Brush your pet’s fur after a walk. Ticks and tick-borne diseases are spreading, boosted by global warming.
I’ll be pet-sitting In France and ticks are everywhere. Four species have been regularly found across the country, capable of transmitting bacteria, viruses, and other parasites harmful to humans. While Lyme borreliosis is the best-known of these tick-borne diseases, new threats have come under the scrutiny of health authorities in recent years. Be safe. Brush your pet’s fur after a walk.
Antibiotic treatment can stop bacterial contamination rapidly when the diagnosis is made soon after the bite, after the tick has been located and removed, or when an inflammatory red patch results around the bite. But if the diagnosis is delayed, the disease can progress, first with symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, and muscle or joint pain before spreading to multiple organs. “Everyone can catch Lyme disease, and there is no protective immunity, which means you can contract it several times in your life,” said Nathalie Boulanger, a medical entomologist.
Ensure the safety of your pet with a simple brushing after a walk.
We are in France and our dog contracted piroplasmosis from a tick bite last year. You can google the symptoms, which are not like those of Lyme (at least, not that you can tell in a dog) – in our case our dog seemed weak and could barely walk 10 metres before having to lie down, which is extremely unusual for a border collie. It was very hot then and we thought his recent lazing about was due to that. It was our neighbour who, noticing his lethargy, suggested we take him to the vet to get him checked for piroplasmosis.
Yes, if you’re walking dogs, might be worth getting a tick extractor tool — cheap and widely available. So you get get the whole tick out easily and avoid leaving the head in the pet or you, avoid more saliva oozing into the bite site.
This was in a coastal canyon area in California. The part I find most unsettling was finding a tick in my hair 2 days and 2 showers after the hike. I consistently check for ticks after trail runs or hikes, but I have never worried about daily follow-up checks…until now
Thank you so much for sharing your story. This is shocking. My mother had us brush our hair into the bathtub after a hike in the hills in Kamloops, BC Canada so we could see/catch anything. Sure enough, one fell out. But ticks are also found in the city. Someone just reported finding a tick on her dog in Vancouver, BC which prompted me to write this post.
Paris recently had a bed bug infestation.. my equipment bag is about the same size as my clothing luggage at present. Maybe we should be demanding decontamination procedures and danger money.
I’m always surprised how laid back many Home Owners are about the grooming of the pets.
I hate extra housework and grooming at source to me seems absolutely essential. I’d rather be out with the dogs than hoovering for hours inside.
We were housesitting in the forests of Portugal in March this year and twice I found ticks buried in me, yuck. Not even in the soft flesh - once on the side of the knee and once on my shin We did have to check the dogs after every walk. Sometimes there were ticks on them, but because they are being treated with tick treatment, the ticks don’t actually latch on.
We did have to check the dogs after every walk. Sometimes there were ticks on them, but because they are being treated with tick treatment, the ticks don’t actually latch on.