Do you know what to do if you find a tick on your pet? Pennsylvania is a hotbed for ticks, and these parasites can transmit dangerous diseases to your pet. Our Creature Comforts Veterinary Service team provides tips to help protect your pet from ticks and the diseases they carry.

#1: Learn about the diseases ticks transmit to pets

When a tick attaches to your pet, your furry pal can contract a life-changing health condition. These parasites can transmit many harmful diseases, including:

  • Lymes disease — Borrelia burgdorferi causes Lyme disease, a bacterial infection black-legged ticks transmit. If your pet contracts Lyme disease, they may exhibit signs such as reduced energy, fever, swollen lymph nodes, joint swelling, generalized stiffness, and shifting limb lameness. In some cases, Lyme disease can lead to kidney damage.
  • Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) — Rickettsia rickettsii causes RMSF, a bacterial infection American dog ticks transmit. If your pet contracts RMSF, they may exhibit signs such as poor appetite, muscle or joint pain, fever, coughing, vomiting, diarrhea, and facial swelling. In some cases, clotting disorders can occur, resulting in nosebleeds and unexplained bruising.
  • Ehrlichiosis — Ehrlichia canis causes ehrlichiosis, a bacterial infection lone star and black-legged ticks transmit. In the early stages, signs include fever, swollen lymph nodes, weight loss, and breathing difficulties. If left untreated, your pet’s condition can progress, and they will exhibit signs that include bleeding episodes, anemia, eye abnormalities, and neurologic issues.
  • Anaplasmosis — Anaplasma phagoctyophillum causes anaplasmosis, a bacterial infection black-legged ticks transmit. If your pet contracts anaplasmosis, they may exhibit signs such as fever, lethargy, joint pain, nosebleeds, and unexplained bruising.
  • Babesiosis — Various Babesia species cause babesiosis, a protozoal disease black-legged ticks transmit. If your pet contracts babesiosis, they may exhibit signs such fever, weakness, swollen lymph nodes, and sudden collapse.
  • Tick paralysis — Some female ticks secrete a toxin that can cause ascending paralysis in pets. Affected pets lose the ability to use their hind limbs, and the paralysis progresses to their front limbs, potentially inhibiting their breathing ability.

#2: Provide your pet with year-round tick prevention 

Ticks are hardy creatures, and they are active at temperatures higher than 40 degrees. When looking for a meal, these parasites quest on tall grasses, reaching out their front limbs to grab onto a passing pet’s fur or a human’s clothing. The best way to protect your pet from these parasites is to provide year-round tick prevention. To help make treatment administration convenient, preventive products are available as tasty chews and spot-on applications. Most preventive products also protect your pet from other harmful parasites such as fleas, heartworms, and intestinal worms.

#3: Remember to treat your indoor pet

While pets allowed outdoors have a high tick exposure risk, indoor pets are also susceptible. A tick can easily hitch a ride on your clothing or on the fur of a household pet who goes outdoors, potentially attaching to your indoor pet. Ensure all household pets in your care receive year-round tick prevention.

#4: Check your pet for ticks 

Check your pet daily for ticks. To transmit disease, a tick typically has to remain attached to a mammal for at least 24 hours. Removing the parasite as soon as possible helps prevent disease transmission. Ticks can attach anywhere on your pet’s body, but common locations include:

  • Eyes — Ticks frequently attach around a pet’s eyes and can be mistaken for skin tags. Check any lumps you find for legs.
  • Ears — Ears are a tick’s perfect hiding spot. Check deep in your pet’s ears to ensure a tick isn’t attached in your four-legged friend’s ear canal.
  • Under the collar — Ticks may burrow under your pet’s collar. You may need to remove their collar to find a hidden parasite.
  • Armpits and groin — These vascular areas are inviting to ticks. 
  • Under the tail — Ticks like moist areas, and frequently attach under a pet’s tail.
  • Between the toes — Ticks often take advantage of your pet’s paws being on the ground, attaching between your furry pal’s toes. 

#5: Remove ticks that you find on your pet

If you find a tick attached to your pet, don’t panic. To prevent the parasite from transmitting an infectious disease to your pet, remove the tick as soon as you find it. To remove a tick safely from your pet, follow these steps:

  • Apply alcohol — Apply a cotton ball saturated with isopropyl alcohol to the tick. In some cases, doing so causes the parasite to release.
  • Use tweezers — If the tick doesn’t release after dousing it in isopropyl alcohol, use tweezers to grasp the tick as close as possible to your pet’s skin surface.
  • Pull — Firmly pull until the tick detaches from your pet’s skin. Avoid twisting or crushing the tick, because doing so can cause them to release pathogens.
  • Check — Check the bite to ensure you removed the entire tick. Use the tweezers to remove any remaining embedded tick pieces.
  • Clean — Clean the bite wound using soap and water.
  • Monitor — Monitor your pet for tick-borne illness signs, which can take weeks or months to manifest.

#6: Recognize the ticks species that are harmful to your pet

You should remove all ticks attached to your pet. However, keep in mind that some of these parasite species are more dangerous than others. Learn to recognize the tick species that most commonly transmit diseases to pets:

  • Black-legged tick — Black-legged ticks, which can transmit Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis, and babesiosis, are brown to reddish-orange in color, and have a dark brown to black shield on their back directly behind their head. Their legs are black. 
  • American dog tick — American dog ticks, which can transmit RMSF, are shaped like a flattened oval, and have a brown body, with white or grey markings.
  • Lone star tick — Lone star ticks, which can transmit ehrlichiosis, have a rounded body shape. They are reddish-brown to tan in color, and have a single white spot on their back.

Follow these tips to help protect your pet from ticks and the diseases they carry. If you are concerned your pet has a tick-borne illness, or you would like to discuss your four-legged friend’s preventive product options, contact our Creature Comforts Veterinary Service team.