Sadie's health check up

Sadiesmom

New member
So Sadie had a check up yesterday. Vet said Sadie is in good health, hips felt good and good weight. 100 lbs. Now she was negative for heartworm and Lyme but blood work showed positive for anaplasma. The vet did say it is common to the area and her own dogs ( one is a Newfie) have been exposed to this. She said the body can usually handle this but sometimes silently attacks the platelets so a CBC was ran and Sadie's are just fine. At this time the vet said no further treatment is needed. I know over the summer Sadie did have a tick on her and as soon as we saw it put her on something with a tick repellent. We used revolution which has nothing for ticks. I feel like such a horrible mom. We did use vectra after we found the tick but it made Sadie itchy. Does anyone know about anaplasma? Maybe any problems down the line from it? Also maybe can suggest another good flea medicine with tick repellent in it???
 

DAWNMERIE

Active member
Here on the east coast it's horrible for ticks, we can use as much preventative as we want and it's still never 100%. Have I ever said how much I HATE TICKS!!!!! I personally feel ticks have adapted and none of the treatments are 100%. Don't feel like a bad mom. Last year Myra's Snap came back negative, few weeks later we did blood work and found a positive on anaplasmosis, we treated. Our thinking at this point is better to be safe than sorry. It's pretty nasty like most of the things ticks carry. I'm sure other's will chime in but that's my thoughts.
 

Brandie&Maggie

New member
Looks like if she is healthy and just testing positive for the antibodies, no further treatment is recommended. (Treatment IS required for dogs showing symptoms acutely.)

The following is from: http://veterinarymedicine.dvm360.com/vetmed/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=506867

Seropositive, clinically healthy dogs

Animals from endemic areas are often exposed to A. phagocytophilum, and 40% or more of dogs in these areas may be seropositive.9 However, since the morbidity is low, it appears that many animals may have antibodies to A. phagocytophilum without having any concurrent evidence of clinical disease. Since persistent infection in clinically healthy dogs has been demonstrated,6,7,15 it is likely that a portion of the seropositive animals are chronically infected carriers of the organism. Experimentally, chronically infected carriers did not have any hematologic abnormalities,7 and, thus far, it appears that seropositive animals with no clinical evidence of disease are hematologically normal. Incidents of chronically infected carriers later developing clinical disease have not been clearly documented.

The cyclic appearance of clinical cases that coincide with tick season indicates that canine anaplasmosis is an acute disease that occurs in dogs a week or two after organism inoculation by ticks.5,12 Because chronic infection has not been directly related to clinical disease and because a therapeutic regimen effective in clearing the organism from an infected animal has not been established, treating clinically healthy, seropositive animals is of questionable benefit. However, a seropositive reaction to A. phagocytophilum in a clinically healthy dog should not be disregarded. At a minimum, implement an aggressive tick-control program designed to minimize exposure to ticks, and, hence, to other tick-borne diseases. It is clear that coinfection with two or more tick-borne agents is common and that dogs coinfected with B. burgdorferi and A. phagocytophilum are nearly two times more likely to develop clinical disease than are dogs infected with either agent alone.9 There is also some concern that chronically infected carriers could be adversely affected by therapeutic agents that compromise the immune system or by a concurrent illness that might alter an animal's immune status. The administration of immunosuppressive doses of corticosteroids to infected, asymptomatic dogs resulted in the reappearance of bacteremia, although the animals remained clinically normal.6,7,15
 

Sadiesmom

New member
Thanks dawn and brandie. Sadie has never shown any symptoms, we didn't even know she had it. How is frontline plus? Does this work well for fleas? I know that has some tick preventive. I really liked revolution I foundit worked well for fleas and also liked it had her heartworm in it.
 

Brandie&Maggie

New member
The best tick solution we have found is to use the Vectra 3D in combination with having our yard treated. We had a service come and put down an organic, all natural powder that is toxic to ticks, fleas, ants, etc. They do it every 2 months in the spring/summer. Our next door neighbor did it too.

Obviously it doesn't help with the woods, etc but greatly cut down on what she got around the house. We just make sure to use the dryer and check her after we go to the park or in the woods.
 
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