My vaccinated dog has a tick. Should I be concerned about disease?

Hello, given the tick exposure, there is always a risk that your pet may contract a tick born disease. Unfortunately, there is no accurate diagnosis of infection until some time has passed. You should consider speaking with your veterinarian about checking a tick disease snap test (4DX), if available in 3-4 weeks or sooner if Zoe develops any signs of illness (limping, decreased appetite, lethargy, pale gums, collapse). Zoe should be on strict monthly, flea and tick preventative to avoid continued exposure to ticks. Hope this helps and best of luck.

No vaccine is 100% and there are other tick borne illness with similar symptoms that maybe transmitted to dogs. You can monitor for any joint pain, lethargy, or bruising on her skin. If that is noted then make an appointment to have her tested.

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Bree. Good on you for making sure that she is protected from ticks. Given that the tick is not engorged, it did not feed her on, so no disease would have been transmitted. The tick needs to bite and feed to pass along disease into her bloodstream. I imagine she is quite tired from her busy day. To be safe, watch for continued lethargy, limping, joint swelling, and a loss of appetite. I hope this helps!

It is likely you will not see clinical symptoms for any tuck borne disease this soon if Otis were to contract one of the diseases. I would recommend starting a flea and tick preventative such as Nexgard and have Otis monitored for tick borne diseases once yearly. The test is cheap and your vet can run it in the hospital. It is a simple snap test that takes 15 minutes to run. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

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.

As long as the area on Miley's skin looks okay (no significant redness or swelling), then you don't need to take her to the vet right away after finding an attached tick. If the tick was attached for long enough to transmit disease, like Lyme disease, Ehrlichia or Anaplasma, then it takes about 6 months for a blood test to diagnose an infection. Unfortunately, there are no measures to take to stop any of these diseases if she's already been infected. I would certainly mention this tick attachment to Miley's vet the next time she goes in for an exam because her vet will most likely recommend running a tick-borne disease blood test about 6 months from the date of tick exposure. In the long run, definitely add some tick prevention in for Miley. Seresto collars, K9 Advantix II, Bravecto, Nexgard, Simparica or Credelio are all great options to discuss with your vet. I hope this helps and that everything goes well!

Hello, and thanks for your question. It’s common for dogs to get a firm small scab after a tick bite, and sometimes it takes a few weeks for that scab to heal. Keep an eye on it, gently clean/scrub it with mild soap and water (Dawn dish soap can work well), and monitor for swelling or discharge that could signal an infection. Talk to your vet about the tick bite and how Willow is doing; your vet can help you decide if you should test Willow for exposure to tickborne disease. As long as Willow is feeling well, it will probably be fine to vaccinate as planned, and I would definitely recommend keeping Willow protected with Bravecto! Hope this helps!