Ticks
- Check your pet’s skin every 24-48 hours and after being in tick
infested areas. Ticks need to be attached for 48 hours to spread
disease.
- Remove brush and clear dead leaves from around your house and kennel areas.
- Use tick prevention like collars, shampoos, powders. (Be sure the prevention is not worse than the disease.)
Tick Transmitted Diseases
- Lyme disease. Caused by the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria, which is
carried by the tiny deer tick. Symptoms usually take 2-5 months to
appear after exposure and include fever, lameness and lethargy. Lyme
disease responds well to antibiotics, but damage to the joints can be
permanent. A vaccine is available, but does not ensure total protection.
- Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Transmitted by the American Dog Tick.
Often accompanied by neurological signs like dizziness and seizures as
well as muscle and joint pain.
- Diseases carried by ticks include those caused by the
Haemobartonella microorganism, the Babesia parasite and Ehrlichia.
Symptoms of these blood borne diseases include anemia and weight loss.
TICK REMOVAL
- Use a fine tipped tweezers or tick removal tool.
- Grab the tick by the mouth or head and pull directly outward. Do
this quickly so you don’t crush or irritate the tick into releasing
harmful bacteria into your pet’s blood stream. Toss it into a jar of
alcohol to kill it.
- Clean the bite wound with a pet safe disinfectant and apply a small amount of triple antibiotic.
- A small reaction like a bump may occur.
- Wash your hands thoroughly after removing a tick.
Tick Links
Keep ticks off your pets – appeared on Minneapolis Dogs Examiner and is used here with permission from the author Kathleen Riley-Daniels