Ticks: Life cycle, species, and where you’re most at risk

Different tick species, such as blacklegged (deer) ticks, Rocky Mountain wood ticks, and American dog ticks, live in different regions of North America. Depending on where you live, you may occasionally find ticks on your pet, as ticks attach themselves to hosts to feed. While most tick bites are harmless, diseases spread by infected ticks can be fatal. Read on to learn more about:

• The tick life cycle and how they find hosts
• Where ticks are most commonly found in North America
• How to do tick checks and safely remove ticks from pets
• The dangers of tick bites and tick-borne diseases
• Why tick prevention is important

Talking to a veterinarian is the best way to understand how at risk your pet is of tick bites and tick-borne illnesses based on your lifestyle and where you live. Understanding the tick life cycle, how to safely remove ticks from pets, and your pet’s risk of tick bites can help prevent disease and other complications from tick bites.

Understanding the tick life cycle helps to better understand how tick bites occur, how tick bites are treated, and where pets are most at risk for ticks. Ticks are small, flat arachnids that attach to animals and humans to feed on their blood. Unfed ticks are much smaller than engorged ticks that have taken a full blood meal. It’s common for dogs and cats who go outside to get a tick, especially in certain regions of North America and at specific times of the year.

Ticks go through four life stages and have to find a host and feed before progressing from one stage to the next. The four life stages are:

• Egg
• Six-legged larvae
• Eight-legged nymph
• Adult

The entire life cycle usually takes two to three years to complete. Eggs hatch into larvae and search for a host in the spring. Larval ticks spend a few days feeding on the blood of their host, and once they become engorged, they drop off the host to molt into nymphs. Nymphs eventually find a new host to feed on, but this usually doesn’t occur until several months have passed, often over the winter. After feeding for a few days, nymphs drop off and molt into adult ticks. This usually happens in autumn, more than a year after the eggs hatched. Adult ticks feed and mate, eventually allowing adult female ticks to lay thousands of eggs by the following spring.

Most of the time, ticks must find a new host between each life stage to survive. Even brown dog ticks (Rhipicephalus sanguineus), which can remain on the same host throughout their life cycle, usually drop off to molt and then find another host.

More than 90 species of ticks exist in North America and over 850 worldwide. Most ticks that affect pets in North America are hard ticks that have a hard shield behind their mouthparts. Soft ticks are far less common, and none of the common ticks that affect pets in the United States and Canada are soft ticks.

There are four main species of ticks in the United States and Canada in particular that vary in geographic distribution:

• Blacklegged tick or deer tick (Ixodes spp.): found primarily in the northeastern, mid-Atlantic, southeastern, and north-central regions of the United States
• American dog tick and Rocky Mountain wood tick (Dermacentor spp.): found primarily east of the Rocky Mountains and some areas in the Pacific Northwest
• Brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus): very common and found throughout the US and worldwide
• Gulf Coast and Lone Star tick (Amblyomma spp.): found in the southeastern, south-central, eastern, and midwest regions of the United States

The ranges of the different tick species are growing due to the effects of climate change. Seasonal activity patterns vary between types of tick, but there are usually population spikes in early spring and late fall. Ticks can be active in the winter, especially in areas with mild weather. Some ticks can survive indoors year-round. Talk to a veterinarian to learn which ticks are prevalent and which tick-borne diseases are a concern in your area.

“Even though most tick bites are harmless and do not result in the transmission of a disease, it is still important to regularly check at-risk pets for ticks and safely remove them as quickly as possible,” explains Dr. Jo Myers, a veterinarian on Vetster. “Infected ticks do not spread disease immediately after a bite, but the risk of tick-borne diseases increases the longer they are attached.”

Check your pet for ticks by running your fingers through your pet's fur and firmly over their skin. Pay particular attention to areas that have thinner skin or spots that are difficult for your pet to groom themselves, such as around the ears and eyes, under the collar, and under the front and back legs. A thorough check would also involve looking inside the ears and between each toe. Attached ticks feel like small bumps on the skin surface, and bites can feel like scabby sores. Some ticks are very small and more easily felt than seen, especially in animals with long or dark fur.

Follow these steps to remove a tick from your pet:

1. Grasp the tick with clean tweezers or a tick-removal tool as closer to the skin as possible.
2. Pull up until the skin tents.
3. Wait for the tick to let go.
4. Dispose of the tick by tightly wrapping it in tape, dropping it into rubbing alcohol, or flushing it down a toilet.
5. Thoroughly wash your hands and your pet’s bite wound with pet-safe soap and water.

Do not twist or crush the tick. Be careful not to grab a tick around its abdomen to prevent squeezing infectious agents from its abdomen into the bite wound. Do not use other methods of tick removal, such as a lit match, petroleum jelly, or rubbing alcohol. These methods may damage your pet’s skin and do unnecessary harm.

If a tick breaks apart during removal, do not try to find embedded body parts. Your pet’s body can naturally push any remaining parts out of their skin. Poking around the bite doesn’t provide any benefit and only increases the risk of infection.

