Winnipeg Sun : Even city dogs are at risk of Lyme disease
By Doug Lunney,Winnipeg Sun
First posted: | Updated:
Colleen Holloway routinely sees dogs in hard-luck situations, so it’s not often when one strikes her as particularly severe.
“We’ve had few heart worm moms come in, but this is a pretty vicious one-two punch to a dog,” Holloway, the spokeswoman for Manitoba Mutts Dog Rescue, said Tuesday morning.
The dog they’ve named Lilly, a rottweiler/shepherd cross, was found as a stray in the Interlake and brought to MMDR on April 19. She was found with five pups that appeared to be a couple days old and it was suspected a few other pups died from exposure.
Once examined by a veterinarian, Lilly was found to have an advanced heart worm ailment as well as Lyme disease.
Lyme disease is caused by a bacterial infection transferred by a bite from an infected blacklegged tick, also known as a deer tick. These ticks are smaller than the common wood tick, which doesn’t transmit Lyme disease. Exposure to them can occur from April to November.