Mathews McCormick

Ticks aren't insects like fleas, but arachnids like insects, spiders, and scorpions. A beat features a one-piece human anatomy, harpoon like barbs around its mouth to connect to a host for a sticky secretion, crablike feet and providing to help hold itself to the host. The United States has about 200 tick species whose habitats include woods, even in some urban areas, and beach grass, lawns, woods.

They've a four-stage life cycle, egg, larvae, nymphs, and adult. Determined by its species, a beat usually takes less than a year or as much as many years to proceed through its four stage life-cycle. Adult women of some species lay about 100 eggs at the same time. The others put 3,000 to 6,000 eggs per set.

Ticks can carry different infectious organisms that can transmit disorders to dogs and cats along with humans. The four main diseases and their signs are:

- Babesiosis lethargy, loss of appetite, weakness, light gums

- Ehrlichiosis high temperature, muscle aches

- Lyme dis-ease lameness, bloated joints, fever, bad hunger, fatigue, nausea

- Tick paralysis in dogs gradual paralysis and poor coordination

Of the four conditions, Lyme illness is the worst, as it could also infect humans. Studies suggest that dogs are 50 percent more prone to this illness than humans. Lyme dis-ease is transmitted through the bite of the deer tick, also referred to as the tick. Symptoms in humans include weakness, chills and fever, frustration, muscle and pain, swollen lymph nodes, and a red round skin rash. In June 1992 the USDA certified a vaccine to avoid Lyme illness in dogs. There is no vaccine for cats yet.

Ask the vet about the Lyme disease vaccine, if your puppy is outside frequently. Watch for the symptoms described earlier, and if you believe a tick-borne disease get your pet to the vet immediately. With early diagnosis, antibiotics broadly speaking work. Dogs should be kept out of tick-infested areas, If at all possible. In areas where ticks are predominant, yards where dogs exercise should be treated with appropriate substances to kill adult and immature ticks.

Dogs should be examined frequently for the current presence of ticks on their bodies. Ticks prefer sheltered places, for example inside the ears and between your toes of the host, but a heavily infested dog could have ticks anywhere on its body. When a tick is available it should be removed immediately. The proper way to