Today my thoughts are in France. A lovely dog, a Polish Lowland called Digby, has lost a valiant battle against an infection caught from a tick. He leaves a brother Wilf, and you can read about them at
http://wilfanddigby.blogspot.com/2010/05/there-will-be-laughter-and-mischief-...
Thoughts are with Angus and his wfe today.
You can read more about this problem:
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2101&aid=720
We do not have the disease in New Zealand, for which I am so grateful, but I have felt the frustration of their battle, and felt so helpless. I wanted to see him win. My own dog, Saffy, was affected with Auto Immune Haemolytic Anaemia three years ago and underwent a similar battle to Digby, but his problem was worse. Saff survived inteneive care from our wonderful clinic - with blood transusions from the dogs of two friends, and endless drugs and i/v fluids and today she seems perfectly normal, despite strong drugs that suppress her immune system!
Anyway - I think many pet owners understimate the issues from ticks - and people visiting areas in Europe can be unaware of the disease (and it is in America). In some countries, including Autralia, there is also the tick paralysis -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tick_paralysis
RIP Digby xxx
