Most of us are alarmed when we find a tick on our pet and well we should be. Ticks can carry serious diseases that can infect both us and our pets, such as Lyme's disease and Rocky Mountains Spotted fever. Other tick borne diseases are Canine Erlichiosis and Canine Anaplasmosis. Ticks are very good transmitters of these diseases.

Ticks crawl and climb up shrubs and grass where they wait for a warm blooded animal to pass they detect the host by CO2 exhaled while breathing and by body heat, when an animal passes nearby the tick it waves its front legs and falls of the perch and lands onto the host. It can crawl around on the host for several hours until it finds an appropriate spot to feed. It then burrows into the host with its mouth parts and secretes a cement like substance to help it firmly attach to its host, when engorged it drops off the host.

Ticks are not insects they are arachnids, like spiders. Ticks have three life stages. The larvae, the nymph and the adult. Some of the most common ticks found in the United States are the American Dog Tick, the lone star tick and the deer tick or black legged tick. To avoid ticks stay out of long grass and always look for ticks after being out doors, remove ticks immediately whether they are attached or not. When removing a tick do not use your hands, instead use a tweezers and pull the tick straight out, do not tug or twist. Do not try to kill the tick on the host with a match or by applying Vaseline. You can use tape to kill the tick by attaching the tick to the tape and folding it over until it is completely attached or you can attach the tick to the tape and kill it with alcohol, or you can flush the tick down the toilet.

To help prevent ticks on your pet use a flea and tick control product. There are many flea and tick control products out there, but from many years of experience, and living in a heavily tick infested area I have found the Frontline Plus monthly application to be the best and I highly recommend its use.