[dennisw]

REST OF THE STORY
REST OF THE STORY
REST OF THE STORY
REST OF THE STORY

Though completely curable, tick paralysis is caused when the tick’s saliva infects the host’s bloodstream. Prolonged effects can cause neurological problems and paralysis.

Hospital staff successfully removed that tick and cleared Ollie, giving him a full bill of health. Later that day, he was already back to his old self.

“We were astounded by the quick turnaround,” Al said.

“We were thinking it would take closer to three days for him to heal if it did turn out to be tick paralysis,” Golden said. “When we got the call from his owners that Ollie was doing fine, we all high-fived each other. That might be the one tick paralysis case I experience in my career. It was exciting that we could help.”

[Robert DeLong]

Now I will know what to look for it any of my dogs exhibit the same symptoms, thanks.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Vestibular Disease is also something to look out for, it can mimic the symptoms of a stroke, but usually clears up in a day or so. One of my dogs had this, went completely limp, but was up and about in 12 hours.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

I remember reading of something like this happening to a little girl forty five years ago. The doctor did know what was wrong till a complete examination showed she had a tick at the base of her skull.
One removed she started recovering.

I hate ticks and chiggers!

[Ragnar54]

We had something like this happen to our miniature schnauzer about 10-12 years ago. We had just come home from a trip and were upstairs unpacking. Our dog made it upstairs with some difficulty, then was unable to walk. She was dragging her hind legs.

Before we rushed her to the vet, I found a large bloated tick in the carpet and disposed of it. By the time we got to the vet, Greta seemed ok.

I did some research and found out about tick paralysis- but it was only known to happen in Australia (where everything is poisonous). Once it has eaten its fill, the tick releases a toxin. This causes the dog to lie down, making for an easy dismount. A bloated tick is somewhat fragile, and dropping to the ground from a standing dog would be risky.

In the years since, the number of tick species known to be capable of causing tick paralysis has steadily increased. Not long ago, a friend found a dog (in north Georgia) covered in ticks and apparently unable to move. After the ticks were removed, the dog recovered.

[moovova]

Outstanding!

[Pelham]

doggie ping

[luckodeirish]

This is why a good clinical exam including actually touching the animal, looking in ears, eyes, palpating the lymphs, all that is so very important. So many vets simply do a cursory pat to the dogs head, listen to the heart, then immediately default to running tests.

[SJackson]

Outdoors/Rural/wildlife/hunting/hiking/backpacking/National Parks/animals list please FR mail me to be on or off . And ping me is you see articles of interest.

Worth noting that, though rare in all instances, this paralysis is carried by more than wood and rocky mountain wood ticks, even deer flies, and has been known to occur in humans

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Very familiar with this, as we life in Tickville, USA. Beau spent a few thousand dollars saving one of his best hunting dogs from the disease. I lost my Lady Lab, Miss Lucy, to Lyme’s disease, too, last year.

Horrible, nasty stuff - with no end in sight, and we do everything RIGHT - shots, tick collars, nearly daily tick checks, pre-emptive antibiotics, etc.

It’s awful.

[tubebender]

We had the exact some thing happen to Spook the black lab 30 years ago. We had a old old logger living on our mountain property as a caretaker and when Spook went down he started looking and found the tick on the belly near a hind leg. I called a vet 20 miles away on a radio phone and he agreed to meet me at his office on a Sunday, he removed the tick and gave us some meds to treat him. The dog lived another 6 years.
“Best damn dog I ever had”