A Guide for Tick Season
We are officially in tick season! Ticks are active for a good portion of the year but are worse during warmer weather, typically mid-May to mid-August. They usually stay active until the first freeze kills them off.
How do ticks affect your pet?
The most common risk that we see is transmitting Lyme Disease. Lyme Disease, or Lyme borreliosis, is a bacterial illness that enters the bloodstream through a tick bite. Once the bacteria is in the bloodstream, it will travel to other body locations and may potentially cause issues. Some specific places we find problems with Lyme Disease are in specific organs, joints, and overall body illness. A tick can transmit Lyme Disease after being attached to a pet for 24-48 hours. It is important to properly protect your pets from ticks and give your pet a thorough check after outdoor activity.
Where are ticks most commonly found?
Ticks are most commonly found in tall grasses, thick brush, marshes, and woods - aka all the fun places to go with your dog (or cat) during the lovely summer months. Ticks do not fly or even jump, for that matter, they can only crawl. Research shows that ticks will hold on to the edge of vegetation and wait for a carrier to brush by. When you or your pet brushes against the plant they are sitting on they will quickly crawl onto them and find a place to bite.
Common places that ticks like to hide on pets are anywhere that is warm or creases. The areas to check right away are the armpits, behind the ears, in the ears, in between their toes, under their tail, around their lips, and in their gums/mouth. Of course, ticks can bite anywhere, and a good thorough check of your pet is the best way to go.
I found a tick on my pet. Now what?
Removing ticks can be tricky because a tick can detach its head and stay in your pet, which can put your pet at risk for Lyme Disease if not removed. The best way to remove a tick is to use fine-point tweezers to avoid tearing the tick and spreading possible infections into the bite area. Spread your pet's fur, then grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible. Very gently, pull straight upward, in a slow, steady motion. The key is to move quickly but cautiously. When ticks are bothered, they will continue to dig into your pets' skin, making it harder for them to be removed. If you have trouble or do not feel confident in removing the tick, seek medical assistance from your veterinarian.
Unfortunately, pets still contract Lyme Disease often regardless of how on top of it we are as pet owners. If that is the case for you, it is okay! You are no less of a pet owner, and you are still a great parent to your pets! The goal of our blogs is to help you all feel more educated on what you can do and what to look out for in your pets. Please note that we are not medical professionals, and all information we have is through credible research through science and supporters who are medical professionals.
If you find a tick on your pet, the following symptoms could occur:
Fever;
Loss of appetite;
Reduced energy;
Lameness (can be shifting, intermittent, or recurring);
Generalized stiffness, discomfort, or pain;
And swelling of the joints.
Here are steps you can take if you find a tick on your pet:
Do not panic. Remove the tick with information from above.
If you are able, consider sending the tick in for testing through IGeneX. You can email customerservice@igenex.com for more information. Your pets' blood test can come back negative for Lyme for the first six weeks after a tick bite, this is a faster way to find out. If the tick tests positive for Lyme, then you know your pet will most likely need treatment.
While waiting, consider giving your dog a homeopathic treatment of New Tick Bites Balance II.
It's crucial to catch Lyme disease in the beginning stages. While it is a serious disease, if caught in time - it can be as simple as a round of antibiotics, supplemented with probiotics and high-quality food.
How can I safely protect my pet from getting ticks?
Preventing ticks and the methods used are everything in keeping your pets safe! Unfortunately, a lot of the popularly advertised brands have adverse reactions that can seriously harm your pet. Pills, chews, and topical ointments/collars can cause severe neurological problems such as seizures. In fact, according to Dogs Naturally Magazine, oral medications seem to be the worst offenders and most dangerous. Oral preventatives include an ingredient that paralyzes and kills ticks. The isoxazolines are being absorbed into your pet's bloodstream, so the same ingredient that paralyzes ticks is being put into our pet's body - how incredibly scary is that? Flea and tick collars also have chemicals that kill ticks, but those chemicals are being absorbed through our pets' skin and are sitting under their nose all day. Worse than that, some of our pets are naughty and eat things they aren't supposed to, like flea and tick collars. Topical preventatives are also absorbed through the skin, can be licked, and can cause severe chemical burns.
Most of the time, it's not about if your pet will have these reactions, it's about when they will have these reactions with fleak & tick medication.
So what prevention brands are best and the safest? Natural sprays have the fewest amount of clean/natural ingredients and are the safest for our pets. Please note that all suggestions have been researched, and most of us at IAATP use these for our pets.
Vets Best Spray or Collar;
Kin + Kind Spray;
Garlic (try adding Grandma Lucy's into your pets' diet during warmer months);
Diatomaceous Earth;
Natures Protection Herbal Internal Powder.
Please always be on the lookout for adverse reactions to any new products you introduce to your pet.
In the end, we all want our pets to be the healthiest possible and live the longest life possible, and we want to help everyones pet stay healthy and happy! The more we study and learn of better avenues, the better their diet, their health, and their overall life will become. Have a topic you'd like us to discuss? Send an email to info@itsallaboutthepaws.org.
Most of this information is researched, read, or learned from; Dr. Karen Becker, Dr. Vivian Grant, Dogs Naturally Magazine, NCBI, AKC and other research articles.
