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Care of your dog: Tick prevention
The paralysis tick (Ixodes holocyclus) occurs mainly
along the coast of eastern Australia, however, it may also
be found further inland in valleys and forested areas.
Paralysis ticks are not natives of the Melbourne area, but
these parasites may enter the region in camping gear and
clothing, or on humans and animals returning from tick
infested areas.
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Adult
female
paralysis tick
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Adult
female
bush tick
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Adult
female
cattle tick
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As
an aide to identification, note the colouring of
each of these ticks and the position of their legs
in relation to their body.
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These ticks normally
live on the native bandicoot without any detrimental effect,
however, they can prove to be fatal in dogs and cats, and
very occasionally humans. The paralysis tick's saliva
contains a toxin that affects the nerves of the host animal.
The toxin enters the body when the tick attaches to an
animal to suck blood.
Clinical signs may
occur as early as two days after the attachment of a tick,
and include dullness or lethargy, vomiting, a change in your
dog's bark, or a grunt when breathing. Staggering in the
hind legs follows, and if the condition is left untreated,
the paralysis progresses to the front legs, neck muscles,
and muscles associated with breathing and swallowing. Death
occurs with respiratory arrest. This is a progressive and
eventually fatal condition if left untreated, and prevention
is most definitely better than cure!
Treatment for tick
paralysis should ALWAYS be supervised by a
veterinarian, and involves removing the offending tick(s),
intravenous fluids, plus administration of tick antiserum
and other medications. Until veterinary attention can be
sought, heat, excitement and stress should be avoided, and
food or water should not be given.
Prevention:
- Where possible,
completely avoid tick habitat. For example, avoid walking
your dog in coastal bush areas that are known to harbour
large numbers of ticks.
- Daily searches of
your pets are essential whilst in tick country. Remove
their collar, and then use your fingertips to feel
through the coat down to skin level. Pay particular
attention to the head, neck and shoulders, but the whole
body should still be checked, including inside the ears,
lips, around the bottom, and between the toes. Ticks or
tick craters may be felt as lumps on the skin surface.
Any unattached ticks you find can be rapidly removed, but
attached ticks should first be killed by thoroughly
saturating the area with Frontline® spray or a rapid
knockdown insecticide (such as pyrethrin-based fly
spray). After the ticks are dead they should be removed
with fine tweezers, ensuring that the mouth parts of the
tick are fully removed.
- While no product
on the market will guarantee prevention of all cases of
tick attachment, we recommend the use of Frontline®
to aid in tick
prevention in conjunction with the other measures we've
previously outlined. Frontline® is widely used for flea
control, but also has good activity against ticks. It
is applied to the coat and kills ticks within 24-48 hours
after attaching. The product must be repeated every 2 weeks
to maintain effectiveness.
If you would like to
know more about tick control, please talk to us and we can
give you more information.
Frontline
is a registered trademark of Merial Limited.
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