Pet Safety & Wellness

September Is Dog Tick Season

What you need to know about cat and dog ticks

Cat and dog ticks have a serious gross-out factor. They are, essentially, blood-sucking parasites that feed off warm-blooded animals and they have a particular preference for dogs. So, it can be helpful to take a step back from the unpleasant aspects of a tick, and learn just a little about their biology. Knowing a little something about their organism and feeding habits is also helpful when you need to remove one—but we’ll get to that.

Ticks are parasitic arachnids, and for our intents and purposes, this means they have eight legs and that they live on the blood and tissue of their host animal. They live in wooded and grassy areas and hang out on the edge of leaves, twigs, and grasses, so that they can drop on a potential host as it passes nearby. They do not jump or fly. (*Please note that deer trails and human hiking trails are favorite stalking grounds for common dog tick species.) Once a tick lands on its potential host it will try to travel to a warm, dark crevice to attach and feed—think armpits, ears, and belly folds. A tick attaches to its host via its mandibles (jaw) and inserts a feeding tube directly into the superficial capillaries of the host organism. Because they attach with their head and jaw they tend to burrow slightly beneath the skin, and it is vitally important to make sure the tick head is removed with the tick body to prevent additional infection and discomfort. We’ll cover the best ways to remove a tick to ensure the head and body are removed simultaneously.

The dangers of common American deer and dog ticks

Beyond being a parasite, a tick has many other bad-news features for dogs and cats. Namely, these bugs carry disease, dangerous diseases that cause serious illness and sometimes death for any kind of host, humans included. One of the big disease threats your dog or cat may be susceptible to is Lyme disease.

Lyme disease is caused by a bacteria carried by the American deer tick. The bacteria are transferred to the host during the bite and work their way through the host’s system. Not all American deer ticks carry the particular bacteria responsible for Lyme disease. However, if your dog or cat has been bitten by ticks you should keep a close eye on your pet for symptoms of the disease. The disease manifests in both dogs and cats with the same initial symptoms:

Fever
Lethargy
Loss of appetite
Joint pain

If you notice your dog or cat has been exhibiting these signs, take him to the vet immediately. The sooner your pet starts antibiotic treatment, the better his odds are of overcoming the disease with the least amount of complications. Also, talk to your vet about getting a Lyme disease vaccination to preemptively protect your dog from infection.

Another dangerous tick disease that dog owners should pay particular attention to is Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. This harmful disease is carried by the American dog tick and is a serious danger to dogs and humans. Keep a close eye on your dog after you have removed a tick from his body and watch out for the same symptoms associated with Lyme disease. Do not hesitate to get your sick pooch to the vet if you suspect a tick-borne infection.

Checking your dog or cat for ticks

There is a similar protocol for checking both your cat and dog for ticks, but we all know cats can be a little more challenging when it comes to sitting through any kind of examination. So, to get started checking for cat ticks you may want to start by petting your cat to get her comfortable and relaxed. This way, she’ll release her muscles and you can better manipulate her limbs to check in sensitive places, like armpits, where ticks love to hang out.

Put on a pair of latex gloves. Humans are susceptible to infection from tick diseases, and taking this precaution helps protect you from illness.
Feel for small bumps and ridges all over your pet’s coat. Typically, you will first recognize a tick through touch. They are small, round, and smooth and most species have a hard exterior.
Examine the crevices between skin folds especially under the arms and legs of your pet. Ticks love a warm, dark place to hide out and are likely to be burrowed into these places on your pet’s body. Also, don’t forget the area in and around their ears!
Pull back the fur around a suspicious area to inspect. Depending on the length and thickness of your pet’s fur you may have to go to more trouble to part the hair so you can see your pet’s skin underneath. Short-hair dogs and cats are often the easiest pets to check.

Be thorough with your inspection. This may mean that you have to get out a fine-tooth comb and go over every inch of your pet’s wiry and thick coat. It may be a bit of a chore, but it is certainly worth it—the longer a tick stays on a dog or cat only increases the risk for disease transmission and infection.

How to remove a pet tick from your dog or cat

Take a deep breath and mentally prepare for this process. While it’s not difficult, it does require steady hands and a bit of concentration—and we all know that the one thing you want to do is get this creepy pest off your dog or cat, ASAP! You’ll need a pair of tweezers, some disinfectant, and a small jar with an airtight lid to store the tick after you’ve removed it.

Pull all of the fur back and away from the area where the tick has burrowed.
Use the tweezers to firmly and evenly grasp the tick body. Do not squeeze the tick at this point, you can easily crush the body and make it very difficult to remove the head.
Pull the tick out in a single vertical motion. Do not try to loosen the tick’s body or lift up at an angle.
Seal the tick in the airtight jar.
Swab the bite area on your pet with disinfectant.
Flush the tick down the toilet.
Disinfect the jar, tweezers, and gloves. Throw the gloves away after you have disinfected them.

If the tick is crushed or bisected while you are removing it, you need to make sure you remove all of the bug’s body from your pet’s skin. Take another deep breath and use the tweezers to draw out the head and legs. Remember that you are not trained to do this, and if removing the tick starts to feel precarious, call your vet for advice. He or she will be able to tell you whether or not you need assistance. The same holds true for when your dog or cat has multiple ticks on their body. Vets are much better equipped to remove many ticks because they have advanced training and are set up to perform the procedure in a sanitary environment. It can be quite common for a single dog to have in the upwards of twenty ticks if he has been hiking on a particular trail during peak tick season in September and May. In those cases, you’ll most definitely want your vet’s help to keep your pet safe during and after the removal process.

Protecting yourself from pet ticks

The diseases that ticks carry are contagious and infectious to humans, and we can’t stress enough the importance of proper sanitation while you remove a tick from your cat or dog. Both Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever can be contracted by humans through contact with a tick that is carrying the disease. Even though not every tick is a carrier, you’ll best serve yourself and your household by exercising a high level of caution and sanitation.

One final note is that September and May are peak tick seasons and checking your dog, cat, and even your own family regularly is the best way to prevent tick-related complications. Take the extra time to run a thorough check over you, your dogs, and your gear before you come back inside from any nature excursion. This way you can often find stray ticks before they have attached and remove any shortly after they have latched on to feed. Don’t forget about the family cat, either. Make sure you check her routinely, especially if she is an indoor-outdoor cat.