External parasites are a threat to your pet all year long!  In certain areas, there may be less of them during colder months, but common parasites like fleas, mosquitoes and ticks can persist through cold weather, especially in Florida.  Tick preventions vary greatly in the ticks that they treat and the speed of kill which can be imperative regarding transmission of disease. Protecting pets against ticks is as important as protecting them against heartworms and fleas because they are very susceptible to tick bites. Should an inadvertent infected tick be brought into your home, you could also be at risk. Many of these diseases infect humans!

A tick’s life cycle is in 4 stages: egg, larva, nymph, and adult.  They must have a blood meal from a host at every stage of life to survive, making them unique in that they can carry and spread disease during any life stage.  If a host has a bloodborne infection, ticks will ingest it during feeding and transmit it to its next host.  Due to multiple hosts, it’s not uncommon for a tick to be carrying several different disease-causing pathogens.  

The most common tick disease is Lyme disease; it’s highly prevalent in the northeastern US, but quite rare Florida.   In a recent study, Lyme was found in about 0.5% of the pets who were tested for it in Florida, as compared to an estimated 15% in the Northeastern states. However, a Lyme vaccine exists for dogs, so if your dog is at risk, or if you plan to travel, it’s recommended that you vaccinate.

The diseases we see most commonly in Florida include: Erlichia, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Babesia, and Anaplasmosis. There are other diseases that primarily affect cats: Hemobartonella, Tularemia, Cytauxzooan and Babesia.   Almost all tick diseases present in your pet the same way: joint pain, fevers, neurologic symptoms, and anemia – which can mimic many other disease processes. Most veterinarians have a rapid in-house test but often more tests are needed before a diagnosis can be made. Many tick-borne diseases can be very serious if not treated promptly, and in some cases they can cause a life-threatening anemia.  The cytauxzooan organism that infects domestic cats (also known as bobcat fever) is almost 100% fatal within days of contracting it. 

Certain female ticks can also produce a toxin in their saliva that causes Tick Paralysis – which affects motor neurons of dogs and cats and can cause a progressive paralysis usually 5-9 days after attachment. This can be more serious and life-threatening if the paralysis progresses to respiratory failure. However, if the tick is discovered and removed, with supportive care, the pet will begin to recover within hours.

So how to you keep your pet from contracting these diseases?  Removing ticks once you see them is very important, but prevention is the best thing you can do for your pet.  Depending on the species of the tick, they can take from 10 minutes to 24 hours to transmit disease once they bite.  Use as directed, most quality tick preventions begin working quickly, and often will kill the tick before it can transmit disease.   However, not all products are good quality, and many of them used for dogs are toxic to cats, so never use the same product on both without consulting your vet first.  There are some topical preventions/collars that can repel ticks and prevent the attachment of the tick. It is important you consider that you consider a multimodal approach at tick prevention, including a repellent and a product that kills if your pet is at high risk of tick exposure. Your vet will always recommend the best and safest forms of tick prevention for your pets so seek their help today.