A concerning dog disease – linked to bites from brown ticks is rife across the Territory.
Katherine Vet Doctor Alex Burley says his clinic is diagnosing about one to two cases of Ehrlichia canis a week, which can be fatal for dogs.
He says if caught early treatment is available but prevention is key.
“With the other tick diseases that we’ve had in the Territory and in Australia, it takes one to two days of tick feeding to transmit from the tick to the dog, this new disease takes as little as three hours,” Dr Burley said.
“Early symptoms of that can be off color, sore eyes, cloudy eyes, they can have sore belly, lose weight, a slight cough, a bit of an upset tummy, a fever, and a little bit of bleeding.
“The NT government actually recommends a combination of a seresto collar or spot-on with chew and that would be the most effective way of your dog being bitten by a tick.”
