Biliary in Dogs: The Signs Missed Until It's Serious

Biliary — babesiosis, tick bite fever — is one of the most common reasons a healthy South African dog is suddenly critically ill. The parasite destroys red blood cells, so the dog becomes anaemic faster than most owners think is possible. A dog that was fine on Saturday can need a transfusion by Tuesday.

What you are actually looking for

• Pale gums. Lift the lip. Healthy gums are bubblegum pink. White, grey or very pale pink is an emergency, not a wait-and-see.
• Flatness. Not limping, not vomiting — just gone. Won't get up for food, lies in a different spot to usual.
• Dark urine. Cola, tea or red-brown. This is destroyed blood cells being cleared and it is a late-ish sign.
• Fever, then not. Dogs often spike a temperature early and are subnormal when they crash.

Yellowing of the gums or the whites of the eyes means it has been going for a while. Do not wait for that.

Why waiting costs so much

Caught early, biliary is often an injection, some supportive care and a follow-up blood smear — a few hundred to a couple of thousand rand. Caught late, it is hospitalisation, fluids and possibly a blood transfusion, which runs into many thousands. The difference is usually two or three days of watching and hoping.

Checking for ticks properly

Most people check the back and miss the places ticks prefer. Run your fingers slowly over the inside of the ears and the ear folds, under the collar, in the armpits, between the toes, around the anus and under the tail base. On dark or thick coats, feel rather than look. A tick that has fed is the size of a small pea and firm.

Pull ticks straight out with tweezers or a tick hook at skin level, steadily. No paraffin, no vaseline, no burning match — those make the tick regurgitate, which is exactly what you are trying to avoid.

Prevention is the whole game

Modern chewable tick preventatives given monthly or every three months are far more reliable than dips and collars, and they work by killing the tick before it has fed long enough to transmit. Dose by current weight, not the weight your dog was last year, and do not skip the summer months. Treating the yard helps in heavy infestations, and keeping grass short removes the ambush spots ticks use.

A note on recovery

Dogs that recover from a serious bout are often flat for a fortnight afterwards and may relapse. Keep them quiet, feed well, and go back for the follow-up smear even if they look fine. Complicated biliary can affect the kidneys and liver, and those are the cases where a second check earns its cost.