If you’re like most Northeast Ohio dog owners, you enjoy walking your pet along our many wooded park trails. But this enjoyable activity can lead to trouble for both you and your pet if proper precautions aren’t taken.
Fleas and ticks are especially active during the warm summer months and can easily catch a ride on you and your pet as you’re out and about walking and exploring wildlife areas.
Robert Lang, a veterinarian at Hart’s Animal Hospital once pulled 26 ticks and counting from a canine’s coat after the pooch spent less than an hour walking the Towpath Trail in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Lang also has two clients – humans – who contracted Lyme disease from an infected tick.
“Fleas, historically, have always been a problem, but ticks are what you call an ‘emerging problem’ in Northeast Ohio,” Lang said. “The wildlife, wood-line and high grass areas are where you’re most at risk to pick up ticks.”
Ticks are also evolving and learning to adapt to a variety of living environments such as those with higher altitudes and latitudes, something which was not the case several years ago, said Emily Roach, medical director at North Royalton Animal Hospital.
“We certainly are not at the levels that we see in New England, but we can track increasing trends of ticks,” Roach said. “Our office has noticed an increase in the number of pets that a tick has been found on, as well as an increase in the number of pets testing positive for exposure to diseases carried by ticks.”
It’s not only dogs that ticks favor. Cats are just as susceptible to attracting the nasty parasite. Fleas also enjoy the warm comforts of a feline’s fur.
“We tend to find fleas the most on the indoor only cat. This is likely due to the fact that they are not maintained on a monthly flea prevention, while the dog or the indoor/outdoor cat is,” Roach said.
Pets that spend time outdoors are obviously more prone to picking up parasites, but indoor animals are also fair game. When it comes to fleas, all it takes is just one to cause gargantuan problems.
“Risk of getting fleas is more to do with an animal being exposed to an infested environment as opposed to infested animals. Homes can become quickly infested with flea eggs and larva as a single adult female flea will lay 40 to 50 eggs per day, and of these eggs, 50 percent will be female which will continue the cycle,” Roach said. “Each female flea will produce eggs for more than 100 days, so a single flea can quickly become a serious problem in a home.”
So what do fleas and ticks look like exactly and how do they find real estate on your pet?
Fleas resemble flakes of table pepper, Lang explained, and can be about the size of black ants that we see on summer sidewalks. Flea excrement can be spotted on the animal’s fur. Ticks often are brown in color and tear drop in shape, Roach said. When attached to the pet they can look like a small bump or skin mass, but the defining feature will be that they have eight legs. As they take a blood meal, they will increase in size and their color may lighten, Roach said.
Fleas are permanent residents doing everything from eating and reproducing on their host, whereas ticks take a blood meal, increase in size with its belly full of host blood, and fall off the animal, looking for its next host. They can pass diseases while taking a blood meal.
“Ticks cannot fly or jump, they wait on the edge of a blade of grass in a position known as ‘questing,’” Roach said. “When a host, such as a dog or human, passes the spot where a tick is waiting, it climbs onto them. Some ticks will attach quickly, while some will wander looking for a place where the skin or hair is thinner. Once a preferred feeding site is found, the tick inserts its feeding tube and makes a cement-like substance that keeps the tick attached while it takes its meal. Feeding can take days and during feeding can transmit diseases. After feeding, the tick will drop from the animal and prepare for its next life stage.”
Pets with fleas will scratch vigorously, which leads to patches of hair loss and skin inflections. Humans will experiences red marks and rashes on various parts of their bodies such as the wrists and ankles, Lang said.
“If ticks are untreated we worry about the spread of multiple diseases to our pets based on the type of tick,” Roach said. “Transmission of a given disease is often restricted to a particular tick. The most well-known is Lyme disease spread by the Ixodes tick which is becoming more prevalent and has been linked to joint disease and kidney disease. Other diseases include Rickettsia, Ehrlichia and Babesia. The feeding and attachment time is also important to the spread of disease based on the disease and the tick.”
Lyme disease can lay dormant in humans and may not be immediately recognized, Lang said. It is treated with antibiotics and symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue and rash, according to the Centers for Disease Control website. If left undetected, Lyme disease can spread to the joints, heart and nervous system. There is a vaccine available, but only to dogs.
The best safeguard against fleas and ticks is a year-round veterinarian recommended prevention product, which can be topical or oral. Lang notes too that every pet in your home should receive prevention product. Don’t just single out the dog or your mostly outdoor cat. Parasites can easily jump or attach to other pets in the house. Humans can use repellants to ward off fleas and ticks. Local experts suggest speaking with your veterinarian to determine which option is best for your pets, as there are many brands on the market.
“Regular grooming and evaluation of your dog and cat is important to look for ticks so they can be removed and help minimize the risk of disease transmission,” Roach said. “It is important to remember to look at their paws and between their toes as sometimes ticks can hide. Combing them to look for fleas or flea dirt is helpful as well. There are many ‘combination’ products that will treat both fleas and ticks. Never use a product made for dogs on cats as it can be deadly for cats.”
By SARA MACHO HILL
Contributing Writer