Ticks are skin parasites that feed on the blood of their hosts.  Ticks like motion, warm temperatures from body heat, and the carbon dioxide exhaled by mammals, which is why they are attracted to such hosts as dogs, cats, rodents, rabbits, cattle, small mammals, etc.  The bite itself is not usually painful, but the parasite can transmit diseases such as Ehrlichia, Lymes, and Babesiosis and cause tick paralysis. Recent studies have shown that it  takes about 72 hours for an attached tick to transmit disease, so owners can usually prevent disease transmission to their pets by following a regular schedule to look for and remove ticks.

Most types of ticks require three hosts during a two-year lifespan.  Each tick stage requires a blood meal before it can reach the next stage.  Hard ticks have four life stages: egg, larva, nymph, and adult.  Larvae and nymphs must feed before they detach and molt.  Adult female ticks can engorge, increasing their weight by more than 100 fold. After detaching, an adult female tick can lay approximately 3,000 eggs.


During the egg-laying stage, ticks lay eggs in secluded areas, the more the vegetation the better. The eggs hatch within two weeks.  Some species of ticks lay 100 eggs at a time, others lay 3,000 to 6,000 per batch.  Once the eggs hatch, the ticks are in the larval stage, during which time the larvae move into grass and search for their first blood meal.  At this stage, they will attach themselves for several days to their first host, usually a bird or rodent, and then fall onto the ground.  The nymph stage begins after the first blood meal is completed.  Nymphs remain inactive during winter and start moving again in spring.  Nymphs find a host, usually a rodent, pet, or human.  Nymphs are generally about the size of a freckle. After this blood meal, ticks fall off the host and move into the adult stage. Throughout the autumn, male and female adults find a host, which is again usually a rodent, pet, or human.  The adult female feeds for 8 to 12 days.  The female mates while still attached to her host.  Both ticks fall off, and the males die.  The female remains inactive through the winter and in the spring lays her eggs in a secluded place.  If adults cannot find a host animal in the fall, they can survive until the spring.

Prevent Ticks from Attaching

If your pet goes outside regularly, you can use some type of residual insecticide. Frontline (fipronil) is a liquid applied to the skin between a dog's shoulders that discourages ticks from staying or implanting.  Revolution (selamectin) is labeled for one kind of tick.  A permethrin spray can be used on dogs (but not on cats, for whom it can be fatal) as a tick repellent and killer.  We recommend the use of Frontline PLUS for dogs, Fiproguard PLUS for dogs, Advantage II for dogs, and Biospot for dogs. Fiproguard PLUS is the generic version of Frontline PLUS.  How to apply topical tick products 

Find and Remove the Ticks

The best way to find ticks on your pet is to run your hands over the whole body.  Check for ticks every time your pet comes back from an area you know is inhabited by ticks.  Ticks attach most frequently around the pet's head, ears, neck, and feet, but are by no means restricted to those areas.

The safest way to remove a tick is to use rubbing alcohol and a pair of tweezers.  Dab rubbing alcohol on the tick, and then use the tweezers to take hold of the tick as close to the dog's skin as you can; pull slowly and steadily.  Try not to leave the tick's head embedded in the dog's skin.  Don't squeeze the tick because it might inject some disease-causing organisms, such as bacteria, viruses, protozoa, or other agents, into the animal during the process.  Risk of disease transmission to you, while removing ticks, is low but you should wear gloves if you wish to be perfectly safe. Do not apply hot matches, petroleum jelly, turpentine, nail polish, or just rubbing alcohol alone (the tick must be pulled out after application of alcohol) because these methods do not remove the ticks and they are not safe for your pet. 

Once you have removed a live tick, don't dispose of it until you have killed it.  Put the tick in alcohol or insecticide to kill it.

Ticks can transmit diseases to pets and humans that the ticks contract from a previous host.  Ticks can parasitize many different mammal species, birds, and reptiles. Lyme disease is one that most people have heard about, but for our area, ehrlichiosis is the most common disease spread by ticks. Like Lymes disease it  is a rickettsial disease, and its progression from an acute to a chronic stage can be prevented by early treatment.  Babesiosis is another potential disease that causes red blood cell destruction and anemia.  Rocky Mountain spotted fever is the most prevalent rickettsial disease in humans.

(Information from VIN pet library)