This time of the year is when owners need to become aware of certain ticks and the dangers they posses to their beloved pet. Ticks can cause a number of serious outcomes for animals including diseases such as Lyme disease, Ehrlichiosis, Anaplasmosis, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Dr Mark explains the importance of undertaking daily routine checks of your pet throughout the entire tick season.

Common types to watch

Brown tick

The brown tick is small, red-brown in color and is usually located in warmer climates especially present throughout Florida. It can spend its entire life cycle indoors making it possible to create high levels of infestations and large pest proportions. They can cause fever, lameness and skin irritation for pets, most predominantly in dogs.

Paralysis tick

The Paralysis tick is one of the most harmful types as it can be fatal to pets that are not treated immediately. The Paralysis tick can cause severe cardiac, respiratory and muscle weakness, eventually killing their prey after only 4-5 days of attachment. Signs to look out for include a change in vocalization (barking or meowing), breathing and difficulty in walking.

Keep ticks away

Keep your pet tick free by using of one of the easily available products such as Frontline Plus, Advantix and Revolution. Using the once a month spot treatments can drastically reduce the chance of your pet coming into contact with any sort of dangerous ticks. Higher risk areas may also want to include a tick collar such as the Preventic Collar and a tick control rise including Permoxin and Demadex Wash.

Routine checks

Performing daily routine checks on your pet is another important part of protecting them against the dangers of ticks. Feel around the skin all over your pets’ body for any bumps that may have appeared. Closely examine any bumps that you feel to ensure they don’t resemble a tick. Ticks can be dark, brown or black and they will vary in size, their legs may also be visible.

Removing ticks safely

If you attempt to remove a tick from your pet be sure that you actually remove the entire tick. Using tweezers you can very carefully pull the tick out of your pets’ skin. Be sure not to crush the tick when removing it and double check you have got rid of the head and mouth parts. The surrounding area should then be treated with a disinfectant.

Avoiding ticks in the environment

Keep your pet away from certain areas that contain thick grass or lots of plants as ticks are commonly found in these locations. Take precaution even in your own backyard by keeping the garden well maintained. Also be sure to keep other animals away that have ticks, this can be achieved by having a fenced yard as well as monitoring which other animals your pet is coming into contact with.

VetShopOnline hopes you all have a tick plan in place this season for your pet and avoid them having to face any unwanted dangers and side effects from tick encounters.