Actually dogs don't generally get nearly as sick as people and only about 10% of those that test positive get clinical signs (thanks to snap tests most dogs get tested). The speed of disease of onset for dogs is unknown, some are carriers for years and then they begin limping so we treat them but we don't really know if it's the Lyme being symptomatic or something else (the drug of choice has an anti-inflammatorry effect and is pretty broad spectrum so just because the symptoms clear doesn't confirm diagnosis). Just like with people very little concrete information is known about Lyme disease in our dogs and horses. Currently veterinary knowledge is that cats do not get Lyme disease though.
hm. i've heard fo doggies getting quite sick, but you're right i'm unsure of numbers and since you are a vet, i'm pretty sure you know better than me :P the main worry as i understand it, is that lyme is rabidly zoonotic, and so ticks that crawl off your dog (or horse, or whatever, seems to be pretty much all mammals) and into your clothing or bed can result in you being bitten and infected despite having "no" tick bite risks. and once one of your animals is infected, if you dont know it, theres all sorts of ways to get it passed on to you. just sayin.
there seems to be some controversy over that amongst doctors, with some reported cases amongst patients of (secondary? not sure thats the right word) infections (dog or such has lyme, tick bites animal, then later bites person, person gets lyme) ie, lyme being able to pass easily from any mammal species to any other mammal species through the tick vector. and i think that makes it rather likely that other vectors may be zoonotic as well (like, for instance, direct blood contact when your dog gets hurt
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the main worry as i understand it, is that lyme is rabidly zoonotic, and so ticks that crawl off your dog (or horse, or whatever, seems to be pretty much all mammals) and into your clothing or bed can result in you being bitten and infected despite having "no" tick bite risks. and once one of your animals is infected, if you dont know it, theres all sorts of ways to get it passed on to you.
just sayin.
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