Paralysis ticks and chickens

[cmom]

This is very late but may be of interest to those with free-range chickens in eastern australia with a paralysis tick presence. The paralysis associated with this tick is only a problem if the bite is from a female tick. The male is equally disgusting but does not carry the toxin. These ticks lurk in vegetation normally less than about a meter high and the female bite can kill pets like cats, dogs, and chickens. One of our cats was bitten a couple of years ago and, although we spotted the signs very quickly and have a veterinary hospital 5 minutes away, she nearly died and took hours to respond fully to the anti-venom. This cost us hundreds of dollars, so we took measures to stop it happening again.

Keep your grass etc. less than a few centimetres long so ticks won't be brushed off on it. Cats - and chickens - tend to avoid long grass anyway so try to help them with this. The ticks are usually carried by native animals which are naturally immune to the venom. This fact is, I think, being used to research tranferring similar immunity to domestic pets. You can get into a routine of examining your pets for ticks when they come in - especially around the ears. But they hate it, it's very boring, and you're likely to miss ticks before they've become attached. If you find a tick, don't try and pull it out with your fingers. Your clumsy squeezing just causes the tick to vomit a disgusting cocktail of infections and digestive fluids into the bloodstream. Instead, remain calm, find a pair of tweezers, grip the tick as close to the skin as you can - by the head - and squeezing firmly without crushing turn it anti-clockwise as if unscrewing it from the skin. It will soon come out intact and should be retained for identification purposes should your pet show signs of female paralysis tick bite. These include instability when walking and increasing evidence of distress and disorientation. As soon as these signs show, take your pet to a vet quickly along with the tick for identification.

 

[aart]

I had never heard of these until I recently saw a TV pet show based in AU.
Pretty scary.....sure glad we don't have them here.