Sign up for our newsletter
Useful Cyprus Information Cyprus Government Websites Currency Converter Cyprus Property News Limassol Marina CyprusNewsReport.comCyprus Pets - Ticks, the facts you should know about them
Information for Cyprus Expats on ticks and how they affect your dog
Any dog owner dreads the idea of ticks on their dogs and I for one do an involuntary shudder whenever I think about one. To me they’re the most pointless horrible little creatures on God’s green earth. But it’s also incredibly important that we know about them and the damage they can do to our beloved animals because they can transmit diseases and even cause anemia or paralysis in serious cases.
Here’s the technical bit, taken from the www.dogs.about.com website: Ticks are parasitic arthropods that feed on the blood of their hosts. They are attracted to warmth and motion, often seeking out mammals – including dogs. Ticks tend to hide out in tall grass or plants in wooded areas waiting for prospective hosts. Once a host is found, the tick climbs on and attaches its mouthparts into the skin, beginning the blood meal. Once locked in place, the tick will not detach until its meal is complete. It may continue to feed for several hours to days, depending on the type of tick. On dogs, ticks often attach themselves in crevices and/or areas with little to no hair – typically in and around the ears, the areas where the insides of the legs meet the body, between the toes, and within skin folds. Most species of ticks go through four life stages - eggs, larvae, nymphs, and adults. All stages beyond eggs will attach to a host for a blood meal (and must do so on order to mature). Depending on species, the life span of a tick can be several months to years, and female adults can lay hundreds to thousands of eggs at a time.
To be fair, most of us don’t care about the whys and wherefores, we just want to know what to do when this happens. With pet dogs a tick will usually be discovered and removed fairly quickly so the risk of disease is massively reduced from, say, a dog that’s been found stray and roaming and covered in them. However, below are some symptoms to look for in tick-borne diseases:
- Lethargy
- Fever
- Weakness
- Lameness
- Joint swelling
- Anemia
Obviously the best way to deal with any complications or illness with tick infestations is to prevent the possibility of ticks even attaching themselves to your dog by using one of several products on the market, such as Frontline or Advantix spot on or a Scalibor collar or tick & flea collar, which are all available from any vet in Cyprus.
However, these aren’t always fool proof, especially in the middle of summer and occasionally a rogue tick will still attach itself. The thing to do here is to remove it without leaving the tick’s head embedded in your dog, as this can cause complications. Some ideas for removing the tick safely and entirely are:
- A specialist tick removal tool (available from most vets & on line)
- Tweezers (make sure you get hold of the tick as close to your dog’s skin as possible and never squeeze the body)
- Soak a cotton wool pad in clear alcohol such as vodka and basically drench the tick in it. The tick will turn grey and drop off in a matter of hours.
There were also a couple of suggestions that I came across in my research but I’ve not tried them so don’t know if they work. They were to rub salt onto the tick and to put Vaseline round the head of the tick, where it’s embedded into your dog. Let me know if you try them and they work!
The best way of course is to prevent the problem by using one of the above preventative products but the important thing to remember is to regularly check your animal for ticks and to remove them as quickly and safely as possible.
© Lindsay Cowie website
More Cyprus Information
Procedures To Take If Your Pet Has Been Poisoned Separation Anxiety
Cyprus Pets - Is your dog legal in Cyprus?
Useful Cyprus Information Cyprus Expat Advice Team
Cyprus Business Directory Jobs Cyprus Property Listings
Cyprus Marketplace Classified Ads Transaltion Service
Legal Services Cyprus Hotels Cyprus Car Hire CyprusNews
Cyprus Photos Foreign Exchange Online Shopping Moving To Cyprus
UK Business Directory UK Property Listings Foreign Exchange
Tags cyprus expat expats moving to cyprus cyprus information dogs expats in cyprus dog ticks removing ticks healthy dogs dog tips
