Protect Your Pets Against Ticks

Protect Your Pets Against Ticks

               Warm days mean ticks are more active and we are spending more time outdoors with our pets.  Ticks are not only a nuisance to people and pets but, they also carry diseases.  Let’s learn more about ticks and how to protect our pets from these parasites.

Ticks have 8 legs and are arachnids like spiders and mites.  There are multiple species, but the most common in the York area are the brown dog tick and the blacklegged tick (aka deer tick).  Ticks live primarily in wooded areas in the tall grass, but they do not actually live in or fall from trees.  Ticks sit on the tip of a blade of grass and grab onto passing animals or people with their legs, a behavior called “questing.”  Once on board, they find an area to bite and attach to the skin so they can feed on blood.  Ticks may attach and feed for a period of several hours to several days after which time they detach and fall off in search of a new host. 

               Ticks carry a variety of diseases including Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis.  Cats are less susceptible to these diseases but can be infected with Lyme, anaplasmosis and Cytauxzoonosis.  These bacteria are carried by ticks and enter the bloodstream when the tick bites.  York County has a high incidence of Lyme disease with one in 15 dogs testing positive. All three diseases cause similar symptoms: fever, lethargy, loss of appetite and stiff, sore joints.  Ehrlichiosis and Anaplasmosis can also affect blood clotting, leading to bruising and bleeding.  Some dogs can also develop severe kidney disease secondary to Lyme disease.  Fortunately, most pets have few or no symptoms and may not require treatment.  If they are symptomatic, most will recover if treated with antibiotics. 

 The best way to prevent ticks from spreading disease is to use a good quality flea and tick preventative regularly.  Multiple safe topical and chewable options are now available for both cats and dogs.  It pays to protect pets year-round not just during the spring and summer. Ticks do not die over the winter and can be active in temperatures as low as 35 degrees.  Moreover, some ticks are actually more active during the fall—namely, the blacklegged tick that carries Lyme disease. 

               During high season or anytime you are in tick territory, check pets daily and remove any ticks you find, especially after a walk in the woods or parks.  No tick preventative is 100% effective, and, if there are enough ticks present, they will get on your pet.  Try to avoid touching ticks with your bare fingers—use a tissue, gauze or tweezers to grasp the tick near its head and firmly pull it off.  If the head did not come out, no worries:  It will eventually fall off and it causes more damage and pain to try to dig it out. Do not use alcohol or other substances to try to get ticks to back out and do not try to burn them off. These methods will only harm your pet. They are not effective means of tick removal.

Finally, consider vaccinating your dog against Lyme disease (FYI: there is no Lyme vaccine available for cats).  Lyme vaccines are highly effective at blocking the transmission of disease if your dog is bitten by an infected tick. Dogs can get reinfected multiple times from tick bites.  You can almost eliminate the chance of your dog getting Lyme with this trifecta:  vaccination, using a good tick preventative year-round AND doing daily tick checks.

               Talk to our staff about the best products to prevent ticks and whether your dog would benefit from the Lyme vaccine.  Together, we can do a lot to protect pets against ticks and tick-borne diseases!

               This blog brought to you by the Patton Veterinary Hospital serving Red Lion, York, and the surrounding communities. 

https://capcvet.org/