Overview: Ticks and Your Pet

Dog Breeds

Ticks are technically a type of mite, and they are in the scientific class of arachnids. Arachnids also includes spiders, scorpions, and other types of mites. Ticks survive by latching onto their mammal hosts and ingesting the mammal’s blood. If a tick is carrying a blood parasite, they may pass the parasite onto their host during their attachment time.

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Definition

Ticks are ectoparasites that feed only on the blood of their hosts. They are arthropods closely related to mites, scorpions and spiders. Both soft ticks (argasids) and hard ticks (ixodids) can feed on the blood of dogs, although ixodid ticks are more common.

How Ticks Affect Dogs

There is no breed, age or gender predisposition to tick infestation. Affected dogs may show no signs or may exhibit signs of irritation at the bite site including redness, inflammation, chewing, scratching and self-trauma. Many tick species have adapted to suppress the host animal’s response, making their bites relatively painless. The more serious effects of tick bites are systemic illness from tick-borne infectious microorganisms, hypersensitivity reactions, neurotoxins in tick saliva that cause “tick paralysis” and anemia from blood loss.

Causes of Tick Infestation of Dogs

Dogs pick up ticks from the environment and less frequently from other animals. Different ticks live in different geographical areas. Ticks tend to be attracted to dogs by warmth, physical contact and odors, among other things.

Preventing Ticks Infestation of Dogs

There are a number of commercial topical preventatives that are quite effective in managing ticks in companion dogs. Your veterinarian can recommend these products to you. Of course, avoiding outdoor areas that harbor ticks is an excellent way to reduce the risk of infection. Certain vaccines are available for some diseases caused by tick-born organisms, such as Lyme’s disease.

Special Notes

Ticks can parasitize many mammals, including people. They should be physically removed from affected animals as quickly as possible. The so-called “tick feeding cavity” should be cleaned with soap and water, or other solutions as recommended by your veterinarian, to reduce the risk of local inflammation and infection. The prognosis for dogs that have been parasitized by ticks is very good, so long as effective measures are taken to prevent re-exposure and re-infection.

Diseases Carried by Ticks