‘Paralysis tick’ numbers climb from wet weather

As Queensland gears up for a wet summer and booming tick numbers, a Queensland vet has issued a grim warning to pet owners across the southeast.

All it took was a tick between the toes to take the life of a beloved family pet, as experts warn of a dangerously high tick season ahead.

Emma Blackaby lost her staffy Oscar when he was five.

She was aware of ticks and their dangers but admits she wasn’t aware just how easily they can kill.

“I didn’t notice until he couldn’t breathe, I thought he had something stuck in his throat so rushed him to the vet and they found it there in-between his toes,” Ms Blackaby said.

Oscar had three days in hospital and initially survived, but the damage was done and he died from complications from the tick a year later.

“They think he got the tick from a possum in our backyard … with Oscar I didn’t expect it to happen to me.”

She is now much more careful with her five-year-old Frenchie Leo.

Emma Blackaby, with Leo, lost her five-year-old staffy to a deadly tick. Picture: Zak Simmonds

There are more than 20,000 dogs hospitalised annually with tick bites on Australia’s east coast, with 5000 of them losing their lives.

Dr Evan Shaw, who owns Brisbane-based online pet protection plan site Fleamail, said following two wet Queensland summers and another on the way, it had created favourable conditions for paralysis ticks.

There have been recent reports of ticks across the entire southeast from Samford Valley to Cannon Hill and the Gold Coast’s Merrimac and Helensvale.

Dr Shaw said ticks were one of the biggest killers of animals and he had watched families break down when having to tell them their pet wouldn’t make it.

A picture of a tick taken from a dog in southeast Queensland in 2013.

He said he would see at least one dog a day during spring and saw up to 12 on his worst day, with some pet owners not giving their pets a high enough dose of tick prevention medication.

“Some products are given every 6 months, but weight gain from puppy and kitten to adult can lead to wildly insufficient dosages of parasite treatment leaving pets vulnerable and at risk of dying,” he said.

Dr Webster said the best way to stop ticks is prevention.

“Tick paralysis is the worst disease we grapple with as veterinarians,” he said.

“Unfortunately for us in Queensland, the prevalence of paralysis ticks is extremely high from down towards the Gold Coast right up to Tropical North Queensland.

“There are hot spots in more humid areas, but the reality is they can be found right along the eastern seaboard.”