Diseases carried by ticks and transmissible to your pet include:
- Lyme disease,
- Ehlichiosis,
- Tularemia,
- Cytauxzoonosis,
- Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever,
- Tick Paralysis, and
- Babesiosis.
Many of these tick-borne diseases are quite serious and can even be fatal for your dog or cat. Even worse, ticks can carry more than one type of disease and pets can be co-infected with two or more different diseases at the same time. Effective tick control is extremely important in preventing these tick borne diseases.
In addition, many of these tick diseases can affect you and your family. In fact, in Massachusetts, dogs are used as sentinels for Lyme disease in people. According to J.M. Lindenmayer in the American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 81, Issue 11, estimates of Lyme disease incidence in dogs offers a "sensitive, reliable and convenient measure of the potential risk to people" in the area.
Controlling Ticks
Tick life cycles vary depending on the type of tick, but always involves feeding off of your pet's blood. Ticks can attach and feed on people also. Some types of ticks feed on wildlife during part of their life cycle as well. Ticks are especially common in wooded areas or areas with high grasses, and tick infestations are common in pets who frequent these types of areas. However, ticks can often be found in your own back-yard as well.
Effective tick control involves:
- regular monthly application of a tick control product. This will provide the highest level of protection for both you and your pet.
- applying the tick control product year round, because tick behavior can change depending on temperature variations and, under the right conditions, adult ticks can survive winter temperatures and snows.
- envirornmental control if your yard and/or garden has a severe tick infestation. Yard sprays and other environmental control products should be used according to label directions.
- not letting your pet frequent areas with a high likelihood of tick infestation, such as wooded areas and areas with high grasses.
- keeping wildlife out of your yard/garden.
There are many monthly products available which will provide adequate tick control, and these include Advantage, Frontline Plus, Advantage Multi, Advantix K9, Promeris, and others. While these products are very effective, it is possible you may still find a few ticks on your cat or dog and it is advisable to make a habit of routinely checking your pet's skin for these pests.
Removing a Tick
If you do find a tick on your pet, grasp the tick's body firmly with a pair of forceps or tweezers as close to the site of attachment as possible and apply steady pressure backwards (away from your pet's skin) until the tick releases. Wear gloves when removing the tick from your pet and try to avoid rupturing the tick's body if possible. Dispose of the tick by placing it in a small container of alcohol to kill it. Clean the area where the tick was attacked to your pet's skin with alcohol and gauze or cotton. It is not unusual to see a small swelling on your pet's skin after removal of a tick. However, if the swelling does not regress in a few days or if you see any discharge from the area, you should seek veterinary care for your dog or cat.
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