They Just Keep On Ticking Veterinarians Reassure Callers About Lyme Disease

Start scratching now.

A Pomeranian named Oliver never left his owner’s side on the Centennial Trail last Tuesday but by the time Janice and Arvind Nerurkar got home, Oliver had 13 ticks - mostly in his ears.

Dog owners from the South Hill to Sullivan Road are picking ticks off pets who’ve never left the yard. Callers are asking veterinarians about Lyme disease, if weather is causing an infestation and if this is the year the bloodsuckers finally take over.

Nope, nope and nope, experts say.

Before owners worry about Lyme disease they should know that there’s never been a documented case of the ailment acquired in Spokane County in humans or animals. Cases have been reported here, but they did not originate here, said Dr. Donald Anderson, a microbiologist and researcher at Sacred Heart Medical Center.

There is no evidence that deer ticks, which transmit the disease, are in this region. Pockets of deer ticks may exist, but ones found recently in Wenatchee turned out to have come from the Seattle area, said entomologist David Stiller, a tick specialist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture at the University of Idaho.

The ticks out now are the wood tick, which will begin disappearing in mid-June, and the American dog tick, which will be out until fall. The two are similar in looks and size and both can transmit diseases. The wood tick transmits Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, which can hit animals and humans.

Both ticks also can induce tick paralysis. It’s a rare condition in which the body is paralyzed after a female tick injects a toxin. Cases have been documented in livestock and in two young girls treated at Sacred Heart last year. After the ticks were removed, both girls recovered, said Anderson.

In people, relapsing fever, carried by the soft-shelled tick, is associated with lake areas in North Idaho, particularly old lake cabins where squirrels and other rodents have nested.

The best way to protect pets from ticks is the same way people protect themselves - with regular body checks and prompt removal.

“Bathing and grooming are the two best things the owner should do - which is what the owner would do for themselves,” said Jim Evermann, microbiologist at Washington State University, College of Veterinary Medicine.

Tick collars and tick shampoo also may be effective, but because dog skin can be sensitive, owners should call their veterinarian for advice.

After outings, people should check their own scalp, belt-lines and ankles. They should check their dog’s ears, head and under his legs.

If owners find a tick, prompt removal is key. Studies on Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever show that an attached tick does do not inject the disease agent for 12 to 24 hours, Stiller said.

But forget using hot matches, kerosene or even commercial tick graspers. He advises against using your fingers, too, since squeezing the tick may cause it to regurgitate into the bite. Instead:

Use tweezers or some fine-tipped forceps and gently press tips firmly into skin around the tick. Grasp the tick firmly and with very gradual pressure, pull it straight out.

Dab the bite area with rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide. Don’t worry so much about getting the head and mouthparts. The mouthparts of ticks in this area are likely to come out with the body, Stiller said.

Consider keeping the tick. If a pet or person becomes ill it could help researchers at Sacred Heart or UI.

Stiller says the number of ticks this year may be higher, not because of the recent weather but because of a variety of factors including weather the last three years and the size of the rodent population.

Stiller said blaming recent weather grossly oversimplifies nature and ticks, which have evolved over thousands of years into highly efficient parasites. Ticks have resisted humans throwing “everything but the kitchen sink” at them, Stiller said.

The ox-pecker, a bird commonly seen on the backs of cattle, eat ticks as do ants and a parasitic wasp. Even those biologic controls, though, haven’t worked very well.

“That’s how formidable they are,” Stiller said. “That’s what great survival capacity they have.”

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