How long does it take a tick to engorge on a dog?

Ticks attach to dogs and cats (and people), secreting a paralysing toxin as they feed. Left untreated, treatement almost always leads to respiratory or heart failure.

This Paralysis is caused by a specific tick, lxodes holocyclus, which is found along Australia’s east coast and is especially prevalent around bushland like Sydney’s North Shore.

This grey-greenish coloured tick can be as small as a pinhead and as large as a thumbnail. The bigger the tick, the longer it has been on your pet, ingesting the blood and becoming engorged. The neurotoxins in the saliva that it secretes into your pet’s bloodstream cause the symptoms.

Tick Paralysis Life Cycle

The Australian paralysis tick is a three-host tick. There are 4 distinct stages of the life cycle of the Australian Paralysis Tick – egg, larva, nymph, adult. The life cycle takes approximately 1 year to complete (minimum 135-437 days)

Female adult ticks lay up to 3000 eggs in litter, of which x amount survive to complete the life cycle. They are laid in leaf litter from MONTH-MONTH. They will remain as eggs for 40-60 days before hatching to become Larvae.

Larvae have 6 legs. Upon hatching, they immediately begin to search for a host so they can have a blood meal. They feed for 4-6 days, before falling off the host and undergoing a moult to become nymphs. We see this stage of the life cycle from MONTH-MONTH.

Nymphs have 8 legs. Upon moulting they will have a second blood meal on a second host. We see this stage of the life cycle from March to August. Nymphs can cause paralysis if a large number is present on a single host.

Upon moulting, adult paralysis ticks will find a host. Female ticks require a host for a blood meal, whereby a male tick uses the host to find a female tick in order to mate and feed from her. Males pierce the cuticle with their mouth parts and feed on the haemolymph of the female. The female ticks then fall off and lay eggs to complete the life cycle.

How Are Ticks Transmitted

Bandicoots, possums and echidnas are the most common hosts which transmit paralysis ticks. Due to continuous exposure to the toxin, they have built up resistance over time and are usually immune to its effects.

What Does A Paralysis Tick Look Like

There are at least 73 species of ticks in Australia and adult paralysis ticks can be difficult to identify. Body colour can be affected by feeding so is not reliable to use to accurately identify different species of ticks. Adult females have exceptionally long mouthparts, different coloured first and last set of legs (darker) and no coloured markings on the dorsal shield. Male ticks have much shorter mouth parts.

Methods To Find A Tick On Your Pet

The most reliable ways to locate a tick is to run your fingers through the coat with enough pressure to feel for any lumps or abnormalities. Although most ticks are found around the head and neck (78%), they can be found anywhere on your pet so it is important to perform a thorough examination. Check in the beard, ears, wound the eyes, between toes and around the anal area. 10% of patients will have two or more ticks, so its important to keep searching even if you find one.

Tick paralysis is a potentially deadly condition caused by the Paralysis Tick (Ixodes holocyclus) parasite, that can affect dogs and cats.

When and where can ticks be found?

The Paralysis Tick can be found in bushy coastal areas along the eastern seaboard of Australia, from north Queensland to eastern Victoria (image right). Many people assume that ticks are only present during summer months, but the high risk period can span from spring and autumn, with cases regularly reported in winter.

Paralysis ticks will jump onto dogs and cats and then attach by burrowing their mouth-parts into the skin. Although they prefer to attach to the front half of the dog or cat, they can attach anywhere, even in the ears, on the lips, or around the anus. Dogs and cats can have multiple ticks attached at once. Occasionally, numerous tiny juvenile ticks can attach simultaneously causing an intense maddening itch.

How long does a tick have to attach for before it causes a problem?

As a general rule, for a tick to cause a problem for dog or cat, it either has to be quite large (greater than 4 mm long) or be attached for at least 4 days. However there can be marked variation in the potency of the tick and also the individual dog or cat’s susceptibility to tick paralysis, which may also vary from season to season.

Why are Paralysis Ticks so dangerous?

After attaching, the tick feeds on the host’s blood, injecting small amounts of saliva into the dog or cat. The tick’s saliva contains a toxin that disrupts the connection between the nerves and the muscles of the body, causing weakness and paralysis. Not only does this affect muscles that help the animal stand and walk, but it can also affect muscles used for breathing and swallowing, leading to serious and life threatening conditions.

