If you have a dog in Centurion or anywhere in Gauteng, ticks and fleas are part of everyday life. Most of the time they are an itchy nuisance. One tick-borne disease is far more serious: canine babesiosis, known in South Africa as biliary fever (biliary for short in this guide).
The short answer is to keep your dog on ongoing tick and flea prevention that your vet recommends, check your dog for ticks every day, and treat pale gums, weakness, fever or dark urine as a reason to see a vet urgently. This guide explains which ticks carry biliary, the warning signs, how fleas pass on tapeworm, and what a tick and flea wash at a grooming parlour can and cannot do.
What is biliary, and why is it an emergency?
Biliary is caused by Babesia, tiny parasites carried by ticks that invade a dog’s red blood cells and cause anaemia. A 2009 review from the University of Pretoria’s veterinary faculty describes canine babesiosis as a disease marked by the destruction of red blood cells, jaundice and haemoglobin in the urine. Babesia mostly causes disease in young dogs, but dogs of any age can be affected.
How ill a dog becomes depends a great deal on the species. The same review describes Babesia rossi, the dominant species in South Africa, as very virulent, causing sudden and severe illness. Citing earlier work, it puts mortality at around 12% for B. rossi, compared with about 1% for the milder Babesia vogeli.
Figures from Onderstepoort in Pretoria show why vets take it so seriously, although they come from one teaching hospital and the first set is more than 30 years old, so they may not reflect how common biliary is today. From 1988 to 1993, biliary was diagnosed in 11.7% of the sick dogs seen at the Outpatients Clinic of the Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital, and 31.4% of those dogs needed hospital treatment. More recently, of 320 dogs with B. rossi admitted to the hospital between 2006 and 2016, 34 (10.6%) died within 24 hours of admission (Penzhorn, Parasites & Vectors). The encouraging part is that most dogs do recover: the 2009 review put survival at roughly 85 to 90%, depending on the level of care and the Babesia species involved.
Which ticks carry which type of biliary?
Three large Babesia species infect dogs around the world, and each has its own tick:
- Babesia rossi is carried by Haemaphysalis elliptica (and possibly H. leachi) and is found only in sub-Saharan Africa. H. elliptica is its only proven vector. This is the species behind most serious biliary in South Africa.
- Babesia vogeli is carried by Rhipicephalus sanguineus, the kennel tick, and occurs worldwide, including South Africa. It is the least virulent of the three. It usually causes mild illness in adult dogs, but it can make some puppies severely ill.
- Babesia canis is carried by Dermacentor reticulatus and has historically been confined to Europe. It is not among the species the 2009 University of Pretoria review lists for South Africa.
For most of the 20th century, all of these were simply called Babesia canis, so older articles may use that name for South African biliary. Surveys across southern Africa have found R. sanguineus and H. elliptica to be the most abundant ticks on domestic dogs. Young H. elliptica ticks feed on rodents, while the adults prefer dogs and other carnivores, and University of Pretoria researchers have also found adults on a free-roaming cat in Pretoria.
When should you take your dog to the vet?
Treat suspected biliary as an emergency. Take your dog to a vet straight away, or to an emergency vet after hours, if you notice any of these signs:
- pale or white gums
- weakness, dullness or collapse
- loss of appetite
- fever
- dark urine
- yellowish gums or eyes (jaundice)
- fast breathing or a racing heart
Do not wait to see whether your dog improves. B. rossi can progress fast, and the Parasites & Vectors review notes that some dogs die within 24 hours of the onset of clinical signs. Vets who answered a 1993 national survey, published in the Journal of the South African Veterinary Association, reported complicated forms of biliary, such as cerebral and “red” cases, that carried high mortality. If your dog shows any of these signs on the day of a grooming appointment, take them to the vet instead.
Also see your vet if part of a tick stays in the skin, if a bite becomes red, hot, swollen or starts to discharge, if your dog is scratching intensely, or if you notice tapeworm segments.
