With the onset of heat, ticks become more active, posing a serious threat to the health of pets. Veterinarian Eduard Kotlyarov, in a comment to UNN, talks about effective methods of protection, and also gives recommendations on what to do if a tick has already bitten an animal.
How to protect animals from tick bites
To protect animals from tick bites or even if not bites, then from infection with infections carried by ticks, it must be treated. The first and most popular, probably, what everyone knows, is really drops on the withers. They are applied to the skin and they are all effective for up to four weeks. What is important is that not a month, not three, but up to four weeks. Then there is also the tablet form. It probably gained popularity with us a little later than the drops. Then there is also the spray form, which is also quite popular. There is also the collar form, which is used more for dogs than cats
He notes that tick tablets have a much smaller variety than drops. According to him, the effectiveness of tick medications is determined by their correct use.
Because even good quality drugs that could be quite effective, if they are used incorrectly, people often later believe that they are somehow ineffective. And that's why the experience is a little distorted. Then they very often think that this is bad, this is good. So, if we compare the effectiveness between drops, for example, and the same tablets, there is no such thing as drops being more effective or tablets being more effective. First, tablets have different active ingredients, and drops also have different active ingredients. And if you use them correctly, know the nuances of those drops, then they will be just as effective as tablets
According to him, sometimes it is believed that tablets are more effective because they are simply a little easier to use, because drops have nuances, that certain substances do not work for all four weeks, but for two weeks. The veterinarian notes that the effect of the drops can be “destroyed” under the sun, temperature, or if the dog was wet, got into the rain, etc., then for a certain time it will be unprotected, because “these drops are washed off the surface of the body and they need to be produced again through the glands on the skin.”.
Collars will also be cool, effective, but if they are worn correctly, if they are worn close enough so that they rub against the skin. If they just hang on top of the fur, and the fur is some kind of, for example, a husky, a malamute, something like that, then it will have zero effectiveness, because it has to rub against the skin
He emphasizes that for long-haired dogs, if you plan to use collars against ticks, you need to shave the strip on the neck where you plan to put the collar so that it rubs against the skin.
Sprays will also be effective, but you need to know how to apply them correctly, in what quantity, not just spray them from afar, like women spray hairspray, for example, but you need to apply them specifically against the movement of the hair, doing this with a certain frequency of pressing on the surface of the body
The doctor notes that during the period of tick activity, it is recommended to combine medications for animals.
If you combine drops, for example, with the same tablets, it will be great. With tablets, you can combine everything and not worry at all, because the active substances will not overlap. If, for example, you combine a spray and a collar or a collar and drops, then there will be active substances that can overlap
How dangerous are tick bites?
According to him, tick bites are dangerous mainly due to infections.
In dogs, it is mainly babesiosis – something that most often affects the blood, borreliosis or Lyme disease – something that affects both the joints and internal organs. (…) In principle, ticks are also dangerous for cats, although cats are less likely to get these vector-borne diseases from ticks, much less likely than dogs, they are less susceptible to this, less sensitive to this. And plus small ones, if it is a small animal, a kitten or a puppy, it will be bitten by many ticks… a single tick can drink up to a milliliter of blood, so, roughly speaking, they can drink all its blood, it can die from anemia
How to remove a tick yourself
In principle, if a person is confident that he can do it (get the tick out on his own – ed.), then it can be done. Nothing critical will happen. In principle, if a person is confident, he wants to do it, he can do it on his own, if he cannot seek help from a veterinarian. I will say right away that pouring oil on it or something else does not work, because the tick… people think that if they pour oil on it, the tick will start to suffocate, take it and fall off. No, that will not happen. It gets oxygen from the blood that it drinks. It does not care at all what is poured into it. It does not breathe through the hole that it made, but it gets everything it needs inside, when the head is in the vessel and drinks blood there. Therefore, there is no point in anointing it with something. The tick must be removed mechanically
According to him, you can remove the tick yourself with special tweezers, but they must not be sharp, as this can be dangerous.
It is better to remove the tick as soon as possible, because some diseases are transmitted when the tick is attached to the body for a certain time, a certain number of hours. That is, if you pull it out earlier, it will not transmit this infection. Therefore, it is advisable to remove it as soon as possible, if possible. The only unpleasant thing is that if the head remains, then theoretically it will be there longer, because it is more difficult to get it out of here, and this infection can be transmitted from it, because it transmits the infection through the salivary glands. Usually how? They try to get the tick, tear off the back from it, the front remains and then this front is there until they get to the veterinarian. For example, when in the country. This can be in three days, and in three days this infection can be transmitted from the tick to the animal
