Ticks on Dogs: How to Find and Treat Ticks and Fleas

Ticks are parasitic bloodsuckers that are related to spiders. They stay attached to a host animal for around 10 days while consuming the pet’s blood. As a result, they can potentially infect their host with some illnesses, including Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and others that, if untreated, can be fatal. Countless diseases can be spread by various tick types. All ticks enjoy the same habitat and environment, making it easy to check for all kinds of ticks on your dog.

Tick Habitat on Pets

Ticks are annoying pests that can spread diseases to pets and pet owners, so it’s essential to know where to look for them on your dog and how to get rid of them successfully. Luckily, finding them isn’t difficult once you are aware of the surroundings that ticks enjoy. Along with damp tissue surfaces away from direct sunlight, ticks choose warm, humid environments. Ticks are most frequently located on pets in the following areas:

Toes

Even the smallest ticks can get a home in the space between a pet’s toes, especially on bigger, wider, or longer-haired pets. Tick-toe bites can cause pets to scratch or gnaw at their paws and possibly develop a small limp in an attempt to relieve their discomfort.

Tail Underside

Particularly, on dogs with broad tails or long fur on their backs, ticks love the underside of their tails, especially around the base where there may be excrement residue or more dampness. Tick bites may trigger a dog to nip at its back or crawl on the ground to ease its itching or irritation.

Ears

Due to its dark, wet, warm environment, a dog’s inner ears are the best habitat for ticks. Although any type of pet can be vulnerable to ticks in the ear area, this is particularly true for pets with longer, floppier ears. It’s common for dogs to scratch their heads more frequently or shake their ears to get rid of a tick from their ear.

Eyelids

Ticks like the wet and delicate skin of a pet’s eyelids are commonly ignored as a possible breeding ground. Until the parasites have begun feeding for a couple of days, ticks near the eyes are usually mistaken for discharge or skin tags.

Any suspicious bumps or swellings on the eyelids may be ticks, and a dog affected by a tick might scratch or rub its face more often. A tick’s existence can be indicated by excessive blinking or unusual discharge. The only method to know that your pet is free of any tick-borne illness is to thoroughly inspect all possible hiding places. In case of emergency, search for internists nearby.

Groin

Ticks are attracted to the warm, smooth area between a pet’s back legs, where the fur is finer and access to the skin is easier. If a pet licks or scratches around its groin more often than usual, it may attempt to remove the parasites, which can hide in the skin’s folds.

Preventing Tick Bites

In order to select a parasite prevention program that works and to maintain records of the efficiency of your pet’s present parasite prevention program, routine health assessments and kitty or puppy shots are necessary.

We recommend making a visit with a vet right away if your dog is presenting signs of parasites, like itching from fleas, or if you often see ticks on your dog. Your vet can assist you if you have thoughts concerning your pet’s present flea and tick treatment. In case you’re looking for veterinary surgery in Madison check this out

Final Thoughts

Knowing what kind of environment these pests prefer is among the most crucial things you can do to stop ticks from infecting your pet. Using numerous methods and making sure pest management is the most effective way to keep your dog safe from fleas and ticks. Pet owners can take a variety of methods to keep fleas and ticks away while keeping their pets safe and their homes pest-free.

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