Can your dog live with ticks?

Dog is a part of your household. Whatever happens to your pet’s health will be of immediate concern to you. Just as a baby could not express himself through words,his mother will understand how the baby feels. A baby expresses happiness through smile or pleasant look, discomfort through crying. A mother must be cautious to understand the language of her baby. A dog owner is expected to have grown intimacy with his pet to this level,the relationship of a mother and her baby. So, your dog must be properly cared for against parasites.

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There are external parasites that pass diseases to your dog.one out of many are ticks.

Ticks are spider-like,egg-shaped, blood sucking parasites that attach themselves to the skin of your dog firmly. They are commonly found around the head,neck,ear,furs,paws and backline of your dog. In the case of infestation, ticks are found all over your dog’s body. Initially, they are very tiny, they can live over three years when they have sucked enough blood, and can become as big as the size of a bean when it had sucked enough blood.

Ticks are common, they live in the grassland and woodland. They stay on the top level of grasses and clinched  to their host animal when they feel body warmth. Ticks are usually found in an environment where you keep a good garden, or log of wood in the compound. Ticks carry diseases from one animal to another. They  transmit diseases such as Lyme disease and babesiosis.

Lyme disease is a serious bacteria disease infection. When a dog has lyme disease, it will give symptoms of depression, loss of appetite, fever, lameness, swollen and lymph nodes.

Babesiosis can be spread by tick bites. It is deadlier, an infected dog may die within some days, it’s symptoms are depression, pale gums, swollen abdomen, fever, loss of appetite and yellowish skin. When the disease is transmitted, it may be hidden in some dogs body system until after a year, early diagnosis may not reveal this symptoms. A dog that is infected through ticks is best treated by a vetenarian.

Many dog owners do not take the issue of ticks seriously, they overlooked it , until their dogs got heavily infested, which may be difficult to treat at that stage, infection has become chronic and your dog is highly weak, response to treatment may be slow or irresponsive, it may lead to the death of your dog.

Treatment of dog that is infested is expensive, the best way is to prevent ticks from your pet.

The rate at which female ticks reproduce is very high. Generally, adult female ticks lay several thousand of eggs at a time,  they hatch into larva and transform into seed ticks of about 1/8 inch in size, having six legs at that stage, eight legs when it becomes an adult. Presence of just two ticks on your dog’s furs could multiply into thousand in few months, and your pet becomes infected and infested.

Research revealed that more than ten thousand dogs are infected by ticks each year, more than five hundred are critically ill and die each year due to ticks infestation.

When your pet is infested, the best thing to do is to consult your vet for her to be treated. However, dog owners may remove ticks from their pet in the following ways; search your dog’s body at regular interval to look out for ticks, carefully twist it off the dog’s skin, do not pull in a sudden way, ticks usually stuck their heads in the host animal, sudden removal may break the tick and blood expels in your dog’s body which can cause infection for your dog, disinfect the bite immediately. Visit your vet to determine which pills are available for ticks control. Oral medication could be given to your dog when you seek for your vet’s advice. Bathe your dog every two weeks with medicated shampoo, especially the one that is made to kill ticks until they all disappear. Spot on (pour on) treatment is also very efficient for controlling ticks, it must be applied carefully, it must be put on your dog’s line from the head point to the tail, be careful in choosing spot on treatment to use, read the instructions and apply as instructed.,it has high tendency to kill your dog when she lick it. Tick dip is also as dangerous as spot on treatment, it is a solution which should be mixed with water and applied to the dog’s fur with a sponge or pour it on her body, leave for a while until it dried up. Ticks dip is Very strong and dangerous, it could kill your pet, if it is wrongly applied, therefore, strict adherence to instructions is important. Ticks dip is not suitable for dogs under four months, pregnant dogs and nursing dogs.

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Your dog’s skin may react negatively to chemicals. Therefore, home made remedy may be suitable to  control ticks; juice extracted from a fresh orange or lemon can be rubbed onto your dog’s body, it repels ticks. If your pet react negatively to it, discontinue its use immediately. Dip your dog in a tub of water, wash and brush her body thoroughly to ward off ticks. Clean your dog’s kennel everyday,fumigate it and the whole compound at least, once in every three months.

It is very important that dog owners are careful while removing ticks from their pet, ticks can bite  and transmit diseases into human body.

Your dog’s vet is at your service to recommend suitable chemicals for fumigation.

Ticks that are removed from your dog’s through any means should be put inside a bottle with alcohol or spirit and cocked off for three to five days. It must not be burnt but properly disposed.

Like I said earlier, the best way to control ticks is to prevent it. Each time you take a walk with your dog, always check out for ticks and brush her furs thoroughly. Dogs naturally attract ticks because of their body temperature. Do not wait until you find a tick in your dog’s or kennel before you fumigate. And do not forget, always wash your hands with disinfectant whenever you have contacted with your pet.

Johnson Obadare Ayadi.

[email protected].