How to Deal with Ticks on Dogs: A Comprehensive Guide and Experience Sharing

How to Deal with Ticks on Dogs: A Comprehensive Guide and Experience Sharing

As a dog lover, we all want our dogs to live a healthy and happy life. However, in daily life, dogs may be affected by various parasites, among which ticks are a common parasite. They not only bring itching, pain, and other troubles to dogs but also may spread diseases, threatening dogs' health. Therefore, understanding the characteristics of ticks and mastering effective control methods are crucial.

I. Types and Hazards of Ticks

Ticks, commonly known as grasshoppers, dog beans, ticks, and flat ticks, are common external parasites in dogs. They usually live in environments such as grasslands, bushes, and forests, and they live by attaching themselves to dogs and sucking blood. Common types of ticks that parasitize dogs include: Ixodes ricinus, Haemaphysalis longicornis, Dermacentor marginatus, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, and Amblyomma americanum.

The harm of ticks mainly manifests in the following aspects:

Cause itching, pain, inflammation and hyperkeratosis: When ticks bite dogs, they release anesthetics, so dogs may not have obvious feelings at first. However, as ticks feed on blood, dogs will feel itchy, painful, and may develop local redness, inflammation, and even hyperkeratosis.
Lead to anemia, emaciation and developmental retardation: A female tick can suck up to 0.4 ml of blood each time, and if a large number of ticks parasitize dogs, it can cause serious blood loss, leading to anemia, emaciation and even developmental retardation.
Spread diseases: Ticks are vectors for many infectious diseases, such as Lyme disease, babesiosis, and forest encephalitis. Infected ticks bite dogs and may transmit pathogens to dogs, causing dogs to become ill.
Cause hind limb paralysis and pacing: Ticks bite the hind limbs or toes of dogs, which may cause neurotoxin poisoning, leading to hind limb paralysis or pacing.

II. Causes and Symptoms of Tick Parasitism

The causes of tick parasitism are mainly related to the range of activities and living environment of dogs:

Outdoor activities: Dogs are more likely to come into contact with ticks when they are active in grasslands, bushes, and forests.
Contact with other pets: Dogs may also be infected with ticks when they come into contact with other pets.
Environmental hygiene: If the dogs' living environment is in poor condition, they are more likely to breed ticks.

Common symptoms of dogs infected with ticks include:

Frequent scratching: Dogs feel itchy and will frequently scratch the affected area.
Restlessness: Dogs feel uncomfortable and become restless.
Local redness: The area where the dog is bitten by the tick will show redness and inflammation.
Anemia and emaciation: If the number of ticks parasitizing is large, dogs may develop anemia and emaciation.
Hind limb paralysis: In some cases, ticks biting the hind limbs may cause hind limb paralysis.
Pacing: Ticks biting the toes may cause pacing.

III. Tick Control Measures

To prevent and treat tick parasitism, we can take the following measures:

1. Worming prevention

Use anti-tick drugs: There are various anti-tick drugs on the market, such as drops, sprays, and oral drugs, which can effectively prevent tick parasitism. When choosing anti-tick drugs, you should consult a veterinarian and choose appropriate anti-tick products based on the dog's breed, age, weight, etc.
Regular deworming: The effect of anti-tick drugs has a certain time effect, it is recommended to deworm regularly, generally it is recommended to deworm once a month.
Choose the right deworming time: The peak season for tick activity is usually in spring and autumn, it is recommended to strengthen deworming prevention in these two seasons.

2. Environmental control

Keep the kennel clean: Regularly clean the kennel and keep it dry and ventilated to prevent the breeding of ticks.
Remove weeds from the lawn: If your dog often plays on the lawn, you should regularly remove the weeds on the lawn to reduce the hiding place of ticks.
Avoid taking dogs to high-risk areas: Avoid taking dogs to high-risk areas such as grasslands, bushes, and forests to reduce the chance of dogs coming into contact with ticks.

3. Timely handling of ticks

Catch with hands: If you find ticks on your dog, you can catch them with your hands. When catching, you should wear gloves to avoid being bitten by ticks.
Use tools: You can also use professional tick removal tools to remove ticks from your dog.
Kill ticks: After removing ticks, you should put them in alcohol or boiling water to kill them to prevent ticks from continuing to breed.

4. Seek medical attention for abnormalities

If you find ticks on your dog, you should deal with them in time to avoid ticks biting for too long, leading to serious consequences.
If your dog has any unusual symptoms, such as severe itching, redness, fever, lethargy, loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, etc., you should take your dog to the veterinarian immediately for timely treatment.

IV. Experience Summary

Regular deworming, prevention is better than cure.
If you find ticks, deal with them in time to prevent them from sucking blood for too long, leading to serious consequences.
Observe your dog's health, seek medical attention for abnormalities, and avoid delaying treatment.
Tick control needs to be long-term and persistent, and should not be neglected.

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