No dog owner likes ticks. They’re creepy, they’re crawly, and they have a way of attaching themselves to our canine companions in a way that is difficult to remove. If that wasn’t enough, ticks can also spread disease, including Lyme disease, a potentially severe and difficult disease to diagnose in dogs.
Fortunately, spotting the early signs of Lyme disease in dogs can make a real difference in how quickly your dog gets care. And understanding the role pet insurance can play may help take some of the stress out of paying for treatment and prevention.
What is Lyme Disease in Dogs?
Lyme disease is known as a tick-borne illness. It’s one of many sicknesses that these creepy-crawlies can transmit to dogs when they bite. To be clear, Lyme disease isn’t caused by the tick directly. It’s caused by an infection with the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi that takes refuge in certain types of ticks until it can be passed to unsuspecting dogs, horses, humans, and according to a study in Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, possibly even cats.
Dogs can get Lyme disease if bitten by an infected tick, which can happen anywhere in the United States. Though Lyme disease can strike dogs anywhere, it tends to be more prevalent in the Northeastern and Great Lakes states, but positive cases in other areas are ever increasing.
What Happens if Your Dog is Bitten?
Even in highly prevalent Lyme disease areas, every tick bite does not equal infection. It actually takes 24-48 hours for the tick to transmit the bacteria to your dog. So, those little buggers have to stay attached to your dog for a couple of days before your dog can become infected. That means that checking for and promptly removing ticks from your dog on a daily basis can prevent a Lyme disease infection even if your dog is bitten.
Removing the tick safely requires some vigilance. It’s not something you want to undertake unless you know how, as incomplete removal can create its own set of problems. If you are uncertain how to remove a tick, are having difficulty getting the head, or if your dog has multiple ticks, contact your veterinarian.
Symptoms of Lyme Disease in Dogs
If that tick is given attachment time on your dog’s skin, it can transmit the bacteria into your dog’s blood stream, but you may have no idea. A peer-reviewed 2023 veterinary review from the University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice notes that Lyme borreliosis can look different in humans and dogs. In people, early infection may come with flu-like symptoms or a distinctive skin rash, but that rash is rarely noticed under a dog’s fur. That’s one reason Lyme disease in dogs symptoms can be easy to miss until later To further complicate the diagnostic issue, it takes a little while for the Borrelia bacteria to create problems, so dogs may not show up with signs until 2-5 months after being bitten, and those signs can be somewhat ambiguous. They include:
Intermittent lameness or lameness that shifts between different legs
Swollen joints
Enlarged lymph nodes
Decreased appetite
Lethargy or fatigue
A small percentage of dogs that develop Lyme disease may further develop more severe kidney problems, called Lyme nephritis. Signs include:
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Weight loss
Edema (swelling) of the limbs
Death
Even less commonly, dogs may develop severe complications such as:
Seizures
Facial paralysis
Heart problems
When to Seek Veterinary Care
Because dog Lyme disease symptoms can start subtly, it’s easy to mistake them for normal tiredness or a minor strain. But if your dog’s energy, appetite, or movement feels unusual especially with fever, swollen joints, or shifting lameness, it’s best to have your vet take a look. Catching the signs of Lyme disease in dogs early can help rule out more serious complications.
Diagnosing Lyme Disease in Dogs
With the combination of latency and indiscriminate symptoms, Lyme disease can be a difficult illness for a vet to diagnose. However, proper diagnosis is important to ensure that the correct treatment is taken. Your vet will begin with an exam and history to check for things like swollen joints, a fever, and previous tick exposure.
Diagnostic Tests
Bloodwork and a urinalysis will likely be performed, not because they are diagnostic of Lyme disease in dogs, but because they can help rule out other causes for the signs of lyme disease in dogs that you’re seeing. If Lyme disease is suspected, your vet may recommend further blood tests that check for Borrelia specifically. Those may include:
Antibody Test
This is an in-clinic SNAP test that checks for antibodies to the bacteria. This gives a yes or no response. A positive result doesn’t necessarily mean that your dog’s illness is caused by Lyme disease, just that your dog has been exposed.
C6 Antibody Test
Rather than a yes or no, the C6 antibody test gives a reference range for antibodies to Borrelia. It can be used to monitor treatment response, vaccination status, and severity of infection. Neither antibody test will be useful for early infections.
PCR Testing
A PCR test looks for Borrelia DNA instead of antibodies, which is the dog’s response to the infection. This makes it more useful for early infections where the immune system hasn’t mounted a full response yet.