There are many myths surrounding ticks, tick removal, and tick bites. Knowing the facts can decrease your pet’s risk of tick exposure, skin infection, and tick-borne disease.

Myth: You need to avoid leaving a tick’s head in a bite

It’s a common myth that a tick’s head may stay in your pet after a tick’s been removed. Ticks bite by inserting their mouthparts into the skin, but they do not burrow beneath the skin, and their heads remain outside. This myth persists because tick bites are usually inflamed and often have a dark spot in the center where the tick was attached, which can be mistaken for a head. Even if a tick breaks apart when removing it, it’s best to do nothing more than thoroughly clean the bite with pet-safe soap and water, and then leave it alone to limit the risk of infection.

Myth: I don’t need to worry about ticks in the winter

Ticks are active any time the temperature is above 40℉ or 4℃. Areas with mild winters have active ticks year-round. In addition, brown dog ticks can infest a home and live indoors even when it is below freezing outside. It is best to keep pets on year-round tick prevention, even in the winter months.

Myth: Ticks live in trees and fall onto pets

Pets can come into contact with ticks even if they don’t go into woodland habitats or forests. Ticks primarily live in long grass and brush, on the forest floor, and in areas where wildlife frequently visit, all of which can include urban and suburban areas. To find a source of blood, ticks wait with their legs outstretched until a host passes close enough for them to grab onto. After grabbing onto a host animal, ticks migrate to their preferred feeding area on the body.

Myth: You should remove ticks with a heat source or chemical

Tick removal methods other than tweezers or tick-removal tools are not recommended and can be dangerous. Lit matches, petroleum jelly, rubbing alcohol, and nail polish remover are popular home remedies for ticks. However, these remedies are unnecessary and can increase the risk of complications from a tick bite.

Most ticks are not carrying disease-causing organisms, and most bites are harmless. Even when properly removed and not infected, tick bites look scabby and inflamed and take a couple of weeks to heal. Even when a tick transmits a disease-causing organism, many pets never develop symptoms. However, since tick-borne diseases can be deadly to pets and pet owners, it’s best to use tick-prevention methods.

Tick-borne illnesses in pets include:

• Lyme disease
• Ehrlichiosis (hemorrhagic fever)
• Anaplasmosis
• Rocky Mountain spotted fever
• Babesiosis (piroplasmosis)
• Bartonellosis (cat scratch fever)
• Hepatozoonosis
• Tick paralysis

Dogs are more likely to contract an illness from ticks than cats because cats are naturally resistant to most tick-borne illnesses. However, some tick-borne diseases can be deadly to both dogs and cats, and most tick-borne illnesses can also affect people.

Pets do not spread tick-borne diseases to humans. The majority of people who catch a tick-borne disease get bitten while out in tick habitat. If your pet is diagnosed with a tick-borne illness and you spend time outside with them, it’s possible you may have been exposed as well. Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne illness in humans and the only tick-borne disease that can be prevented in dogs by vaccination. If you’re worried about the risk of tick-borne disease, talk to a veterinarian to learn more about which species of tick and which illnesses are prevalent in your area.

In addition to the risk of tick-borne diseases, heavy tick infestations can lead to life-threatening anemia in young puppies, tiny dogs, cats, and kittens due to blood loss. In some cases, tick bites may become infected. Even without an infection, bites often leave scabby, inflamed sores that take a couple of weeks to heal. The use of safe tick prevention methods and the quick removal of attached ticks helps prevent the spread of disease and other complications associated with tick bites.

To learn more about what tick-borne illnesses are prevalent in your area and whether your pets are at risk, an online veterinary professional is available 24/7 on Vetster for a virtual vet appointment.

Can humans get ticks from pets?

Humans usually get ticks the same way pets do: by being outside where ticks are actively looking for hosts. Ticks usually stay on their host until they’re done feeding, unless they’re groomed off or otherwise dislodged. They do not jump from one host to another. It’s possible for a tick to be carried inside by a pet, get groomed off or be driven off the pet due to a repellant, and then eventually find its way to a human. Some adult female ticks can lay eggs indoors, leading to indoor tick populations that can bite people.

Should I be worried if I find a tick on my pet?

It’s common for pets to get a tick or two when outdoors in areas where ticks are prevalent, even if you’re using a veterinarian-recommended product that kills ticks after they bite. Quickly and safely remove the tick, clean the bite with pet-safe soap and water, and check the rest of your pet’s body for additional ticks. Most tick bites are harmless, but in some regions, tick-borne illnesses are prevalent. Most of the time when a pet is infected with a disease-causing organism from a tick, no clinical illness results. If an illness does result, the incubation period for tick-borne illnesses is usually several weeks to months, so your pet is unlikely to show any signs of illness right after a bite.

What is the easiest way to remove a tick from a dog or a cat?

Grasp a tick at the skin’s surface with clean tweezers or a tick removal tool. Pull the tick straight outward until the skin tents, being careful not to crush the tick. Wait for the tick to release and safely dispose of it. Other methods of removal can be dangerous and cause more damage.