Tick Fever can be notoriously difficult to diagnose, especially during the early stages. Most dogs don’t make it to a veterinarian until they are already in the chronic stage of the disease, when the symptoms are at their most severe.

Diagnosis is usually made based on a history of tick exposure, what symptoms are present, blood work that shows a low platelet count, and a separate blood test that shows whether specific antibodies against the disease are present.

Since a dog’s immune system takes at least 2 to 3 weeks to produce antibodies against Tick Fever, early blood tests may come back falsely normal. Because of this, veterinarians often recommend doing a second test several weeks later to make sure the initial negative result is still negative.

This is why many veterinarians recommend that if you see an engorged tick (one that is full of blood) on your dog, you should have your dog tested for Tick Fever around 8 weeks after finding and removing the tick.