How to Help Your Vet Diagnose Lyme Disease
Helpful information for diagnosing Lyme disease in dogs includes:
Noted signs of Lyme disease in dogs
Timing and progression of Lyme disease in dogs symptoms
History of tick exposure or outdoor activity
Changes in movement, appetite, or energy
Any recurring or shifting dog Lyme disease symptoms
Treating Lyme Disease in Dogs
If your veterinarian lands on Lyme disease as the cause of your dog’s symptoms, antibiotics will be started. It’s important to know that antibiotics won’t be used unless a dog is showing signs. They aren’t given as a prophylactic following a tick bite or positive antibody test unless your pup is actually sick. Treatment lasts a minimum of four weeks.
Some dogs may also require some supportive care, especially if they’re not eating or are experiencing painful lameness. Anti-inflammatories or pain medications may be needed, so may fluids to prevent or treat dehydration. Severely ill dogs may require hospitalization.
What to Expect During Treatment
Most dogs’ fever and intermittent lameness will resolve quickly, though the entire course of antibiotics should still be completed. Some dogs may not completely see resolution of symptoms, so a longer course of antibiotics may be needed.
Your veterinarian may recommend follow-up testing 6-12 weeks following the start of treatment to see how the antibodies are responding.
Potential for Relapse or Reinfection
Reinfection from another tick bite is possible. If this happens while the dog is still taking antibiotics, the treatment will likely prevent a full-blown infection. However, once the antibiotics are finished, your dog is open for a new infection.
Preventing Lyme Disease in Dogs: Vaccines, Tick Control, and Smart Habits
A month on antibiotics can be unforgiving for other parts of your dog’s body, especially their digestion. So, if possible, it’s always best to avoid Lyme disease in dogs rather than treat it, and there are many ways of doing so.
Lyme Vaccine for Dogs
Yes, there is a Lyme disease vaccine for dogs. It works like other vaccines by strengthening your dog’s immune response (antibodies) to Borrelia bacteria. This vaccine isn’t for every dog, so speak to your vet about your dog’s lifestyle, prevalence of Lyme disease in your area, and your dog’s health status to determine if it’s right for you.
Tick Preventatives
Avoid Lyme disease exposure all together by keeping your dog on a tick preventative. There are many effective products out there that either repel or kill ticks when they bite so that they don’t get a chance to transmit Lyme or other tick-borne diseases.
Environmental Management
Ticks definitely have their preferences for where they like to reside, so you can cut down your dog’s chances for exposure by steering clear of tall grass, overgrown trails, and heavily wooded areas where ticks are more common. Keep your yard cut short and remove any low hanging bushes or piles of wood.
Daily Tick Checks
Depending on where you live, avoiding the preferred tick habit can be easier said than done. Fortunately, you can still do help avoid Lyme disease by giving your dog a daily tick check. Remember, these little critters are quite small before they become engorged with blood, so using a fine-toothed comb and some thorough investigating may be necessary. Remove any ticks as soon as possible.
Step | Area to Check | How to Check |
1 | Muzzle & Face | Run fingers gently over the nose bridge, cheeks, and around lips |
2 | Ears (Inside & Behind) | Lift the ear flap and feel along the edges and base |
3 | Collar & Neck | Part the fur and feel around the collar line and under the chin |
4 | Chest & Front Legs | Feel through chest fur and down both front legs |
5 | Armpits | Use slow fingertips in the soft underarm area |
6 | Belly & Groin | Gently check the abdomen and inner thighs |
7 | Back & Tail Base | Run hands along spine and around the tail base |
8 | Paws & Between Toes | Spread toes and check pads and nail beds |
9 | If You Find a Tick | Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp close to skin and pull straight out |
Planning Ahead with Pet Insurance
Even when doing your best due diligence, your dog still may come down with Lyme disease or another illness. Lyme disease diagnostics and treatment often run a few hundred dollars, and more serious complications like joint disease or Lyme nephritis can push total veterinary bills into the $1,000–$3,000+ range.
That’s where pet insurance for dogs comes in. Policies from Embrace can help cover unexpected veterinary costs associated with injuries or illnesses, like Lyme disease.
Consider adding an optional wellness plan for dogs to help with prevention measures, such as vaccinations and flea and tick meds, can make expenses more predictable, which means less stress for you.
Lyme Disease in Dogs
Lyme disease in dogs often starts quietly, sometimes with nothing more than a single tick bite. Knowing the signs and symptoms of Lyme disease in dogs, acting early, and staying consistent with prevention can make a meaningful difference in long-term health outcomes.
In other words: keep the scritches coming, keep an eye out for ticks, and don’t let a small bite become a big problem.