Veterinary Behaviour Consultation Service

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Is your dog or cat behaving strangely? Could it have a paralysis tick?

As a Vet in Sydney tick paralysis is always on my radar, increasingly so as the weather heats up. Just this week one of my clients found a tick on their dog – so they are most certainly about!

Ticks come in a number of varieties and many pose no harm to pets. One that is dangerous though is Ixodes holocyclus (Paralysis ticks to you and me). These are commonly found along the eastern coast of Australia, thriving in hot and humid conditions. They are most common between September and April, but let’s be honest, it’s hardly ever actually cold in Sydney meaning Paralysis ticks can strike all year round.

What do they look like?

Paralysis ticks can range from tiny (1-2mm) to quite big (1cm or more) depending on the age of the tick and how much blood they have ingested! Small and blue-grey in colour, they can look like warts (or even nipples!!) until you examine them closely.

paralysis-tick-identification

Picture from www.virbac.com.au.

What are the signs of tick paralysis?

Paralysis ticks contain a toxin that can be fatal to dogs and cats. It is a progressive disease, which can be fatal, but happily an anti-toxin does exist. The prognosis is much better when we catch them early, so it is crucial to be alert to symptoms.

Signs to look for include:

  • Change in voice, a different bark or miaow
  • Coughing, regurgitating, salivating or vomiting
  • Wobbliness in the back legs this will progress to the front legs as the toxin starts to take hold.
  • Increased effort when breathing
  • Excessive lethargy, lying down and not wanting to walk, jump etc

What should I do?

  1. Use a tick prevention product. A number of brands are available including oral tablets (monthly or every three months), spot on treatments (applied every two weeks), sprays or collars. Please always check suitability of the product you pick – some dog products are toxic to cats!
  2. Check daily – Even if you are using tick prevention, you should be checking your pets all over daily – twice a day if you are in a high risk area! If your pet is unhappy being handled in certain places, contact Dr Julie for some top tips on making them more comfortable!
  3. If you have a long-haired dog or cat, consider clipping to make searching for ticks easier! (and also for them to cool down in the summer!)

    Although cute - try finding a paralysis tick in Henry's tail! Impossible!!!!

    Although cute – try finding a 0.5cm paralysis tick in Henry’s tail! Impossible!!!!

I think my dog or cat has a paralysis tick – what should I do?

If you ever find a tick on your dog or cat, I always recommend getting it checked by your Vet as soon as possible for it to be identified, treated as needed and also to check there are no more that you have missed. If your regular vet is closed, find an out-of-hours clinic.

Do not let your pet drink or eat anything until you arrive and they have been checked by a vet and on the way try to prevent them becoming stressed or over excited. Keep them calm and cool 🙂

Dr Julie is a Veterinarian and runs Life on Four Legs – a Veterinary Behaviour house call service, based in Sydney, NSW.

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Don’t Panic!!!

Have you ever had a panic attack? No? Has your pet?

A lovely client of mine emailed a video of her dog during the big Sydney storm we had two weeks ago. There is no other way to describe it except for a panic attack. The poor dog was running around, howling, drooling and trying to break down a door to get out of the house. The video ended with him vomiting in the house ☹ Nobody would argue that this dog was distressed.

Now, not all animals will show such an intense response – but studies suggest up to 50% of our household dogs are scared of thunder. This can develop for various reasons such as a genetic sensitivity, a traumatic experience during a thunder storm, social transmission (learning from another storm-phobic animal) or as a result of a generalized anxiety disorder.

lightning                                                                               www.ericteske.com

What can we do?

Prevention

Studies have shown that positive exposure to sounds including fireworks, engine noises and thunder in the first 6 months of life can be protective against phobia development at a later stage. 1

Playing with your puppy while introducing these sounds means they accept the noise as normal and so are less likely to develop fear responses as they get older.

loulouIntroducing puppies in a positive way to noises such as thunder may prevent a phobia developing

Too late for prevention – so what next?

If you already have a dog with a storm phobia it is not a lost cause!

Medication

For some dogs, like my client’s dog above, the phobia is too intense and medication helps him cope with any up-coming storms. If your dog is getting very stressed talk to your veterinarian or vet behaviourist about whether medication is the right choice for your pet.

Consider getting an Adaptil diffuser or collar to use on your dog.

Manage the situation

When a storm hits there are a number of things you can do to help your dog:
• Minimise exposure to lightning by closing the blinds or curtains.
• If your pet wants to hide, let it. If hiding is their preferred choice of coping, provide them with a box or a place to hide.
• Try distracting your pet with treats and a game. You could even throw a ‘thunder party’! Get your pet excited, play with them, throw treats and make the storm event a great time.
• Consider a thunder jacket.These can help some dogs by making them feel safe and secure.
• Play music.Either calming music such as classical, or even music with a distracting beat (such as rap – Snoop Dog) are anecdotally the best.
• If cuddles help, go ahead! Remember you can’t reinforce fear! If a cuddle helps calm your dog down then go for it.

And then?

The ultimate aim of managing a dog with storm phobia is to stop the phobic responses entirely or at least reduce the intensity of their panic.

We do this by going through a process of desensitisation and counter conditioning. This basically means we take the thing they are scared of (loud thunder noise), make it small, so small that they don’t react fearfully (by playing it very quietly) and pair it with something good (a yummy treat or a game). This is a slow process, but it enables us to teach the dog that thunder isn’t so scary and is actually something pretty good – as it predicts the arrival of treats!

As with all behaviour modification, it is crucial that this process is undertaken in a controlled, consistent manner So for further information on how to make your pet’s life that bit better contact me at Julie@Lifeonfourlegs.com.au.

 

1. (Appleby DL, Bradshaw JWS, Casey RA. Relationship between aggressive and avoidance behaviours by dogs and their experience in the first 6 months of life. Vet Rc 2002; 150:434-8)