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Eleven
Ticks
A parasite
is, as the dictionary describes it, an organism that
grows, feeds, and is sheltered on or in a different
organism while contributing nothing to the survival
of its host. The most common type of parasite encountered
by the dog owner in Cyprus is the Tick. Given preventative
treatment or caught early enough these parasites will
be of little cause for concern but if left they can
have very serious and expensive consequences.
A young pointer
was brought into the kennels after being caught as
a stray, it was, as can be seen in the accompanying
photograph, infested with ticks. In fact I estimated
that it had over a thousand all over its body, obviously
an extreme case but the fact remains that it did happen.
The young
female tick sits in thick undergrowth waiting for
a host to brush by, whether that is a sheep, deer
or your dog. Once on the host it crawls to a warm
area with blood vessels close to the surface, this
is usually around the head, neck and ears. However
I have found ticks under the legs, in the groin area
and even attached to the anus. It will then bury its
head into the hosts skin and start to feed from the
blood, at this point the tick can be not much bigger
than a pin head and reddish brown in colour. It will
then gorge itself until it is the size of a pea and
grey in colour, it will now drop off and crawl away
to lay its young and so the process continues.
If the tick
should drop off in the dogs kennel or in our house
it will crawl into any crack or crevices and lay its
eggs there so when the eggs hatch the young are ready
to use your dog again. In most cases the tick will
go unnoticed and be of no real concern to the dog,
in fact the dog is at more risk from the ticks incorrect
removal than it is from the tick itself. The head
of the tick is held in place with very sharp and strong
pincer-like mouthparts under the skin, if the body
is removed and the head left behind then there is
a very high risk of infection and an abscess forming.
The most common method of tick removal I hear spoken
of is to use a lit cigarette on it, this is not a
method I would ever use or suggest should be used.
Not only do you risk injuring the dog inadvertently
but also it cannot be confirmed that the head has
been removed.
Safer and
simple methods include using cotton wool soaked in
surgical spirit and held over the tick, this makes
it loosen its grip and has the added advantage of
cleansing the area. Small tweezer like devices are
now available from most veterinary surgeons, both
inexpensive and effective they pull the tick out cleanly.
Having removed
hundreds of ticks and used various devices and methods
I still find the easiest and most effective is to
grip the tick as close to its head as possible with
the nails of my thumb and forefinger and whilst twisting
to make it relax its mouthparts, give it a sharp pull.
Check that the tick is whole and then apply extreme
pressure to dispose of it, I find a size 8 boot is
very effective at this point, a word of warning do
not use the kitchen floor your spouse may not appreciate
the new tile design.
Having said
all this about ticks I can hear some of you already
asking about Lymes disease (Borreliosis), whilst I
am no expert I will briefly cover this tick borne
disease. Lyme disease is carried by ticks and can
be transmitted to dogs, cats, horses, cows, wild animals
and even humans when the tick bites. Symptoms of Lymes
disease include lameness caused by arthritis, fever,
poor appetite and fatigue. Of course if your dog is
ill you must seek veterinary advice. Treatment with
antibiotics is usually effective. As the tick does
not transmit the disease immediately upon biting the
host, however, the best form of cure is prevention,
removal of the tick or use of preventative repellents
is very effective. But before you all make an appointment
to see the vet be aware that Lymes disease is very
rare particularly in Cyprus.
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This article
was written by Paul C Bunker, a professional dog trainer.
You can visit the website at www.Southwestk9services.com for more articles and
dog training resources. You may freely distribute
this article or save to any electronic media as long
as it is left intact, including this copyright box.
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