What is a tick?
Ticks are large hematophagous mites, visible to the naked eye and equipped with 4 pairs of legs (for adult forms). Females measure on average 1 to 2 cm when engorged with blood, while males, larvae and nymphs are much smaller. Ticks are parasites whose particularity is to feed on the blood of their host.
Anatomy of a tick
Adult ticks of all species present:
- A mouth apparatus, called the rostrum, suitable for sucking blood. It is itself made up of:
- pedipalps, sensory organs that allow the tick to choose an attachment site on its host,
- chelicerae that cut host tissue,
- a hypostome allowing the tick to anchor itself in the skin.
- A fairly rounded non-segmented body which includes 4 pairs of legs in adults, grouped forward just under the rostrum. The body has a dorsal shield, larger in the male than in the female, which is called the scutum.
Tick larvae only have 3 pairs of legs.
3 large species of ticks
The ticks that parasitize our pets in Europe are hard ticks and belong to the Ixodidae family. This family does not include less than 700 species but, in reality, our dogs are parasitized only by 3 large species of ticks which are Ixodes, Dermacentor and Rhipicephalus.It is mainly by the shape of their oral apparatus, or rostrum, that we manage to differentiate them.
Ixodes Ricinus, also commonly known as the forest tick, is the most widely distributed tick in Europe. Adult females measure 3 to 4 mm and up to 1 cm when engorged with blood while males are only 2 to 3 mm. The larvae measure less than 1.5 mm. This species of tick lives in humid forests, on forest edges and in the undergrowth. It has a long snout.
Dermacentor reticulatus is no longer the prairie tick. Adult males measure between 4.2 and 4.8 mm while females can measure up to 1.5 cm after their blood meal. The larvae measure less than 1.5 mm. This species of tick lives at the edge of woods, in gardens, meadows, near watercourses and more generally in sparsely wooded areas.It has a short, rectangular snout.
" Rhipicephalus sanguineus is nicknamed the kennel tick. Sometimes called house tick, it is an endophilic tick that lives inside homes. The male measures 2 to 3 mm, the female 3 to 4 mm and up to 1 cm after the blood meal and the larva from 0.6 to 1.4 mm. This tick lives in homes and kennels. It particularly nests in the crevices of walls and floors. You can recognize it by its short, hexagonal rostrum."
Cycle and lifestyle of ticks
The tick is not a parasite that remains permanently on its host. In fact, it only attaches to its host long enough to feed on its blood and then detaches itself to moult or mate. It is estimated that the tick spends only 10% of its life on its hosts to feed.
During its life, the tick goes through several stages separated by molts:
- the larval stage,
- the nymphal stage,
- adult stage.
Each stage lasts about 6 weeks and the complete cycle of the tick lasts 5 to 6 months if its living conditions are optimal. On the other hand, if its living conditions are poor (winter, drought or heat wave), the tick can go into diapause and survive by fasting for up to several years.
At each stage of its life, the tick needs to feed on the blood of a host, but it is the adult females that are by far the most voracious. It is after mating with a male tick that they take their blood meal on the same host before unhooking and laying up to 4000 eggs once on the ground. The blood meal of a female tick on the same host can then last from 2 to 10 days!
How and where can a dog get ticks?
A dog can be bitten by a tick when he walks in a place where ticks are present and proliferate. The places and periods most at risk are summarized in the table below:
| Tick species | Risk areas | Risk period | Geographic location |
|---|---|---|---|
| humid forests, forest edge, undergrowth in the presence of dead leaves, humus or moss | In spring and autumn at temperatures between 7°C and 25°C | Everywhere in France except around the Mediterranean | |
| edge of the woods, parks, gardens, meadows, near waterways, lightly wooded areas | In spring and autumn at temperatures between 12°C and 25°C | Everywhere in France except in the South of France | |
| Dwellings and kennels, holes and crevices in walls and floors | All year round | Present mainly around the Mediterranean |
When the dog passes near a tick, the latter climbs on him and starts looking for the ideal place to plant its rostrum. The exophilic ticks Ixodes Ricinus and Dermacentor reticulatus are generally on the lookout for the passage of a dog (or another animal), on a blade of grass.
Once on its host, the tick will then attach itself and anchor itself in the dog's skin to take its blood meal.
Can dog ticks bite humans?
Yes! Humans are potential tick hosts, just like dogs. They can also transmit viruses, bacteria or parasites responsible for serious vector-borne diseases. On the other hand, ticks that are already on a dog have very little chance of passing on to humans.
