What causes tick paralysis?
The adult female Ixodes holocyclus tick can attach to a dog or cat (the host) and burrow its mouthparts into the animal’s skin. The tick sucks the host’s blood and injects its neurotoxin (poison) into the host. On attachment this tick is quite small but it grows in size each day as it sucks blood. The toxin has several effects, most obviously acting on the animal’s muscles and respiratory (breathing) system. The host usually shows no signs of illness for about the first four days, in some cases for up to one or two weeks. However once the cat or dog starts to show signs of illness it can deteriorate quite rapidly and could die within 48 hours. It is important that veterinary treatment should be sought within 24 hours of the first signs of illness.
