Northern Beaches vets are reporting a spike in tick paralysis cases and are urging owners to keep their pets’ preventative treatments up to date as tick season begins.
Collaroy local Amelie is, unfortunately, one of the owners caught out. Her cavoodle of 11 years, Mocca, is fighting for her life at Collaroy Vet after a paralysis tick bite.
“It was around two in the morning. I woke up to Mocca pawing at me… I turned on the hallway light, and as she ran towards me, her back legs pretty much just like flopped on the floor behind her, and she hit her head into the corridor wall,” she told Manly Observer outside the vet, cradling her other dog, Chino, who was also found with a tick.
Her brother was asleep and her mother was in Brisbane, so the 19-year-old rushed Mocca to Terrey Hills Northside Emergency Veterinary Service (NEVS) herself.
“I start crying at the vet. I hadn’t really cried up until this point. And then he comes out and he says she had a paralysis tick, and he shows me. I asked, ‘Can I see her?’ And she was already in an oxygen cage at this point, so I didn’t really get to pat her or anything,” she said.
The next day, Amelie found another tick under Chino’s collar. Fortunately, it was caught in the nick of time, and he is already recovering.
Mocca has also since arrived home, but is still extremely unwell and with their vet bills already around 10K on top of continuous medication purchases and recovery visits, the hardship isn’t over.
A stark reminder from vets
The unfortunate event is a reminder for owners to not only be aware of the symptoms of ticks in their pets but to also use easy and effective preventive treatment.
Mocca was transferred from NEVS to Collaroy Veterinary Hospital. Dr Emily Pratten, a vet at the Collaroy clinic said sadly they had already seen two dogs die recently from tick paralysis. She says they have already seen a spike in cases over the past few weeks, with multiple dogs with ticks coming in every day.
“The only way to prevent tick paralysis is to make sure that your pet is up to date with a tick preventative. There are lots of different formulations available. There are oral chews. There are spot-ons that you put on the back of the neck. There are year-long injections for dogs,” she said.
“But you need to make sure that your pet is receiving the right product at the right time. Even missing the dose by a few days can be critical.”
Dr Pratten warned against “natural remedies”, which offer no protection against ticks. Some owners are wary of the chemicals in commercial preventatives. The clinic says the tick’s toxin is far more dangerous than those products, and much harder to treat.
She also urged owners to learn the early signs of tick paralysis. They include:
- Wobbliness or weakness in the legs
- Laboured breathing
- Coughing or vomiting
- A bark or meow that sounds different
“If you see any of those signs, or if you find a tick on your pet, or if your pet is not up to date with their tick prevention, definitely bring them in for a vet check,” she said.
Help for Mocca
Mocca is Amelie’s treasured friend and she was not willing to let her go. She has been by her side since she was a child; the cavoodle sleeps with her every night and is said to be smarter than the average pup. And of course her comfort service is offered to their other dog Chino, the pair has been together for life.
“[Chino’s] obviously really anxious without Mocca as well. He’s a really anxious dog, especially him not seeing Mocca for a couple days, I don’t think they’ve ever been apart for 11 years,” Amelie said.
“I work casually, and I’m a full-time uni student, but that’s not gonna cut it. For we don’t know how much it’s gonna end up being because it’s a day-by-day kind of thing. So it could reach $20,000, which is not something anyone really has sitting around.”
If you’d like to help out Amelie with her dog’s medical bills, you can do so here.
