You make tremendous efforts to make sure that your pooch is healthy and happy. From regular health checkups to the regular administration of preventives and vaccines you try to accomplish each and every responsibility as a caring pet parent. Needless to say, you fairly succeed in that but even after all your efforts, there are some parasites that can latch themselves on your beloved pal’s body whenever he/she is outside in the garden or holidaying with you in the woods.
Ticks
Ticks are one such type of parasites (also called as arachnids). There are many types of ticks but the ticks that can trouble your dog are- American Dog Tick (Dermacentor Variabilis),Eastern Blacklegged Tick/Deer Tick (Ixodes Scapularis),Brown Dog Tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus),Gulf Coast Tick, (Amblyomma Maculatum),Lone Star Tick (Amblyomma americanum),Rocky Mountain Wood Tick (Dermacentor andersoni),Western Blacklegged Tick(Ixodes Pacificus), and Soft Ticks(Ornithodoros).
These blood-sucking Ectoparasites (especially hard ticks) wait on the leaves, grass, tall bushes and woods to infest your dog when he/she passes through those areas and gets in contact with those leaves. The whole process of waiting for a host is called Questing. However, soft ticks crawl several feet to infest their host. Once they are on your dog’s skin they insert their jagged mouthparts into your dog’s skin and start feeding on blood and skin tissues. The feeding is so smartly done that your pooch doesn’t even come to know that ticks are sucking up his/her blood.
Surprised? Or Shocked? You might be thinking that how do they do that? And if that’s the case how am I going to find out that ticks are harming my dog’s health? Well, don’t worry much because you can find out these ticks red-handed, sorry, red-mouthed. How? Below you will find the answers to all such type of questions arising in your mind.
[Read] Know About Ticks On Your Dog!
How Does A Tick Feed On My Dog And My Dog Doesn’t Even Come To Know?
Ticks are blessed with some very helpful fluids in their body that support them to numb the feeding area, dissolve the small skin tissues to feed and also remain glued to the skin.
Numbing fluid helps ticks to numb the part of the skin, as a result, your dog doesn’t even feel anything neither the pain or irritation when they insert their sharp mouthparts.
The solvent sort of fluid dissolves the skin tissues and converts them into a liquid so that ticks can slurp that soup like liquid.
And, the glue-like fluid keeps them glued to the skin and cause issues in your pooch’s health.
Then Why Does My Dog Has Irritation On Skin?
As described the numbing fluid only numbs the skin for that moment but after the feeding is done the skin will show a reaction to these actions because of which your dog will suffer irritation. Moreover, the skin fluids and tissues are getting damaged because ticks feed on them hence the body reacts to all the damages.
How To Check For Ticks And Tick Bites On Dogs?
Ticks are tiny but still can be seen through naked eyes, the task to track down these creeps gets trickier because they are hidden in the fur of your dog. Hence, they are not visible to naked eyes. The best way to find them is to feel your dog’s body, you can feel the ticks if present on the skin. Also, the part of the skin infected by ticks will be red.
Symptoms Of A Tick Bite On A Dog
Your dog can show symptoms like sudden blood loss, anemia, skin irritations, redness, infections, and vomiting in some cases. However, depending on the type of tick that has bitten your dog, the symptoms can differ. Be very careful because ticks are capable of transmitting some dangerous diseases that can take you and your dog for a ride. Some of the diseases that can be passed by the ticks are
- American Canine Hepatozoonosis
- Anaplasmosis
- Babesiosis
- Tularemia
- Haemobartonellosis
- Tick Paralysis
- Rocky Mountain spotted fever
- Lyme Disease
What Should I Do If I Spot A Tick?
Whenever you spot a tick don’t pluck it with your bare hands because it can leave their mouth part embedded in the skin, resulting in several infections. Always use tweezers to hold the tick’s mouthpart, as a result, it loosens the grip on the skin, making it easy and safe to remove them. You can also apply alcohol on that area so that the mouthparts leave the skin and the removal becomes easy.
Having a knowledge of the DOs and DONTs of Removing Ticks from Your Dog is strongly preferred by the vets
Preventing and Treating Ticks
Preventing and treating ticks is very easy nowadays you just have to administer monthly flea and tick treatments like- Frontline Plus, K9 Advantix, Bayopet kiltix collar, Preventic tick collar and Effipro duo spot-on whichever suits you, your pooch and your pocket. These treatments will help you to keep ticks and even fleas at bay.
Also, make sure that your surroundings, especially your garden and house are flea and tick free so that there are very fewer chances of flea and tick infestation on your dog.