Tick-borne diseases including Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, anaplasmosis, and babesiosis cause significant illness in dogs. Tick prevention and prompt treatment are the most effective welfare interventions.
Tick-borne diseases cause significant acute suffering — fever, lethargy, pain from joint inflammation in Lyme disease, and the weakness and discomfort of haemolytic anaemia in babesiosis. Chronic or inadequately treated tick-borne infections can cause lasting organ damage, particularly in Lyme nephritis and chronic ehrlichiosis with bone marrow suppression. The preventability of these conditions through consistent tick preventative use makes their occurrence a welfare-relevant management failure. Tick checks after countryside walks and year-round prophylaxis in endemic areas are low-effort, high-impact welfare interventions. Early diagnosis and treatment of tick-borne disease prevents progression to severe, welfare-compromising complications.