Tick on dog? Act before the clock runs out!

If you take walks in the forest or if your yard has areas with tall grass, it’s vital to protect your pet dog from ticks that swarm from April to November. Here’s some useful info.

What’s a tick?   

• It’s a mite from the spider family.
• This tiny parasite latches onto the animal’s skin to feed on its blood.
• A tick often carries diseases that can be fatal.

→ Also read: Tick, dangerous for dogs

Diseases linked to ticks

Babesiosis

A tick passes this disease to your pet when it sucks its blood. The tick’s saliva carries the babesiosis parasite. If your pet seems listless and refuses to eat, you should worry. High fever, pale mucous membranes, and very dark urine can be signs. You need to start treatment quickly for it to work. This disease can be fatal.

Lyme Disease

It’s an infectious disease transmitted by a tick when it feeds on your pet’s blood.

For the tick to spread the disease, it needs to be in contact with your pet’s skin for 48 to 72 hours. You may notice joint pain causing lameness and high fever. The antibiotic treatment is long and doesn’t fully eliminate the disease. Anti-inflammatory drugs can relieve the chronic pain.

Fighting ticks

Parasite control vials

Simple, fast, and effective, you just need to part your pet’s fur along the spine and apply the content in the vial. These vials help fight fleas, lice, mosquitoes, and sandflies. The chemical compounds they contain act on the tick’s nervous system and cause its death within 48 hours. You must choose the right vial based on your pet’s size, weight, and breed. Your pet will be protected for 4 to 6 weeks.

Tick repellent collars

They release controlled substances that repel and kill ticks before they can bite your pet. Water-resistant and offering your pet protection for 7 to 8 months, collars are a cost-effective and practical solution.

Anti-tick pills

They contain active substances (insecticides) that attack the tick’s nervous system, causing its death a few hours after the first bite. Your pet will be protected for three months. It’s an effective treatment, but it’s costly and only veterinarians can prescribe it. It’s reserved for dogs.

Removing a tick from your dog’s skin

After each risky walk (forest, plots with tall grass…), you need to check your pet’s skin, especially if it has long fur. If you see a small black and soft marble attached to your dog’s skin, it’s probably a tick.

• You can remove it with a tick remover. Just position the tick in the remover and twist until it’s removed.
• You will need to disinfect the area and monitor it for a few days.

What not to do:

• Trying to put the tick to sleep with alcohol or ether, as it could inject its venom and its head would remain under your pet’s skin.
• Trying to remove it with tweezers, as you could fail to remove it completely.

Quote to ponder:

“Prevention is a wise precaution that shields from the uncertainty of healing.” Patrick Louis Richard

• Also read: Tick, dangerous for dogs

Smart tip

Did you know? Ticks also latch onto humans. To protect yourself, it’s important to wear closed shoes, socks, and pants. The risk is contracting Lyme disease, which is very debilitating. No treatment has yet been found that completely cures it.

L.D.