About Ticks on Pets
Ticks carry many diseases that cause serious illnesses in humans and pets. Many tick-borne illnesses have lasting effects even after treatment. Anti-tick topical medicines provide some protection for pets; however, pet owners should not rely solely on these medicines.
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The Facts
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Diseases transmitted to pets include Lyme disease, dog paralysis, babesiosis, anaplasmosis, tularemia, haemobartonellosis, C. felis and ehrlichiosis. All are serious diseases; some can be fatal.
Risk Factors
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Pets that play in wooded areas are more likely to get ticks than city-dwelling pets; however, all pets that go outdoors risk getting ticks.
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Identification
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Ticks are small bugs with eight legs and no wings. Most have a hard protective shell, though a few species have a soft shell. Ticks are brown, black, or gray and most are smaller than one quarter of an inch, even when engorged with blood.
Pet owners should search for ticks by inspecting the pet's skin. Small bumps warrant closer inspection. By parting the fur, you may be able to tell if the bump is a tick or a skin lesion.
Unfortunately, ticks are not always easy to spot--most are only around an eighth of an inch long. Deer ticks, which commonly carry Lyme disease, are so small they sometimes look like specks of dirt. A full-grown deer tick may be smaller than one-eighth of an inch.
Effects
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A single tick bite is not usually serious for your pet unless the tick is carrying a disease. Unfortunately, tick-borne diseases are very common. Symptoms include fever, lethargy, lameness, vomiting and appetite loss. Sometimes there are no symptoms until the disease has greatly progressed. Other times, symptoms may be severe within just a few days.
Time Frame
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Ticks are active even after frosts. In states with very cold winters, tick season can last from late spring until winter. In hot regions, tick season can last all year.
Elapsed time between a tick bite and symptoms of disease is a few days to a few weeks.
Geography
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Ticks exist nearly everywhere in the world.
Significance
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In order to keep pets safe, pet owners should apply topical medications or tick collars to the animals.
Additionally, owners should regularly check pets for ticks, in case the preventive measure do not work. Some diseases take time to transmit---the sooner pet owners remove ticks, the better.
To remove a tick, grasp it as close to its head as possible and pull it out. Do not try to burn or suffocate the tick, as this will only make them regurgitate potentially disease-ridden material into the pet's bloodstream. Tweezers or tick removal instruments are the easiest way to remove ticks.
One note of caution: Flea and tick measures used for dogs should never be used on cats. Many contain ingredients, such as permethrin, that are safe for dogs but highly toxic to cats.
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