Tick Tricks
WARNING WARNING - the paralysis tick is spreading out. These nasty freeloaders used to be confined to northern beaches, Ku-ring-gai area, golf courses and areas where bandicoots hang out. However, they, like other parasites such as fleas, are evolving. The tick cycle involves 3 blood meals, and used to require at least one from a bandicoot. Now, possums can be full-cycle carriers, plus the trend for councils to be planting vegetation from the northern beaches in order to restore the wilderness in local parks, has meant paralysis ticks are even found in Balmain occasionally. Unless you know there are ticks your the area, or areas where you have visited (they can come home on your clothing), then you may not be searching for the ticks, and you may not know what the early signs of paralysis are.
BE ALERT BUT NOT ALARMED!
The established information is that takes from 3 - 10 days for the female ticks (always the girls, the boys just get on to mate and die) to fill up with blood and drop off. In general, the paralysis poison is not injected into the animal in sufficient quantities to become toxic for 4 days, or till the tick measures 4 mm across the ‘shield’ on the back. Professor Rick Atwell, the ‘Tick Guru’ at QLD University is busy finding that things are not all that they seem, and of course that means it is more complicated than we thought!
First there are more subspecies than were thought - some of them non-poisonous, so ticks in some areas do not make anyone sick, while others are very toxic. Second the toxicity of the ticks varies seasonally as well as by area. Third if a large number of the earlier stages of the tick attach, they can make the animal sick (approximately 30 nymphs = 1 adult!). Fourth the ticks do not inject extra poison into the animal if you leave their head behind, but it does irritate the skin and cause more infections and crater reaction. Fifth the ticks can wander around for some hours before attaching, especially on dogs and cats as they would really rather have a marsupial-blood meal. This means lots get groomed or shaken off. Sixth 50% of animals who have a tick attached and poisoning them have had an anti tick product applied to them within the prior two weeks (according to the owners at least). Perhaps the ticks do not move very far and so do not pick up enough of the product to kill them. Seventh if there is one tick attached, there may be up to 10 more attached - one in all in I guess. So if you find one, look for more. Eighth there is no longer really a ‘tick season’ - they take longer to hatch in cool weather and are not as active, but once there is 50% humidity, they can mature. YIKES!
WHAT TO DO?
Prevention is better than cure (again!). The only really effective preventative is daily tick checks. Collar off. Gently massaging (roll the skin under your fingers) ALL OVER your cat. It is actually pretty nice for the cat. You are feeling for something the size of a cat’s nipple (male and female cats have them - so do not try to pull one of them off!). The ticks are grey, and their heads are buried in the skin. Tick Tweezers make it a bit easier to get under the tick and then TWIST OUT - to not pull straight out - the head will break off. Drop into alcohol or squish completely as they can still walk off and reattach elsewhere!. 80% of ticks attach forward of the shoulders - they are heading for your cat’s mouth (attracted by carbon dioxide), so be very thorough around the head and shoulders. Some ticks have been found in strange places such as inside the rectum, down ears and under tongues. However, in general, they are on the surface, and mainly (in cats) where the teeth cannot pull them out. I suspect that even though the ticks inject something to anaesthetise their attachment area, cats groom their whole body every day so will find and remove them if their tongue and teeth can get there.
Useful Products are few and far between. Most are anti tick products are toxic to cats as they contain synthetic pyrethrums (especially permethrin).
Frontline Plus still kills ticks - at double the flea dose rate, and applied every three weeks. If is very safe for cats - you need a warehouseful to make the cat sick - but there is a trick to applying it properly ASK US HOW.
Proban tablets still work (very old organophosphate technology) given every second day. Essential if your cat has been poisoned once and especially if they have had the Anti Tick Serum because it is derived from dog blood and can make cats allergic to the next treatment with the Anti Tick Serum.
TICK SICK CAT
The symptoms are a bit non-specific. Essentially the tick poison gradually paralyses different muscle groups. First to go is the swallowing reflex so cats will often vomit or stop eating as the initial symptom. Then the back legs get weak so the cat cannot jump and then gets a wobbly walk. They often grunt as well as their chest muscles become weak and it gets harder to breathe. By the time the cat cannot walk at all it is very sick. Sadly, sometimes the cat is outside and in trouble and it can be devastating to find them in this condition. Some cats seem to be more sensitive to the toxin, or may have a more toxic tick, and nothing - including artificial respiration and salivary draining can save them. Be vigilant in the warm weather.
BE ALERT BUT NOT ALARMED - KNOWLEDGE IS POWER