Ticks infestation is on the increase. Protect your pet!

The current weather condition in Lagos where I reside and in a few other parts of the country has been characterised by heavy rainfall followed by sunshine — a perfect weather for ticks to spread and reproduce.

Ticks spread from heavily infested houses and surroundings to places where they are not normally found after light or heavy rainfalls sweep and transport them. In addition, the sunshine that may follow the rainfall helps to heat up their eggs and facilitate quick hatching.

Little wonder why about this time of the year, ticks suddenly resurface and you begin to see a few on your dogs or around where they stay or play.

Tick infestation should not be treated with kid gloves because, as mosquitoes transmit a parasite (plasmodium) that causes malaria, ticks can transmit a parasite (babesiacanis), which causes tick fever.

The parasites move from the tick’s saliva and find their way into your dog’s red blood cells and continue to multiply until they are so much that they destroy (bursts) the red blood cells of the infected dog.

Once the cell is destroyed, a substance called hemoglobin in it is broken down into a greenish-yellow pigment called bilirubin, which undergoes some further degradation and is eventually stored in the body as bile (greenish yellow fluid). Bile is usually stored in a sac called the gall bladder.

If a lot of red blood cells are destroyed, it will result in the excessive production of bile and once the gall bladder is full and can no longer store bile (greenish yellow fluid), excess bile will be stored in soft tissues such as the skin, eyes and gum. This will give these organs a greenish-yellowish tinge.This condition is referred to as jaundice.

Jaundice can be a late sign of tick fever but other early signs include poor appetite, pale gums and conjunctiva, increased pantingor rapid breathing, weight loss, golden yellow or brown urine, vomiting, yellow and brown diarrhea.

Tick fever is very deadly and can be expensive to treat. So, please consult your vet doctor for relevant advice whenever you see any of these signs. Above all, “prevention is better and cheaper than cure.”

To control ticks, prophylactic use of tick control sprays and solutions can be employed. However, please note that not all sprays or chemicals can be used on dogs. Be sure to check the body of the product and ensure that it has been specified safe for use on animals. And do not spray pregnant or nursing animals.

Also, never use any spray that contains DDT on your dog. In fact, don’t even let these chemicals come near its skin because they are very dangerous and can kill on contact.

Anti-tick products that contain Fipronil are one of the safest for use on dogs. However, there are other effective products that contain active ingredients such as Pyrethroids and Amitraz.

After spraying your dog, ensure the body gets dry before you return it to the kennel. In case of poisoning, activated charcoal administered orally can be a good first aid. Also, palm oil or milk mixed with eggs can be a life-saving home-made remedy.

Have a beautiful weekend.

Ask the Vet

Dear readers, last week I wrote an article titled “Patronising quacks can be dangerous” and I received quite a number of comments. However, I’d share one of these with you in order to clarify a salient issue.

“Good article, Sir; but, mind you, no animal scientist or animal health technologist will call him or herself a vet doctor. But people call us doctors because they know that we deal with animals and also because they know that there is a thin line between animal science, animal health and vet medicine.

“So, I will appreciate if you can write an article that will differentiate a quack from an animal scientist, animal health technologist and a vet. Your article now simply means that those who studied animal science, health and production are quacks.”

Dipo,

Ibadan

Firstly, let’s begin with a definition of both professions.

According to the website of the Animal Science Association of Nigeria, Animal Science is described as “studying the biology of animals that are under the control of mankind.”

Historically, animal science was called animal husbandry and the animals studied were livestock species, like cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry and horses.  The curriculum focuses on animal husbandry (management and care of farm animals) and does not extensively deal with companion animals like dogs and cats.

On the other hand, Veterinary Medicine is the branch that deals with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, disorder and injury in non-human animals. The scope of veterinary medicine is wide, covering all animal species, both domesticated and wild, with a wide range of conditions which can affect different species.

An animal scientist is not a veterinary doctor. Although there is a thin line with regards to the knowledge of management and care for farm animals, the definition of both professions implies that when it comes to diagnosis and treatment, a veterinarian should be consulted.

But an animal scientist is a professional and in no way a quack if he/she limits his/her responsibilities to the definition of the profession of an animal scientist.

 PUNCH.