Lyme disease is a tick-borne bacterial infection of growing concern in dogs across Europe and North America. While most infected dogs remain subclinical, some develop serious kidney disease requiring intensive care.
Dogs with clinical Lyme disease experience joint pain, fever, and malaise that can significantly impair mobility and quality of life. Shifting-leg lameness — often the presenting sign — causes obvious discomfort and may prevent normal exercise and play. The acute onset of fever and anorexia represents significant short-term suffering. Lyme nephritis, though less common, is a welfare emergency: acute renal failure causes vomiting, extreme lethargy, and can be rapidly fatal. The welfare case for tick prevention is strong: acaricide products used correctly essentially eliminate the risk of transmission, protecting against a disease that causes unnecessary suffering in susceptible dogs. Owners in endemic areas who decline tick prevention are accepting preventable suffering risk.