Welcome back to our blog series on preventing tick bites. In our previous blog, we touched on proper insect repellent and understanding your surroundings. Today, we’ll provide some more details and things to remember as you’re trying to protect yourself from ticks. While treatment for Lyme disease is available, it can take awhile to fully […]
Create A Tick-Free Yard
Ticks can be found almost everywhere in the world, at nearly every elevation. From the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic shore, you can bet that, given the right conditions, ticks will be present. As they transmit a number of diseases — such as Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever — we know it’s important [...]
Tick Testing for Tick-borne Diseases?
Have you wondered what might be in that tick you pulled off your leg or off your dog? Sometimes the least expensive approach to determining disease exposure is testing the tick you carefully removed and saved, just in case. We receive requests for tick testing services regularly. While we don’t do tick testing at Galaxy, there a […]
What is Bartonellosis?
Bartonellosis is an infectious disease caused by bacteria in the genus Bartonella. Bartonellosis causes similar disease manifestations in cats, dogs, horses, humans and potentially other wild and domestic animals. Popularly known as the key agents causing Cat Scratch Disease (Bartonella henselae) or Trench Fever (Bartonella quintana), Bartonella species (spp.) are very difficult to detect in patient blood, cerebrospinal fluid, joint fluid or […]
Choosing the Best Bartonella Test Method
Which Bartonella test method is best? We get this question all the time. Unfortunately, the answer is a bit complicated. The current CDC-recommended standard of care is IFA serology testing or, in some circumstances, PCR. However, both approaches are severely limited when it comes to atypical CSD (cat scratch disease) and other Bartonella species infections. […]
Bartonella Infection in Cats
Cats can tolerate a Bartonella infection much better than humans can. Until recently, in fact, veterinarians considered Bartonella infection to be of little concern for the health of cats. The latest research is changing minds. Emerging evidence suggests that Bartonella infection is actually associated with a broad range of inflammatory symptoms in cats. Veterinarians represent the […]