The risks associated with a tick bite
If ticks are so dangerous for dogs, it is mainly because their bite can be the source of the transmission of a large number of serious vector-borne diseases among:
- borreliosis (or Lyme disease),
- tick-borne meningoencephalitis,
- canine babesiosis or piroplasmosis,
- erhlichiosis,
- hepatozoonosis,
- Mediterranean spotted fever,
- tularemia,
- anaplasmosis.
They can also have a direct pathogenic role:
- by their plundering action. If there are many ticks on the animal and the animal is small and/or in poor he alth, ticks can really weaken their host by depriving it of a significant amount of blood,
- by promoting the formation of an infection and a micro-abscess at the bite site when the tick has dropped,
- by the sometimes toxic action of their saliva. Some ticks thus have neurotoxic substances in their saliva which can lead to irreversible nerve damage in dogs.
What to do when you find a tick on your dog?
When you detect a tick running on your pet's coat, it is imperative to remove it immediately before it settles and eliminate it by burning it or dipping it in alcohol.
If, on the other hand, the tick is already fixed, it is necessary to remove it as quickly as possible to limit the risk of disease transmission. Indeed, the majority of the agents responsible for vector-borne diseases transmitted by ticks are only inoculated within 24 to 48 hours after the implantation of the tick.The faster we act, the lower the risk for your dog of contracting a disease! Note that this advice is valid even if your dog is correctly treated against ticks because anti-tick products do not kill 100% of ticks within 48 hours after the start of their blood meal!
To remove a tick, you must use an anti-tick hook by following the steps in the procedure explained below.
After removing the tick, inspect your dog's entire coat to make sure there are no others. And if so, remove them immediately!
Then renew your dog's anti-tick treatment if necessary.
If the removed tick belongs to the species Rhipicephalus sanguineus, also treat the environment with a suitable acaricide product. Ask your veterinarian for advice on choosing it.
If your dog has one or more of the symptoms in the days following the bite, consult a veterinarian without delay.
How to remove a tick from your dog?
Get a tick hook (or tick puller), a sterile compress, a disinfectant that does not sting, an ashtray + a box of matches or alcohol, soap then:
- Wash your hands with clean water and soap then dry them. If you have them, you can use disposable gloves.
- Slide the tick hook over the animal's skin, approaching the tick from the side and placing the branches of the hook on either side of its rostrum.
- Turn the pliers on itself to unscrew the tick. The parasite should then unhook itself without you needing to shoot.
- Once the tick is unhooked, check that the rostrum has not remained stuck in your dog's skin.
- Place the tick in an ashtray, strike a match and burn the tick on contact with the match. Once the tick is burned, you can then throw it in the trash. You can also kill the tick by drowning it in alcohol.
- Disinfect the bite site carefully by applying a compress soaked in disinfectant solution.
- Finally, wash your hands thoroughly again with soap.
Don't!
- Pulling the tick: the risk is then to leave the rostrum in the dog's skin, which promotes the formation of micro-abscesses at the bite site.
- Press the tick's abdomen with your fingers or with tweezers or pour a product on the tick (ether, alcohol, disinfectant, oil). By doing so, you would cause the tick to regurgitate, which promotes the transmission of vector-borne diseases!
- Burn the tick with a cigarette while it's still stuck on your dog. In addition to the reflex regurgitation that this would cause in the tick, you risk seriously burning your animal!
- Crush the tick between your fingers: there is a risk of transcutaneous disease transmission!
Prevention: how to protect your dog from ticks?
Treat your dog preventively with a product against ticks, at least during periods of risk. These products exist in particular in the form of necklaces, spot-on pipettes and tablets. Their duration of action (and therefore their frequency of renewal) varies, depending on the speci alty, from 3 weeks to 8 months. Always ask your veterinarian for advice on choosing the most suitable product for your dog's case.
Check your pet's coat after each outing in a risk area and even if the animal is well under preventive treatment because the protection of anti-tick products never reaches 100%. In dogs, the favorite attachment sites for ticks are places where the skin is thin and sparsely haired, such as the scrotum, the nipples, near the ears or eyelids, between the fingers, inside the thighs or under the armpits.Note, however, that ticks can attach themselves anywhere on your pet's coat and body.
Note!
While blood-engorged female ticks are the largest and most easily recognizable, there are also few of them on their host. Although they are more difficult to spot, adult male ticks, larvae and nymphs parasitize animals in greater numbers. Don't forget to check your pet's coat for ticks at different life stages.