It’s a pesky parasite that can cause paralysis and ultimately death in your pet. Katie Cincotta tells us more about why now is the time to start fighting the paralysis tick.
Their true name is the paralysis tick, but a more fitting title might be clingy little bloodsuckers. Ticks are small, sneaky, and potentially very dangerous. While only a few millimetres in size, if left undetected on your pet’s fur to feast on their blood, they can release enough poison to kill.
Dr Richard Thomas at Cairns Veterinary Clinic says he’s seen hundreds of tick poisoning cases in his two years working up north, and while 90 per cent of patients survive, for many it’s a long and expensive journey back to good health. “I have lost a few this year, which is statistically inevitable when you’re seeing a lot of cases. There is emerging evidence that these ticks transmit a lot of blood parasites, which means it’s more than just the poison that is damaging the animal’s body.”
Dr Richard hails from Western Australia and says that whereas there is no issue with ticks on the western side of the country, they are a serious problem along the eastern coast.
“The treatment of paralysis ticks was all very new to me when I came across to Queensland. But here, I have 20 vials of antiserum in the fridge because you never know when they will hit.” Ticks like to come out to play after recent rainfall, which is why they’re more common in tropical climates such as the northern beaches of New South Wales and along Queensland’s coast.
“Ticks are very seasonal from September onwards, and still very much an issue up north, from Mackay all the way up to the Cape. In Cairns, we are pretty much in the epicentre of tick exposure,” says the young vet. One recent patient at Cairns Vet Clinic was an outside cat that wasn’t on any tick prevention treatment, and went missing for a couple of days. “When the owners found him, he was dehydrated and his back legs were virtually paralysed. He was gagging and frothing, he definitely wasn’t breathing particularly well.” Once the live tick was identified on the animal’s neck, the cat was given antiserum through a slow IV and fluid therapy to help his body re-hydrate.
The original article was published in PETS issue #59. Subscribe to PETS magazine here for more pawsome advice and care tips!
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