tired, sore, and not wanting to move can be indicative of a tick born disease such as Lyme disease. I would have her seen by a vet right away. The vet can diagnose if she does have lyme disease, another tick borne disease, or something else causing her symptoms and can treat her for it. If she did have Lyme disease, for example, it can be treated with a course of doxycycline.

Hello, It sounds like Taisie is experiencing some neurologic abnormalities. It is hard to say without physically examining her what the problem is, but some possibilities are spinal pain, a herniated disc, vestibular (inner ear) infection or disease, or a brain tumor. Any of these issues could cause drastic changes in balance and falling, but the treatment for each one would be very different. I would recommend taking Taisie into her veterinarian to be examined. They can offer you the best diagnostic and treatment plan based on their physical exam. I hope this is helpful. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

There are several tick-borne diseases that could cause lethargy. These include lyme disease, rocky mountain spotted fever, ehrlichiciosis and anaplasmosis. If your dog is lethargic, a visit to your vet is recommended. They can perform a good physical exam and may recommend bloodwork including testing for these tick-borne diseases. It is possible the lethargy could be related to the tick, but there are also many other possible causes for lethargy. An exam and bloodwork will help us narrow down the possible causes.

The answer is a bit complicated. Yes, I would be concerned about tick diseases, however the test may or may not show a positive even if he did get infected with lyme disease because it takes about 4 weeks for antibodies to be high enough for the test to detect them. Furthermore, he could have been exposed to lyme disease, but have a different issue causing the signs you're seeing. So, it's definitely a judgement call -- and if your funds are more flexible testing again may give you interesting information, but if your funds are more limited, it may make more sense to just treat for tick diseases with an antibiotic like doxycycline. Of course, your vet may see something on the physical exam or general blood work or x-rays that makes them concerned about something else more than tick disease, in which case pursuing that makes sense. I know that's not horribly helpful, but hopefully it gives you some context to think about.

It sounds like Tato may have an underlying illness causing him distress, especially if he is acting out of sorts, has had behavior changes, and also had a lot of tick bites in recent days that can cause illnesses such as lyme disease, tick fevers, and more. Since these symptoms have been ongoing for two days without improvement, it would be best to bring Tato into your vet ASAP for a full exam, bloodwork, neuro exams, and additional testing as needed.

Hmm. If this is happening in cycles then I would be suspicious of a potential toxicity to something she is ingesting. Perhaps even her heart worm or flea/tick preventative is to blame, especially if these episodes seem to occur around the time she is given them. This would be a very logical explanation and something I have seen in 1-2 patients of mine. Otherwise you should start looking into other possibilities such as hepatic (liver) encephalopathy or a brain malfunction. Having her examined by the vet and bloodwork analysis would be the next logical steps towards finding her diagnosis so that treatment options can be looked into to help stabilize Bellum's condition.