As ticks and mosquitos are rampant in Thailand, I recently pulled blood and did a SNAP test on my two adoptees- Wolfie and Licorice. The SNAP test is incredibly easy to use and requires just three drops of blood to test for Heartworm, Ehrlichia, and Lyme disease. Licorice’s was clear! Hurray!

But, surprisingly, my bounce-up-and-down, active as heck, always full of life dog, Wolfie, tested positive for e-canis (ehrlichia). E-canis is a parasite that affects the red blood cells, platelets, and white blood cells and is transmitted through ticks. If untreated, lethargy, enlarged lymph nodes, anorexia, fever, and nasal and ocular discharge can occur.

Wolfie’s been on Revolution ever since I got back from Thailand with her and she hasn’t had a single tick on her (that I could see! and I’m pretty good at picking them out!) So, my guess is that she was
infected either when she was in Burma as a puppy or when she was roaming around in Thailand as an adolescent.

Because she’s not showing any symptoms, it means that, hopefully, we caught the bug early on and with about a month’s treatment of doxycycline, she should be as healthy as ever!