Keeping Your Pet Tick Free

Everyone knows that ticks are pesky and can make a pet's life miserable. But, how much do you really know about ticks? In order to know how to prevent a tick infestation and to keep your pet healthy and free from these parasites, it is a good idea to learn more about the life cycle of ticks as well as how the parasites transmit disease.

The Tick Life Cycle

Ticks go through four different stages during their life cycle. These include:

o Egg

o Larva

o Nymph

o Adult

It only takes a tick two months to complete all four of these stages.

During the larvae, nymph and adult stages, ticks feed on the blood of its host. In order to find a host, the tick uses heat sensors. When a warm object moves past the tick, it attaches to the object by clinging to its fur or clothing. Or, the tick may fall from trees onto the host object.

After choosing its host, the tick moves to an area on its body that does not have a great deal of hair. This way, the hair does not get in the way of the feeding process. This is why you will most commonly find ticks on the eyes and lips of your pet.

After the tick finishes feeding, it falls from its host. Ticks do not lay eggs on their host but rather in a woodland environment. Female ticks can lay up to 22,000 eggs in a single egg-laying event.

Ticks and Diseases

When a tick feeds, it inserts its pincher-like mouthparts into the animal's skin. These mouthparts are able to lock into place and only come loose when the tick is done feeding. This is why ticks can be so difficult to remove once they have attached to your pet.

Unfortunately, ticks are excellent transmitters of a variety of diseases. Those ticks that are in the Ixodidae family are responsible for the majority of disease transfer, with the American dog tick and the brown dog tick being the most common. The diseases transmitted by these ticks include Lyme disease, ehrlichia and cytauxzoon.

Although the majority of tick bites do not involve the transmission of disease, it is still important to check your pet on a regular basis and to remove any ticks that you may find. The sooner you remove the tick, the less likely it will transmit disease to your pet.

It is particularly important to check your pets if they have recently spent time in an area that could be infested with ticks, such as after taking a walk in the woods. Even if you are using tick prevention medication, your pet is still susceptible to tick bites. In fact, the ideal method for tick bite prevention is to combine the use of preventative medication and to simply avoid spending time in areas where ticks are prevalent. You should also discuss prevention methods with your veterinarian in order to make certain the techniques you use are appropriate for your pet.

CS Swarens is the CEO of Find a Pet Online. 800 998-7065

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