Question from missus. Wants to know if anyone's pooch has been bitten by one of these, how often it happens and what they did/will do if it does.

Don't have a clue...but will be interested in any replies you get as we have a dog and cat......C x

I would worry more about their effects on humans rather than pets :scared:

G

My mums dog was bitten by one of these...... not good news i am afraid....

Sorry to hear that - do you know how you protect dogs from it?

not sure - prob best speaking to the vet...

Our GSD got one when she was young, we were actually away at the time & our friends (who are very experienced doggie people) were looking after her. $600 later she pulled through, but the vet did ask at one stage if we wanted her put down as it was pretty touch & go. They kill many dogs/year. Possums in particular are hosts, which is where ours got hers from.

You can help to protect the dog with collars & washes, but really the only prevention is vigilance & daily visual inspections.

Yes, they can attach to humans - the difference is that unless its a very small baby humans generally have more tolerance to them & they create quite a bit of irritation on the skin & tend to be much more visible, so most people realise they have one fairly quickly.

Cheers Mrs D - have passed that info on to the missus.

No worries Hutch, important thing to remember is that time is the biggest killer - the longer the tick is on the dog, the less chance it has of surviving. You need to get it to the vet asap cos even after the tick has been removed the toxins continue to build up in the dogs body & they get worse before they get better.

The hardest thing is that when they first attach they are tiny - literally the size of the head of a pin. By the time they are big enough to be obvious (2 or 3 days) the dog is well on its way downhill & will need a vet visit for anti-toxins & other stuff.

The biggest symptoms to watch for are weakness in the backlegs & unsteady gait, vomiting, trouble breathing or coughing & unusual "voice" ie their bark or vocal sounds are often different to normal. Death is usually because of paralysis of the breathing muscles.

Hi Hutch, So far (touch wood) our dogs seem to be fine here and we have taken them to several different places for a run. Our relatives have pet dogs here to and they are fine. I have started to give the tablets against the heart worm though which is caused by the mosquito. The tablets are easily bought and the dogs like them. I think just making sure you to check your dog often for any nasties will help. Another thing I try to watch for is when they try to catch insects or lizards. Thinking about it I think some of the insects might kidnap the dogs because they are so large :scared: Sorry can't give any more info re the ticks.

Hi Hutch

I'm using Frontline Plus (the flea stuff you get in the UK too )\

It protects from paralysis ticks for up to two weeks after application which is not long but it's better than nothing. I just look her over after we've been for a walk.
Ticks are tricky to remove but essentialy you need a spray of insect repellant that's got pyrethrin or a pyrethroid in it and then pull it gently out, hopefully without leaving it's head parts in the dog. You just need to recognize what they look like and be vigilant. Don't use methylated spirits as it can make the tick vomit into the dog.

Funny you should mention ticks. I was having a bath before bed and wondered why I had a little scabby thing on my chest, so I naturally (?) scratched at it with my fingernail a couple of times and it came off. Then I noticed it had legs and two sharp pincer things. I had bad tick dreams last night.
My hub claims he's never had a spider bite and only ever had one tick on him in his whole life in Australia and I get both within weeks of being here.
Next thing to get over will be leeches, no doubt. <shudder> The ones in the Jamison are meant to be the most tenacious in the world.

[img]


PS - Here's a good link we use:
http://medent.usyd.edu.au/fact/ticks.htm

we covered these little babies in first aid here, (Oz first aid is a million miles apart from UK first aid!!!! snakebites, bluebottle stings, spiderbites, coneshells etc)

the main thing with para mites is to make sure when you remove them you MUST make sure you have gotten the whole mite out!! because the head will snap off and stay behind and continue with the paralysis, so examine the blighter when you remove it to see it's pin size head, oh and dont "unscrew" it anymore as this has been found to actually increase the chances of snapping the poor little things head off
Tomorrow we shall be discussing making a will

I can answer that one for you. Our cat was attacked by 8 of the little buggers. He had only been with us two weeks. Had just started going out and within two hours, he was nearly dead. Couldn't breath and couldn't walk. Back legs and throat paralysed.

Took him straight to the vets who knew what it was immediately and that was it for 72 hours. He had to be sedated, was given a serum to neutralise the effects of the poison and then they had to shave him to remove all the ticks. He was kept in the dark to help with his breathing and we weren't allowed to see him.

Apparently where we are on the Sunshine coast it is rife. Our house backs onto bush and there are bush turkeys, possoms etc, all of which carry them.

We have put him on Front Line Plus which should keep them off him in the future and also deal with any fleas. He is slowly recovering, but I won't let him out again. Check them daily apparently is the best measure you can take according to the vet.

My hub caught one... on the train back from Perth!
Eughhhh
Anyway, I looked up on the internet what to do quickly, you mustn't use turps etc. as this can make them worse as the head can come off and get embedded further or they'll secrete more poison into the skin. Best thing is to remove them with tweezers, then you're supposed to put them in a jar and keep them incase the person/animal becomes ill, then the tick species can be identified. http://www.tickalert.org.au/removal.htm
Makes you think twice about using public transport lol.
With a dog or cat, due to their smaller size, it's important to take them to the vet as well asap.
BTW Hub was OK, not any worse than usual

I've just recently got a puppy and didn't know about these ticks :scared:
I'll be making sure I check her over every day but it will be hard cos she's a big ball of fluff!
Thanks for the warnings guys.
Tracey