Can a Tick Kill a Dog?
- January 24, 2023
- Dogs
- Roger Miller
Ticks. The fierce and evil enemy of our little furry pets. Ticks crawl onto your dog’s skin and start sucking their blood without hesitation.
Protecting our pets against ticks is our duty as owners, but it appears that not all pet owners out there pay enough attention to these little, evil bugs.
But can a tick kill a dog? Are we just overreacting? Ticks can cause fatal diseases indeed, and Your Pet, Your Love, will show you all you must know about ticks, dogs, and death rates. Brace yourself, and let’s fight a common enemy that we all have within our reach.
Is It Dangerous to Leave a Tick in a Dog?
Yes, leaving ticks on your dog is indeed dangerous. Many people believe that ticks on dogs are natural, and that they shouldn’t mess with them since “that’s the natural course of animals,” but they can’t be further from the truth.
Ticks create a massive number of health problems that can affect your dog in the medium and long haul, so you want to avoid them at all times.
Often, pet owners ask themselves really specific questions regarding dogs and death, such as “Can a Hairball Kill a Dog?”
Therefore, this leads us to wonder the following: can ticks kill dogs? The answer might surprise you.
Can a Tick Kill Your Dog?
Yes, ticks can kill dogs. It has been scientifically proven that ticks create many fatal diseases in dogs that can lead to their death within a few weeks or months.
Although the main inconvenience caused by ticks are simple skin wounds and irritations, this is the least of your problems when it comes to keeping your dog healthy.
Ticks are external parasites, and they only have one goal: to suck your dog’s blood to feed themselves and reproduce on their bodies.
It sounds cruel, but that’s how nature works – it is our duty to interfere and protect our pets.
So, the next time you see a little tick biting your dog’s body, and you ask yourself, “can ticks kill dogs?” remember that the answer will always be yes, they can.
Can a Tick Kill a Puppy?
Yes, ticks can kill puppies – they are especially prone to dying from tick-related diseases, such as anemia and Lyme disease.
It has been proven that the mortality rate of puppies is way higher than adult dogs, so your puppy requires more attention and precaution than month-old or year-old dogs.
Ticks cause a wide variety of diseases that, even in their most standard forms, can cause the death of dog puppies, regardless of their age, breed, and size.
Can a Single Tick Kill a Dog?
A single tick can kill a dog if that tick happens to carry on a potentially mortal disease and pass it to your dog.
To be realistic, it is fairly odd to see just one tick in a dog – they come in numbers, and whenever you discover ticks on your dog, you must do something about it.
But there’s a high chance for the tick to cause a mortal illness in a puppy or dog. Based on this information, it is safe to say that yes, a single tick can kill a dog if your furry friend is unfortunate enough, sadly.
How Do Ticks Kill Dogs?
Ticks kill dogs by causing several tick-borne diseases on them. There are five main tick-borne diseases that you must watch out for, which are the following:
- Canine Babesiosis: deer ticks can cause Canine Babesiosis by passing a parasite that destroys blood cells. Dogs will feel exhausted, they will experience vomits and dark urine. The treatment for this disease is rather delicate and hard to face.
- Canine Ehrlichiosis: also called “canine hemorrhagic fever,” this horrible disease caused by lone-star ticks affects dog’s white cells, causing a deadly fever that is really hard to cure.
- Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever: American dog ticks are responsible for this awful fever disease, which is caused by bacteria. Beware – humans can suffer from this illness as well!
- Canine Anaplasmosis: primarily caused by brown dog ticks, this disease causes bacteria to destroy your dog’s system within a few days. If you spot the disease early, it can be 100% cured, but only if you act fast.
- Lyme Disease: this is the most common disease caused by ticks. Luckily, science and medicine have come a pretty long way when it comes to treating it. In order for your dog to get Lyme Disease, the tick must be stuck into its skin for over 48 hours.
Some of these diseases are fatal, and some others can be treated and cured as long as you act fast.
How Many Dogs Die From Ticks?
Statistics show that over 10,000 dogs get tick paralysis disease each year. Although only 5% of these cases are actually fatal (500 dogs), preventing tick-borne disease is an issue that has been discussed for several years now.
Either way, as mentioned above, there are many other diseases caused by ticks, and all of these tick-borne diseases can be fatal.
