Dog Health.

Question about Biliar

by Dennis  Fisher

This article is one of a great many articles written by Dennis Fisher about a very wide variety of subjects concerning different  dogs, such as obedience training, breeding, showing, health matters, training problems and other subjects.  All these articles appear on Dennis Fisher's websites.   Visit  http://www.allaboutgermanshepherddogs.com the site that has been set up specifically for German Shepherd Dog enthusiasts, or http://www.freedogadvice.com  if you interested in a breed   other than German Shepherd Dogs

Question: There are a lot of ticks in the area I live, is it possible to inoculate a dog against biliary?  What are the symptoms of biliary?

Answer:  Unfortunately there is no inoculation against biliary.  It is therefore important to keep your dog free of ticks.  In areas where there are plenty of ticks this requires constant vigilance.  Examine your dog regularly.  If your dog is normally a greedy eater and is suddenly off his food do not hesitate.  Take him to your Vet. immediately.  If you catch biliary very early it is possible to treat without difficulty or affect-effects.  But if  you hesitate before taking your dog to the Vet - even as much  as 24 hours - it can be very serious.  Sometimes a blood transfusion is necessary. And even then the dog sometimes doesn't survive..

What are the tell-tale signs that a dog has biliary and how serious is it?   

Biliary, commonly known as Tick bite fever is caused by the tiny parasite, introduced into the body of the dog by the bite of a tick.   The parasite destroys the red blood cells.

The first symptoms of  Biliary by an appearance of listlessness in the dog and often loss of appetite, although from personal experience I know that a greedy dog might sometimes continue to eat even though it has the first stages of Biliary.

Later symptoms include pale mucous membranes – an examination of inside the mouth and the eyes will reveal this.  But this is usually much later in the later more advance stage  of the disease.

Another symptom is brown urine.

If you suspect your dog, normally a very greedy eater,  is off his food  it would be wise to take a rectal temperature.  The normal temperature of the dog is 38.5 C.  If the temperature is higher then you can see the danger signals.

Once again, I would stress if you have any doubt at all take your dog to your Veterinarian for a positive examination, which can only be made by an examination under microscope of the blood.   If treatment is early, it is usually very effective.   Treatment will involve feeding the dog  a good quality balanced dog food and the avoidance of fatty foods.