The United States has about 200 tick species. Habitats include woods, beach
grass, lawns, forests, and even urban areas. Ticks may carry various infectious organisms that can transmit diseases to
cats and dogs
Ticks are not insects like fleas, but arachnids like mites, spiders and
scorpions. They have a four-stage life cycle: eggs, larvae, nymphs, and adults. Adult females of some species
lay about 100 eggs at a time. Others lay 3,000 to 6,000 eggs per batch.
Six-legged larvae hatch from the eggs.
After at least one blood meal, the larvae
molt into eight-legged nymphs--in some species, more than once. Final nymphs
molt into adult males or females, also with eight legs. Depending on its
species, a tick may take less than a year or up to several years to go through
its four-stage life cycle. While ticks need a blood meal at each stage after
hatching, some species can survive years without feeding.
Ticks as Disease Carriers
The United States has about 200 tick species. Habitats include woods, beach
grass, lawns, forests, and even urban areas. Ticks may carry various infectious organisms that can transmit diseases to
cats and dogs, including the following (listed with possible symptoms):
 Babesiosis
 Lethargy, appetite loss, weakness, pale gums
Ehrlichiosis
High fever, muscle aches
Lyme
disease
Lameness, swollen joints, fever, poor appetite, fatigue, and
vomiting (some infected animals show no symptoms)
Tick paralysis in
dogs
Gradual paralysis, seen first as an unsteady gait
from uncoordinated back legs (some infected dogs don't develop paralysis).
In June 1992, USDA licensed a vaccine to prevent Lyme disease in dogs. In most cases, immunity lasts at least five or six
months.
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