Ticks On Dogs – Symptoms, Prevention & Removal

Ticks can become a serious health risk to both you and your dog, but by taking some simple steps to treat and prevent you can easily minimize the problem.

Taking your dog to explore the woodland or other areas that have an abundance of vegetation may be an exciting time for both you and them, but there’s also a good possibility that you’ll come back with some uninvited guests. Ticks are one of the most common types of parasites that infect dogs – and as a result of this, they can often be passed on to humans as well. They typically live on long grass, shrubs or other vegetation where they wait for a suitable warm-blooded creature to come along so they can cling onto them and suck their blood for a period of hours or even several days. When they’ve had their fill, the female tick will drop off and move on to lay anywhere from 2000 to 6000 eggs so the cycle can repeat itself.

Ticks on dogs can become a serious problem, not just for the discomfort they can cause your dog but for the diseases they can transmit as well as the paralysis toxin certain ticks release when they’re attached to your dog. Some of the diseases they carry also have the ability to infect humans and make them very sick. Two of the more common are Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever within the eastern and central regions of the United States. In a small percentage of cases, paralysis from ticks can also result in fatality. With the correct treatment and by taking adequate prevention measures, however, you can easily minimize these dangers associated with ticks on dogs.

Symptoms Of Ticks On Dogs

The first step in being able to treat ticks on dogs is recognizing the associated symptoms. Several types of ticks cause paralysis when they bite into their victim and release a toxin into the bloodstream. This usually starts in the rear legs of a dog before spreading to other parts of the body. Other signs of paralysis include an uncharacteristic laziness or loss of appetite. The various diseases that ticks can transmit via the bloodstream also each have their own symptoms. Lyme disease will usually result in swelling and pain around where the dog is bitten, as well as fever, a lack of energy and reduced appetite. Rocky Mountain spotted fever can present reddening of the eyes, fever and headaches in both humans and dogs. If your dog exhibits any of the above symptoms and you have no other good explanation for it, then you should check for a tick immediately.

Preventing Ticks On Dogs

The best way to stop ticks on dogs becoming a serious problem for you is to take the appropriate steps to prevent your dog being infected by them. This can often include:

• The obvious – stay clear of any areas you know are likely to be infested with ticks. Places such as forests and other heavily-vegetated areas make the perfect breeding grounds given their moist climate and numerous vantage points that they can cling onto and wait for their next victim.
• If you live in such areas or you plan to take your dog to outdoor environments where ticks might be, make sure you cover them with a suitable tick repellent. You can use a herbal repellent such as one that contains eucalyptus and there are also several flea medications that are designed to prevent ticks as well.
• Make sure your dog is well-groomed – this makes it much more simple to effectively cover your dog’s skin with your chosen tick repellent, but they are also a less attractive target for a tick to cling onto. This will also make it easier to search for ticks to make sure your dog is not carrying an unwelcome guest.

Treatment For Ticks On Dogs

To deal with ticks on dogs, you should adopt a daily regime of checking your dog over thoroughly if you don’t already so you can be sure when any change occurs – particularly when you live in areas that you know make a good environment for ticks. Here are a few simple guidelines to use in order to help keep your dog tick-free:

• Examine your dog daily for ticks by brushing them with a fine-tooth comb. Ticks generally like to park themselves near the eyes, nose or ears (inside and outside) but can be found just about anywhere on your dog’s body.
• If you do find a tick on your dog, avoid contact with it directly and instead put on a pair of gloves before attempting to remove it. This prevents the tick from spreading any disease it could be carrying by biting you.
• Use a pair of tweezers if you can to grab the very base of where the tick is attached to your dog’s skin. Give it a firm pull at a not-too-quick pace to remove it and make sure you get the whole thing – head and all. If the head is left under the skin where you can’t get it, however, you can try treating this with natural herbs such as echinacea and calendula.
• If you’ve acted quickly and got the tick in its early stages then you shouldn’t need to take any further measures in treating your dog, and your dog should return to normal (if experiencing any adverse effects like paralysis) within a matter of hours. If not, however, then you should see your vet about undergoing further treatment with antibiotics.
• If your dog is showing all of the symptoms of having a tick, but you can’t find one upon examination, watch them to see if they are shaking their head a lot. Usually this means there is a tick on the inside of their ear where you can’t see it. When you take your dog to the vet, they’ll be able to find it using their instruments and then remove it.

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