If ticks are attached near the eyes they can paralyse the eye lid, preventing the animal from blinking, which can cause eyes to dry out and become damaged. Because the tick toxin also causes paralysis of the oesophagus (food pipe), affected dogs and cats may choke, retch, or regurgitate their food, water or just frothy fluid. One serious complication of this is aspiration of fluid or food into the lungs, which causes pneumonia. Tick paralysis also often causes difficulty breathing. If the paralysis becomes too advanced and the muscles involved with breathing become too weak, the dog or cat may not be able to breath sufficiently, or at all.

Tick paralysis is progressive and potentially fatal and mechanical ventilation in a veterinary hospital may be required.

Read our patient story about Charlie, who suffered from severe tick paralysis.

What are common signs of tick paralysis?

• Uncoordination
• Weakness
• Collapse
• Vomiting or retching
• Change in sound of bark or meow
• Difficulty breathing

What do Paralysis Ticks look like?

Paralysis Ticks can be identified by their grey body and legs close to the head. Their legs are the feature which best distinguishes them from other ticks that occur in the same regions. Paralysis ticks have one pair of brown legs closest to their head, then two pairs of white legs and then one pair of brown legs closest to the body.

How do I prevent tick paralysis?

If your dog or cats lives in, or visits areas where paralysis ticks could be present, you should regularly search them thoroughly, at least once a day. Clipping your dog or cat’s coat short, especially during the tick season, makes performing tick searches much easier.

Using commercially available parasiticide products is highly recommended to help prevent a potentially deadly condition. Since the release of modern parasite treatment products (containing the isoxazoline class of drug), there does appear to be a reduction in the number of cases of tick paralysis seen in hospitals such as SASH. This is a positive indication that the products are highly effective. However it is important to note that no product is 100% effective at preventing ticks from attaching and causing paralysis, so regular searches are vital in order to avoid tick paralysis. Products that can help include chewables, spot-on products (applied to the skin), baths, and rinses.

It is vital to use tick prevention products exactly as directed and most importantly, do not to use any products designed for dogs on cats as these can be extremely toxic to cats. Consult with your local veterinarian about the best tick product or program for your pet. Professional advice is especially important because parasite protection involves parasites other than ticks, and a program of multiple products may be required depending on your pet’s situation.

How do I perform a tick search?

To perform a tick search, work your fingers through your dog or cat’s coat down to the skin and then systematically massage your fingers over the entire coat. You should concentrate on the dog or cat’s front half as this is where ticks are more likely to attach. Once firmly attached. ticks feel like a hard, smooth, round irregularity on the surface of the skin. Make sure you check the edge of the lips, in skin folds, between the toes and in the ears.

If you think that you have found a tick, part the fur to have a closer look at it. Nipples, warts and other bumps on the skin are often mistaken for ticks and you should not attempt to remove them. Sometimes the tick has already become detached by the time that you are performing a search, in which case you may only find a crater where a tick has been attached.

What do I do after I find a tick on my dog or cat?

If you have found a tick, you should use a tick remover (small device that looks like a bent 2 pronged fork) to detach it from the skin. If a tick remover is not available, tweezers are also suitable. Attempt to remove the tick by its head, without squeezing the body. Great care must be taken not to separate the head from the body. If the tick is too difficult to remove, take your pet to the vet immediately. Do not attempt to burn the tick, apply tick treatments, alcohol, mineral oil or petroleum jelly to the tick while it is still attached. Closely monitor your pet, even if it is well. It is possible for your pet to start showing signs of tick paralysis after the tick is removed. Once signs of paralysis appear, the animal can deteriorate further even after the tick has been removed.

If your pet is showing any signs of tick paralysis, it is considered an emergency, seek veterinary treatment immediately. Do not wait for signs to worsen and do not give food or water before seeking help. This is especially important for animals that are already having trouble swallowing. 

In some cases, a specialist veterinary hospital, with a Critical Care facility, ventilators, and specialist critical care veterinarians are needed.

If you are worried that your dog or cat may have tick paralysis, please do not hesitate to contact the SASH Emergency service or your local veterinarian.