Babesiosis in Dog

Four species of babesia have been identified with the tick-borne protozoan disease, asbestosis: Babesia can is, B. gibson, B. vogel, an dB. Ellis. The first three affect dogs and the fourth, cats. These organ-isms are so tiny that they live in the red blood cells. From one dog to the next the transfer is made by ticks, especially the brown dog sickbays is more prevalent in some places than in others. There are places where dog owners have never heard of it because it apparently doesn't exist in that locality. There are other areas where it is present, though rare, and still dog owners have never heard of it. In the southern part of the United States especially in Florida it is a seri-o us disease. The British Isles have been virtually free of it. Some sec-t ions of South America report it. Wherever ticks are prevalent, the protozoan organism causing asbestosis may be present.

Asbestosis can be very serious when it is acute. When it is chronic it may simply keep a dog feeling miserable for a long while and afford splendid opportunity for ticks to replenish their supply of the infecting organism and spread it further. In other words, the chronic cases are carriers.

In the acute form it may be difficult to distinguish the outward symptoms from those of other diseases. The dog's temperature rises;the third eyelid looks redder than usual; the pulse and respiration both increase; the appetite diminishes; the urine may be reddish brown. But unlike dogs with distemper, and like dogs with explosions, about half the dogs afflicted with asbestosis develop jaundice. In the acute form,even with adequate treatment, mortality is high.

In chronic cases the mucous membranes, such as the third eyelid,gums, and lips, all become pale instead of a healthy pink; the temperature rises and falls intermittently; the dog's appetite is poor and picky.The dog refuses to play, preferring to lie about.

How can you be sure that your pet has this particular infection?First, your veterinarian, becoming suspicious because of the reddish brown urine, can detect the organism in the red cells from a small sample of blood.

Diagnosing the chronic form is not too easy, so in kennels the veterinarian draws a little blood from a suspected dog and injects it into one or two puppies known not to have been exposed previously to the disease. If the dog has the disease, the organism will show up in the blood of the puppies in from four to seven days. Then the veterinarian can cure both the adult dog arid the puppies.

PREVENTION: The best prevention is to keep the dog free of ticks.

TREATMENT: A series of injections of various drugs is used to rehabbers. Your veterinarian knows and will tell you what needs to be done and how you can cooperate. Even with blood transfusions and good supportive treatment mortality is high.