2489. A Rottweiler has a few thousand ticks - VIDEO FOR INTERNS

Sunday Jul 12, 2015

Unusual to see a young Rottweiler with a few thousand adult and  nymph ticks attached to the face and body.

Sedation needed. 35 kg. 4-year-old dog.
Given 1/3 formula ie. Dom + Ket at 0.4 ml + 0.5 ml IV. Able to clip bald.

The owner had applied Frontline Plus spot on. The pest control man applied a white insecticide wash yesterday. So, all ticks were dead but the mouth parts clamp to the face and body skin. Took over 2 hours to clip and remove the dead ticks. Goes home on same day. This dog had a left dislocated hip repaired by another vet (closed reduction) when he fell into a drain.  He is OK now but still, the vet must be careful in case the hip dislocates and the owner blames the vet.


DE-TICKING AT TOA PAYOH VETS.
Dog safety and staff safety.
This dog looked thin and was probably poisoned by both Frontline Plus and Pest control man's insecticide.  The owner wanted the dog's ticks extracted from  the face and body. Looked horrible. One groomer suggested that euthanasia.

SEDATION. Minimum yet sufficient. This is hard to assess in a weakened toxic dog.
Formula: I gave 30% of the calculated dosage for this 35kg Rott.   0.4 ml + 0.5 ml Dom + Ket IV.
No top up. Dog muzzle when ticks plucked from face as he tends to bite.
"Topping up may kill the dog," I explained to Naing who was not so happy with the dog trying to get up and bite him. "Just muzzle him."   



FOLLOW UP ON JUL 13, 2015
The dog ate but was not as active.
QUARANTINE FROM ANOTHER DOG (X-bred F, 7 years rescued as a puppy from the Defu Industrial Park with cement-covered body).
The lady owner said the Rott had a few small ticks seen and was told to remove them manually. I did the clipping but no further tick wash as the dog had Frontline Plus 7 days ago and the pest control had applied insecticide on his body the day before.

The Rottweiler was enclosed in a playpen of 7 fences in a circle (diagram) on the car porch.
"He could just push away the fences, being such a strong dog," I said.
"No, he dared not go near the play pen," the lady replied.  Probably he had a lasting imprint of fright as a puppy when the playpen fence collapsed on him. So he dared not go near. That was good for the owner to quarantine him.

The other dog was quarantine but had few dead ticks.

PEST CONTROL
Yesterday
1. Sprayed insecticide mist on grass, walls, floors of car porchs, play pens, perimeter of home, and not indoors as there was no ticks indoors.  Lady said about 95% effective as she saw few ticks.

2. Advised to tell the mum not to eat the papayas and pandan leaves in the garden as they will be contaminated with spray and from soil.

EPIDEMIOLOGY
Both dogs have no ticks for past 7 years.
Rott does not go outdoors except to the vet when he had right hip dislocation and surgery. On the follow up visit, the owner saw a large adult female tick which was removed.
X-bred, never visit vet since puppyhood 7 years ago. She goes out 3X/day by herself for 10 minutes. But no ticks for past 7 days. No more use of Frontline since 4 years ago for this X-bred. Rott never had any Frontline Plus. Both roam around the garden but the X-bred seemed immune. Given Frontline Plus on Jul 5 to both dogs, when Rott discovered to  have ticks from the Vet clinic. X-bred had dead ticks on inspection after Frontline Plus on
When Rott had ticks at 2nd follow up visit some 3 weeks ago, Frontline Plus given to both dogs. But Rott's face became infested with ticks. Whole body and neck area plugged with grey adult female ticks around 1 cm x 0.8 cm.

OWNER TREATMENT OF ROTT
1. Advantix 2 X at once a month after seeing ticks from Vet clinic.
2. Frontline Plus 1X
3. X-bred clear of ticks. Rott has some small ticks, now plucked off.