Ticks -- Nature's Vampires
Even though people commonly think of ticks as "bugs," they aren't bugs or even insects. They are related to insects, but are in fact, arachnids. Arachnids are eight-legged creatures that include spiders, scorpions, mites, and, of course, ticks.

There are two types of ticks -- the soft ticks and the hard ticks. Soft ticks, as the name suggests, have soft bodies, bodies that can swell enormously while they feed. Soft ticks commonly are active only at night when they attach to a passing host, take their meal in a matter of hours, and drop off before sunrise. Since we tend to keep our pets inside, or at least confined at night, soft ticks are not a common problem with pets.

Hard ticks, on the other hand, are by far the most commonly found type of tick on pets. Hard ticks are just that -- they are covered with a hard, inflexible cuticle that does not allow their bodies to expand. When feeding, the hard tick ingests the host's blood, concentrates and retains the solid material from the blood, and returns the liquid plasma back into the host. As it does this, the tick may also inject a disease organism into your pet.

The Need for Blood
Ticks have a multi-stage life cycle that requires them to take a blood meal to pass from one life stage to the next. When it's ready to molt to the next life stage, a tick will bite its victim (usually painlessly) and bury its head under the host's skin. It may remain there for anywhere from several hours to many days.

Tick larvae, commonly known as "seed ticks," hatch from eggs and must take a blood meal before they can molt into nymphs. Generally, though, seed ticks are of little concern to the pet owner.

Nymphs, depending on the species, may pass through a number of nymphal stages before molting into the adult tick. As with the molt from larvae to nymph, a tick can pass from one stage to the next only after a blood meal.

It's the blood-meal-needed-to-molt requirement that creates the biggest hazard for your pet. Each time a tick feeds, it may pick up a disease organism from its host and then pass that organism along to its next host. The ticks are unaffected by the disease organisms that they carry, as are many of the naturally occurring hosts. It's only when the tick bites a non-immune animal, like your dog or your cat, that the disease manifests itself.

Ticks in Your Yard?
Ticks naturally inhabit brushy or wooded areas. The most common way your pet will acquire a tick is to visit such an area. But don't assume that your pet won't pick up a tick if he never visits the woods. Think about your yard. Does it have trees or shrubs? If it does, it can support ticks. All it takes for ticks to reach your yard is for a tick-carrying wild animal, like a bird or a mouse, to visit your yard when the tick has finished its meal and is ready to drop off.

Most ticks lay their eggs in the leaf litter -- like your garden's mulch -- where the larvae emerge. Ticks require high humidity and a narrow temperature range to survive, so they stay in the litter until they are ready to feed. Then, they climb up a tall blade of grass or onto a tree or shrub's leaves and wait for a passing host. When a tick senses that a potential host is nearby, it drops from its perch in hopes of landing on its intended victim. If it misses, the tick returns to the litter and starts the process over again.

Hardy Creatures
Ticks are amazingly hardy creatures. Under experimental conditions, ticks have lived for more than 20 years and gone years between meals. No one knows how long they live in the wild, but it's probably safe to assume that a tick can go through the process of finding a host many, many times before it dies.

Ticks are active whenever the temperature is consistently above 40° F (5° C). That means that for much of the U.S. and Canada, the chance of your pet picking up a tick is very small from November through April. Unfortunately, in warmer areas, there is a significant risk year round.

Bites that Transmit Disease
The biggest hazard your pet faces from being bitten by a tick is the chance of contracting disease. The most well known tick-transmitted disease that pets can contract is Lyme disease. Pets can also contract several other diseases as a result of being bitten by ticks.

Ticks Alone Can Cause Illness
Ticks by themselves can cause illness in your pets. A heavy tick infestation can cause an animal to become anemic. More serious is what is known as tick paralysis. As the tick feeds and returns plasma to its host, it also secretes a toxin into the host's bloodstream. This toxin creates a paralysis that starts in the rear legs and progresses to the front legs. If untreated, the toxin eventually paralyzes the breathing muscles, killing the host.

Fortunately, if diagnosed in time, the toxin doesn't appear to do any permanent damage -- recovery is usually total once the offending tick is removed.

So What To Do?
So now we know what ticks are and what hazards they present to our pets. What can we do to keep our pets from getting ticks? And what should we do if they do pick up a tick?

Make Your Pet Inhospitable to Ticks
First, make your pet inhospitable to ticks. You can do this most effectively by applying a tick-killing agent, called an "acaricide," directly to your pet's fur and skin. The most long-lasting treatments are acaricidal sprays and dips. Still, these treatments are usually effective for only a week or two, so you must repeat them regularly during the tick's active season.

Collars can also be effective against ticks, but are best used only after you have ensured that your pet is tick-free. Most collars prevent ticks from attaching, but kill attached ticks only after about 72 hours. This is more than enough time for a tick to transmit a disease.

Make Your Yard Inhospitable, too
You can also treat your yard with acaricides. Generally applied as a spray, these treatments vary in effectiveness from days to months. It's best to check with both your veterinarian and your local pest control company to determine if this course of action will work for you and your pet.

If you prefer not to disperse pesticides into our environment, another approach is to remove tick habitat from your yard. Keep tall grass clipped, remove any mulch or leaf litter, and trim bushes so that they are away from areas that your pet is likely to go.
 

Pet Your Pet -- All Over
Obviously, none of this guarantees that your pet won't get a tick. Your pet's best protection is for you to examine him thoroughly every day for ticks. While ticks generally prefer to attach to your pet's head, neck, and paws, they can attach anywhere. Feel every square inch of your pet. If your pet objects to having certain areas of his body touched, work slowly and gradually so that he will eventually get used to the "all-over" examination.

It's Gotta Come Out
A tick feels like a small, hard bump -- if you feel this, carefully inspect the area. If a tick is there, it must be removed. Luckily, ticks usually don't transmit disease organisms during the first day they are attached, so early removal is likely to prevent any complications.

Successful removal of the tick can be tricky -- and may be best left to your veterinarian. If you do choose to remove the tick yourself, do it right. Never, ever use heat, such as a match head or a cigarette, to make the tick back out -- that can actually make the situation worse. Read how to properly remove a tick before you try it yourself.

Your Pet's Health Depends on You
While it's very likely that early removal of a tick will prevent your pet from getting a tick-transmitted disease, there are no guarantees. Keep an eye on your pet during the weeks after a tick removal for signs of disease. If you see any, don't delay, get your pet to the veterinarian as soon as you can. Your pet's life may depend on it.