Everything You Need to Know to Protect Your Pets From Ticks This Season

Ticks are parasitic arachnids belonging to the mite superorder Parasitiformes. They can be divided into hard ticks (Ixodidae) and soft ticks (Argasidae). These creatures may be small (around the size of an apple seed with six legs), but they present a significant threat to the health of humans and pets. Dogs and cats can act as their hosts, providing somewhere for them to live and feed. As ticks attach themselves to your pet’s body and feed on their blood, they can transmit dangerous pathogens. Here we will explore the dangers ticks pose to dogs and cats and detail what you can do to keep your pets safe.

Where and When Do Ticks Pose a Risk to Pets?

There are hundreds of species of ticks, but only a fraction of them bite and transmit diseases to cats and dogs. However, disease transmission is a complicated process and is controlled by several factors. Just because ticks are found in a particular area does not mean that they transmit disease there.

Your pet is most likely to be exposed to American dog ticks (Dermacentor variabilis), Rocky Mountain wood ticks (Dermacentor andersoni), and Gulf Coast ticks (Amblyomma maculatum) in tall, grassy meadows, open woods, hiking trails, and open fields in agricultural areas.

In arid areas west of the Mississippi, particularly in the south central and southwestern United States, your pet is more likely to encounter the spinose ear tick (Otobius megnini).

Understory or leaf litter in natural wooded areas with a lot of wildlife is commonly home to the Lone Star tick (Amblyomma americanum), deer ticks or black-legged ticks (Ixodes scapularis), and Western black-legged ticks (Ixodes pacificus).

Areas inside and around homes and kennels can be infested by the brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus). The invasive Asian longhorned tick (Haemaphysalis longicornis) has also now been recognized in the U.S.

Local conditions and tick species also influence the time of year when the risk of your pet getting bitten is highest. For example, many ticks prefer warmer conditions, but the brown dog tick can live in cooler regions of North America, such as Canada and Alaska. While many ticks are most active in warmer months, tick activity can now occur year-round in many regions of the U.S. as long as temperatures remain above freezing, due to milder winters and climate change

How Do Ticks Pose a Danger to Dogs and Cats?

Ticks attach themselves to dogs and cats (who act as hosts) as they brush past them in vegetation. After wandering around the body for a few hours to find a suitable place to feed, the ticks use their chelicerae (special mouthparts) to cut through the skin. Then, they insert their hypostome (feeding tube) into the wound and feed on the blood until they are full. A full tick usually releases its grip and falls off, so they are only attached for a few days. However, attachment can last up to two weeks.

When the ticks initially latch on, there is no discomfort. This is because the tick also deposits saliva into the wound, which numbs it. Tick saliva contains several immunomodulatory proteins that protect the tick from the host’s immune system as it feeds. Unfortunately for the host, the saliva can also contain some very nasty pathogens.

Which Dogs and Cats Are Most at Risk?

Ticks can be found anywhere, but your pet is more likely to encounter them in forests, meadows, parks, and gardens. You may think that indoor cats and dogs who rarely go outside are at less risk. Sadly, this is not the case. Ticks are able to hitch a ride into your home on clothing or even on other pets. Therefore, all cat and dog owners need to be alert to the dangers.

Health Risks Presented by Ticks

Direct Health Issues Associated With Ticks

The area around the tick bite can become irritated. In severe cases, this can cause anemia from blood loss or secondary infections that can trigger sepsis. Animals can become infested with a large number of Asian longhorned ticks in particular, making these complications more likely.

In some animals, localized inflammation and allergic hypersensitivity can lead to tick-borne toxicoses. One form of this condition is tick paralysis, and in the U.S. this is most often associated with American dog ticks and Gulf Coast ticks.

Pathogens Transmitted by Ticks

The transmission of a certain pathogen is often limited to a particular species or genus of tick. For example, only members of the genus Ixodes are known to reliably transmit Lyme disease. However, there has been some cross-over in transmission between tick species in recent years, so increasingly all hard tick species are considered potential vectors.

The diseases that can potentially be transmitted by ticks to dogs include:

• Ehrlichia
• Rickettsiosis
• Tularemia
• Lyme disease
• Anaplasma
• Babesia
• Bartonella
• Rocky Mountain spotted fever
• Hepatozoonosis
• American canine Hepatozoonosis

The risks in cats are different. They are resistant to the bacteria causing Lyme disease and rarely show signs of the disease. Of more concern in felines are hemobartonellosis, cytauxzoonosis, and tularemia.

Checking Your Pet for Ticks

Prevention is always better than a cure when it comes to tick-borne health issues. This requires you to be vigilant and to regularly check your pet for ticks. Prompt tick removal is important because the longer a tick remains attached to your pet, the more saliva it injects. This leads to a higher risk of exposure to pathogens and/or toxins.

The best time to check cats is when they come for their dinner in the evening. Dogs should be checked after walks in outdoor spaces that would likely be home to ticks — brushy areas with tall grass.

As you run your hands along your pet’s body, you will feel a tick as a small, hard lump under their fur. If you feel something, you can part the fur to investigate further. In dogs, ticks are most often found on their head and ears, toes, tail, groin, eyelids, under their collar, and under their forelimbs (armpits). They prefer areas that are moist and dark, and where they are less likely to be disturbed. In cats, they tend to attach themselves to the head, neck, ears, and feet.

Removal of Ticks

The feeding tube anchors the tick to the body, which makes them tricky to remove. However, you do not have to get a vet to remove the tick for you; most owners can do it themselves. The MSD Veterinary Manual advises that even though you can purchase special tick removal devices, a pair of fine-tipped tweezers will do the job just as well.

Use the tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the surface of your pet’s skin as you can. Then, pull upwards steadily and evenly. Dispose of the removed tick by crushing it to kill it, making sure it will not reattach itself to another pet or you.

Finally, thoroughly clean the wound and your hands with rubbing alcohol, an iodine scrub, or soap and water.

It is now important that you keep a close eye on your pet for any changes in their health or behavior that could indicate that they have caught one of the tick-borne diseases detailed above. If you have any concerns, you should contact your vet right away.

What Not to Do About a Tick on Your Pet

You may have read that painting ticks with petroleum jelly, alcohol or even nail polish will irritate the tick and make it release its grip. These substances do not cause the tick to let go and, conversely, will probably make it pump even more disease-carrying saliva into your pet. The same goes for trying to burn them off with a match or lighter.

Tick Prevention in Cats and Dogs

Awareness of the tick species and the diseases they can carry in the area where you live or are visiting with your pets is very important. The Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC) has created an interactive map that is regularly updated.  

You cannot use human tick repellent on your dog or cat, as these chemicals are toxic if ingested. Instead, speak to your vet about the most appropriate topical medication and tick collars. These will not prevent tick-borne diseases, but will put ticks off crawling onto and biting your pet.