ELIMINATION OF BROWN DOG TICKS

 

Ticks can be a major problem for dogs in Arizona. They are not only disgusting but enough ticks can literally bleed a dog to death. However, the more frequently encountered problem caused by ticks is the spread of a life threatening blood parasite called Ehrlichiosis or "Tick Fever". Ehrlichiosis is typically a chronic disease. Generally, it begins with very mild signs of illness. Only after the patient has been ill for weeks to sometimes years, do enough signs appear that an owner would notice. Once these chronic signs appear it takes aggressive treatment to save the dogs life. Prevention is the best cure. Prevention means absolute tick control. Even one tick can spread ehrlichiosis.

 

The common tick found in Arizona is called the Brown Dog Tick. In order to eradicate the brown dog tick from your dog’s environment it is necessary to understand it’s life cycle. Unlike most other external parasites, ticks don't reside on the dog. Ticks live in cracks and crevices about the house and yard. They only climb on the dog to eat their blood meal. Ticks stay on the dog for an average of 3 to 6 days with each meal. Brown dog ticks will feed only on dogs. They will bite other animals and people occasionally but they won't stay attached and they will not feed. The brown dog tick eats three times in a lifetime. When they hatch as babies they are smaller than the period printed at the end of this sentence. During the third meal the males grow to a little smaller than a paper match head. The female can grow to the size of the end of your finger. The ticks breed on the dog. The female falls off. She finds a suitable crevice where she lays 7,000 - 10,000 eggs. When the eggs hatch the cycle begins again.

 

There are no more important tick facts, such as, a brown dog tick walks only short distances in its entire life. It won't walk 20 feet. The time spent off the dog varies with temperature. During the summer they stay only 2 weeks off the dog between feedings or for the eggs to hatch. During the winter ticks may be off the dog for over 6 months.

 

During the time the ticks are off the dog they are so well hidden that insecticidal sprays seldom reach them. By the time the ticks emerge, the insecticide is often already dissipated. It is therefore difficult to eliminate ticks with spray and/or granules.

 

There is hope. All ticks must eat. To eat they must get on a dog. The goals of the elimination of brown dog ticks from your environment are to kill every tick while it is trying to eat, and to provide a barrier to prevent ticks from returning to it’s environment. The available products to kill ticks on dogs have changed a great deal over the years. The tick dip was the cornerstone of tick control in the past. Dips have all been taken of the market now. Other, even more effective treatments are now available.

 

Practical Tick Control

 

1.  Provide a Barrier. You need 20 feet of separation between your dogs environment and any neighboring dogs environment. Alternatively, your neighbor’s dog may need to be included in the treatment program.

 

2. Avoid bringing ticks home from a grooming parlor, boarding kennel, or dog park, etc. by doing an extra treatment at the time they come home or in some cases before they are exposed. Avoid any kennel that doesn't require in house tick treatment on each boarding dog.

 

3. Kill every tick that gets on the dog. The ticks meal lasts 3 - 6 days. You have that time to kill each tick. If the medication is able to kill a tick, it is also toxic to the pet. The goal is to use the products that are least toxic to the dog and will still kill the ticks. At Palo Verde Animal Hospital we recommend using Frontline^® Pour-On and Frontline^® Spray. Frontline^®  usually will kill a tick before it attaches to the dog.

 

Frontline^® must be applied at the maximum frequency and apply one drop to each foot. Other treatment modifications may be necessary. Talk to one of our veterinarians.

 

If Frontline^® is a problem then you may use Ivermectin instead. An appropriate oral dose prescribed by one of our veterinarians will work well.

 

Other tick control products are available. Most are permethrin base. They are more toxic to the dog and you may not be able to apply enough to kill all the ticks without making your pet ill.

 

4. A ticks cycle is long so you must treat for a long time. Three months of effective uninterrupted treatment during hot weather will usually eliminate every tick in the environment. Any treatment begun during fall through spring must be continued through August so as to include 3 hot months.

 

5. Maintenance at manufacturer’s dose recommendations should be continued for life.

 

Some individual conditions require modifications or special understanding. Call to talk to one of our veterinarians if you have any questions.