Does your dog need tick prevention all year?
In a national survey of South African vets carried out in 1993, biliary cases were most common in summer everywhere except the Western Cape, a winter rainfall region. The main biliary tick does not disappear in winter, though. A University of Pretoria study followed one free-roaming cat in eastern Pretoria for two years (2004 to 2006) and found adult H. elliptica in late summer and in winter, which indicates that the tick’s life cycle carries on throughout the year in Pretoria (Horak and colleagues). The authors point out that one animal is a small sample, but the pattern matched earlier findings on dogs in KwaZulu-Natal.
The 2009 University of Pretoria review states that regular tick control, by dipping, spraying, tick collars or spot-on products, is the only effective way to prevent biliary in most parts of the world. Ask your vet which product suits your dog, and keep it up to date.
Check your dog every day
The same review states that ticks must feed for at least three days to pass on B. rossi, and advises owners to check their dogs for ticks every day (Schoeman, Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research). Run your hands slowly over your whole dog, and look closely at any small bump you feel.
How to remove a tick
PDSA recommends this method:
- Slide a tick-twisting tool under the tick, as close to the skin as possible. If you do not have one, use tweezers and hold the tick gently, close to the skin.
- Twist in one direction, without pulling upwards, until the tick loosens.
- Lift the tool away and dispose of the tick so it cannot attach to people or other animals.
- Clean the area with warm salty water and watch your dog for signs of illness.
Never pull, crush or squeeze the tick, because that can leave its mouthparts in the skin.
How do fleas affect dogs, and how do they spread tapeworm?
Most fleas found on dogs are actually cat fleas. Many dogs are allergic to flea saliva and itch intensely, often over the hips, base of the tail and thighs. In heavy infestations, or in young puppies, the blood loss can cause anaemia.
Flea eggs fall easily from the coat onto bedding, carpets and soil, where they hatch in 1 to 6 days. Flea droppings are reddish-black specks that dissolve in water to a reddish-brown colour, which helps you tell them apart from ordinary dirt. The MSD Veterinary Manual advises washing your dog’s bedding, vacuuming sleeping areas and discussing flea control products with your vet.
Fleas also carry the common tapeworm, Dipylidium caninum. According to the CDC, dogs become infected by swallowing an infected flea, often while grooming themselves. Most infected dogs show no signs of illness, but you may spot rice-sized segments in fresh stool or stuck to the fur around the bottom. People can be infected the same way, and most reported cases are in children. The CDC says flea control is the most effective way to prevent it, and your vet can treat a dog that already has tapeworm.
What does a tick and flea wash do, and what can’t it do?
A tick and flea treatment during a groom treats your dog on the day of the groom only. It is not prevention, and it does not replace the ongoing prevention your vet recommends. Flea eggs and young fleas in your home and garden can keep reinfesting your dog for weeks, and in Pretoria the tick that carries Babesia rossi stays active through the year.
A groomer also cannot diagnose biliary or any other illness. Think of a parlour tick and flea treatment as a helpful extra on top of the product your vet recommends, never as the plan itself.
How Mutt Cuts can help
Mutt Cuts Pet Parlour in Wierdapark offers Tick & Flea Treatment as an Extra Spoil you can add to your dog’s groom, and you can read more on our tick and flea treatment page. It treats your dog on the day and does not replace the ongoing prevention your vet recommends. For ongoing prevention, we sell Bravecto and NexGard chewable tablets in our shop, and if your dog is booked for a groom with collection and delivery, we can send the tablets home with them for convenience. We do not give the tablets ourselves, because they are usually easiest to give with your dog’s food or as a treat at home. Ask your vet which product suits your dog. Every pet we groom must have up-to-date vaccinations. If your dog seems unwell on the day of an appointment, especially with any of the biliary warning signs above, please go to your vet first and get in touch through our contact page to rebook.