# Tick born parasitic disease in the UK



## Datun Walnut (Oct 15, 2013)

Apologies for not being a good ILMCer, I've been sooo busy and just lurking when I get the chance.

I just found this worrying item on the BBC news site and felt I should come out from behind the potted plant and warn everyone: 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-35815813


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## Charlotte (Feb 7, 2016)

Well, this article really hits home.

We lost our 13 years old Cockapoo last August.
She had severe hemolytic anemia and we weren’t able to save her.

Two months earlier, we had found two small ticks on Charlotte a couple of days after a walk in the woods. 
We went to see our vet right away but we were told that we needed to wait 3 months to test if Charlotte was positive for lyme’s disease. 
Our vet never mentionned other diseases that could be transmitted by ticks.

In the back of my mind, I always had a lingering thought that our dog might have gotten ill due to this tick bite.
I just did some further research and found that one of the symptoms that the dogs get from the Babesia canis parasite is hemolytic anemia.

Thanks again for the info.

Annie (Quebec, Canada)


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

Thanks Datun.. This is concerning for sure. I wonder do the anti tick treatments kill the tick before it has the chance to pass this parasite on.. Off to google I go. Why oh why is the world so scary


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## Goosey (Aug 22, 2014)

RuthMill said:


> Thanks Datun.. This is concerning for sure. I wonder do the anti tick treatments kill the tick before it has the chance to pass this parasite on.. Off to google I go. Why oh why is the world so scary


This is a good point I was wondering the same thing!


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

Very useful website here...

http://www.itsajungle.co.uk/prevention-and-tips/

Ticks that die before biting cannot spread disease. They parasite is only transmitted through the mouth parts as the tick feeds on your pet - I knew this but what I wondered was, are current tick treatments effective in preventing ticks carrying the babesiosis parasite, given that this is a newish parasite in UK, I wondered if the tick was a new tick species altogether. Anyway, it seems that a tick is a tick and as long as you have effective pet prescribed management and you apply it correctly, it should kill the tick before it gets a chance to latch on. Still a worry. I will definitely be talking to the vet about this at the annual check up this summer. 

I will continue to check every orifice and skin surface after a walk to be sure. Care needs to be taken when removing an attached tick, if you find one, you should ensure that you don't squeeze the tick in anyway as this can squeeze any virus/parasite into your dog. Best to buy a tick remover, tweezers are okay but they need to be very fine.


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