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Tick Paralysis
Tick paralysis: an acute, ascending motor paralysis that occurs in dogs; cats seem to be resistant. The cause is a neurotoxin in the saliva of certain species of adult ticks. Dermacentor species predominate as a cause in North America, while Ixodes mainly causes the disease in Australia. The onset of symptoms is 5 to 9 days after tick attachment, and include incoordination progressing to paralysis, changed voice, and difficulty eating. Death can occur secondary to paralysis of the respiratory muscles, but in North America there is a good prognosis once the ticks are removed. Recovery is usually in 1 to 3 days. In Australia, however, it is a more severe disease with cranial nerve effects, and death can occur in 1 to 2 days.
We got this story from Marianne Minks of Zen Tao Tibetan Spaniels and wanted to share it with everyone.
"This past Sat. am, my 5 year old Tibbie Tami was paralyzed in her rear legs when she woke up. They just were collapsed under her. I rushed her to the vet and he was able to get deep pain response from both back feet, though 1 leg just dangled & showed no reflexes. She was knuckling over on both rear feet and could not place them flatly on the floor. She was alert and in no signs of pain. Vet examined her and could find no injuries or sensitive areas and thought it was a back injury and she was put on dexamethazone 2 x daily & crate rest. There was no improvement Sat & Sun. am she had peed in her crate & was soaked, so I gave her a quick bath & put fans on her to dry her. Sun. nite she had a little response in her rear legs, but could not walk. Mon. am she stood & took 2 steps before her rear legs collapsed. She made steady improvement on Mon & by Mon. night walked about 10 feet in the yard, peed, walked a couple more feet & had a BM. Thought she was on the mend. Tues. am her rear was as bad as it had been Sat. am. She started showing weakness on her front legs & between Noon & 2:00 pm her front legs became paralyzed & she started having heart arrhythmias. She began drooling on the ride to the vet office. Back to the vet, who did back X-rays = everything was normal looking. He then X-rayed her neck - looked fine. He pulled blood & while we were waiting for the results he told me he didn't know what was wrong & that at the vet school 100 miles away could do an electromyleogram, MRI, etc. By this time it was 5:00 pm. He thought he would give her a cortisone injection. The blood work showed a high white count, pointing to infection. Vet was petting her & feeling her all over again & couldn't understand why she was not in pain anywhere. He found an engorged tick under her ear - its color was identical to her coat there. Then the AHA moment - tick paralysis! In his over 30 years practicing, he had only seen 2 cases. His other vet who was working with him has been a vet for about 10 years & had never seen a case. He removed the tick, put her on amoxicillin 2 x daily & said she should be sitting up by evening & recover. In my over 30 years in dogs I had never heard of it. My house dogs get a few ticks every year. I get a few ticks on me every time I mow. The tick can have a neurotoxin that is released while feeding that causes this. It can lead to respiratory failure & even death! From my reading about it on the net, different sources say in the US that death rates are 5% or 10-12%. By around 8:00 pm Tami was improving in the front legs & could lay upright on her front. She steadily improved overnight & could walk wobbly this am (Wed). The vet predicts a full recovery. I don't think she would have made it through the night without that tick being removed as the respiratory symptoms had begun & she was rapidly deteriorating from Noon on. I can't believe that I missed that tick, with how much I was handling her. But I didn't comb her out before or after her bath as I didn't want to stress her any more than I had to or to possibly injure her back. Now I will be obsessively on tick patrol. "
So be aware of these symptoms and contact your vet as soon as possible if you think this has happened to your dog!
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