According to the AKC Canine Health Foundation, it is imperative to watch out for dogs and puppies for tick-related diseases.
Research shows that there are over 76 million dogs in the United States in 2023. Based on this estimation, we can say that around 7,000 dogs will die from tick-borne diseases in the USA over the course of a year.
How Long Does It Take for a Tick to Harm a Dog?
It depends on the disease we are talking about, but most times, a tick can harm a dog by being attached from 3 to 48 hours.
It has been proven by the Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC) that pathogen transmission caused by agents Ehrlichia spp. and Rickettsia spp takes place just between 3 and 6 hours after tick attachment.
On the other hand, Borrelia burgdorferi transmission requires between 24 and 48 hours of nonstop feeding before infesting the host.
This means that ticks can harm a dog practically immediately – if you fail to act on time, the consequences might be fatal.
How to Prevent Ticks on Dogs: 3 Useful Ways
Now that you know the harm that ticks cause to your dog, it is time to learn how to prevent ticks in an efficient way.
The CDC has three main recommendations when it comes to preventing ticks on dogs, so tick-borne diseases don’t affect your little companion.
1. Use Tick Prevention Products On Your Dog
There’s a wide variety of tick prevention products that you can find at your local veterinarian.
Ask a professional regarding products that prevent ticks, and they will provide you with the best ones in the market. It is always better to be safe than sorry, so being one step ahead of ticks will help you a lot.
2. Check Your Dog Daily for Ticks
You must manually check your pet if you suspect the presence of ticks on their skin.
Simply grab them, and start looking for ticks within their fur. This might be a little hard, mostly if your dog’s fur is dark.
But it is a really great way to know whether your dog has ticks or not. Then, remove the tick – use a little piece of paper, kill the tick, and throw it away.
3. Destroy Tick Habitat Near Your Home
Ticks proliferate in yards and natural spaces. If you suspect the presence of ticks in your yard, using tick pesticides is the best thing you can do to get rid of the problem from the root.
Likewise, keep your dog away from possible tick habitats. Professionals can handle this subject better than you, so don’t hesitate to ask your vet about it.
What to Do if Your Dog Has Ticks?
So, what if your dog has ticks? It is not the end of the world for your dog, at least not just yet.
If you act fast, then you will save your dog’s life.
This is what you must do if your dog has ticks and you have already spotted them.
1. Take Your Dog to the Vet
The first thing that you must do is take your dog to the vet. Stop reading this guide, and run to the vet as soon as you can.
It doesn’t matter if the dog just had one tick – veterinarians know that this is not a kid’s game, so it is important to act fast.
Although there’s the chance that your dog doesn’t get sick at all, acting fast and getting help from professionals is the absolute best thing that you can do.
2. Manually Remove the Tick from Your Dog
If you just spotted a single tick, and you feel confident to remove it, then go for it.
Grab a piece of paper, spot the tick, and firmly remove it from your dog’s skin. It will probably hurt him or her a little bit, but you are doing it for them.
All in all, if the tick has too many hours latched onto its skin, you either way will need to take them to the vet because it is hard to tell how much time they have been there.
3. Watch Out for Possible Disease Symptoms
Lastly, it is imperative to check possible disease symptoms in your dog. If you are not a professional, you will not know whether disease symptoms are related to ticks or not.
But checking on them will help you have a clear advantage in case your dog gets a serious illness from the tick.
Pet Summary: Can a Tick Bite Kill a Dog?
A tick bite can kill a dog – ticks are dangerous parasites, and you should not treat them lightly.
Therefore, if you suspect the presence of ticks, act fast, and go to the vet.
Your Pet, Your Love understands how much you care for your dog, so follow the guidelines in this article and do what you must to ensure your dog’s health.
FAQ
Does Removing a Tick Hurt a Dog?
It might – if the tick has been biting the dog for a few hours, the dog might feel pain when you remove it. Just remember that you are doing this for them, so even if it might hurt a little bit, you must not hesitate.
Can a Dog Tick Harm a Human?
Yes! Dog ticks can latch onto humans and transmit diseases as well, such as Lyme Disease. Therefore, removing ticks is not only a thing you must do for your dog, but for your own health as well.