What are ticks?
Ticks are small,
blood-sucking arthropods related to spiders, mites and scorpions. Ticks feed on
the blood of other animals. If a larval tick picks up an infection from a small
animal such as a vole, when it next feeds as a nymph it can pass the infection
to the next animal or human it bites.
Why do I need to control ticks?
• Cause irritation
• Lead to abscesses
• Transmit diseases e.g Lyme borreliosis, Babesiosis,Anaplasmosis, and Rickettsiosis.
• Lead to abscesses
• Transmit diseases e.g Lyme borreliosis, Babesiosis,Anaplasmosis, and Rickettsiosis.
How is it possible to
control ticks?
A tick-control product
can work in a number of ways:
1.
It contains an ingredient that helps prevent ticks from being
attracted to your pet – a repellent.
2.
It contains an ingredient that kills the tick once it has made
contact with your pet’s skin – an acaricide.
3.
It contains an ingredient that reduces the risk of the tick
attaching and taking a blood feed.
On what part of the dog can I see parts?
Ideally, tick checks
should be performed daily to reduce the risk of infection, but can be done on
weekly bases. Sub-adult ticks can be very tiny (less than 1mm), even when fully
engorged with blood. Stroking your pet is a good time to do a finger-tip search
for smaller ticks and this can be a relaxing, bonding time between you and your
pet.
It is important at
grooming to brush against, as well as with, the hair-growth to see any ticks
that are close to the skin. Check around and inside the ears, around the eyes,
on the chin and around the muzzle, as well as between pads and toes.
What is the best way to
control ticks?
1. Keep grass mowed.
2. Prune trees, mow the lawn, and clear leaf
litter and brush, especially along edges of the lawn, stonewalls, and
driveways.
3. Move play sets away from the woodland edge.
4. Restrict ground cover in areas frequented by
family.
5. Adopt some landscaping practices such as gravel
pathways, mulches, decking, stone, tile, and other hards-capes around the home.
6. chemical control. Acaricides (pesticides or
insecticides that kill ticks) may be applied to lawns and woodland edges to
kill ticks around the home. Many pesticide products are restricted to licensed
commercial pesticide applicators.
The
optimum time for an application to control the nymphal ticks would be mid-May to early June. A single
application of most insecticides is sufficient for the summer tick season. A fall
application may be used to control adult I. scapularis.
Chemicals safe for use include
Frontline Plus
Chemicals safe for use include
Frontline Plus
