Creepy crawling.
There aren't many things that evoke as visceral a response in pet owners as finding a tick on their dog or cat. The same pet owners that ignore me when we talk about treating diseases such as arthritis, dry eye or allergies will rush right in to have one of our staff members remove a tick. Sure, ticks spread disease but then so don't fleas and mosquitos. All three types of parasite take blood meals but maybe it's that ticks shove their heads right in and attach for a long period of time to take their meal that creeps us out. Also we seem to have a natural aversion to anything with eight legs.
Here in New England we have recognized and reported four different species of tick. All four species have similar life cycles and behavior patterns. Many of them carry the same diseases but the one unifying theme is that all species of tick are vectors for one disease or another. Let's go over the ticks that we see here in New England. The photos are of females. Females are the ones that take really large blood meals and as a result spread disease.
Ixodes scapularis (Black legged tick, deer tick) the most common tick in New england. This tick carries both Lyme disease and anaplasma. It is the only vector in New England to carry Lyme disease.
Dermacentor variabilis (Wood tick, American dog tick) this is the second most common tick in New England. It does not carry Lyme disease. It can however, carry Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever which in many cases can be more serious than Lyme disease at least in the short term.
Amblyoma americanum (Lonestar tick) This tick is more common in the Southwest, hence the name, but has recently migrated as far north as Southern Maine and there have even been a few reports in Canada. The Lonestar tick can carry Ehrilichia, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and southern tick rash.
Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Brown Dog Tick) this is a rare tick in New England and it's a good thing too. This tick is a predatory tick meaning that it actively hunts out hosts rather than patiently waiting as the other three do. It can carry ehrlichia.
If you do find a tick on your dog be sure to get a grip on the tick at the bottom and remove it in a clean quick motion. Many of the raw hot spots we treat every year are probably due to improperly removed ticks (most commonly ticks are removed by the dog) here is a video illustrating how to remove a tick.
Next week I plan to spend a fair amount of time on tick control and prevention and the week after that we will go over everything we currently know about lyme disease. (It's not as much as you'd hope)
The following links have some well organized and easy to understand information about ticks and their effects on our pet's (and our) lives.
I am glad to see that Lyme Disease is being addressed. It is more serious than some people think. I live along the coast in RI - and have Lyme Disease. We need to learn more about it as it can kill. I am an "original" VT'er and know now that what I had found years ago on my Rottweiler while living up there - WAS indeed a tick ! The vet dismissed is a "old age growth".
Posted by: Carol McArthur | 07/03/2011 at 02:13 PM