12 



Circular 338, U. S. Department of Agriculture 



dogs in a pound in Philadelphia has recenth^ been reported to us. 

 Its occurrence in that city might have followed .the use, in Florida, 

 of a hunting dog from Philadelphia. 



This tick, according to F. C. Bishopp, of the Bureau of Ento- 

 mology, gives the most serious trouble in this country by establishing 

 itself in kennels and about houses where the dogs spend much time. 

 Symptoms. — Ticks cause local irritation at points of attachment, 

 and dogs commonly bite or scratch these places. In hea^^y infesta- 

 tions the injury may be serious. In addition to the local injury 

 there is a loss of nervous energy from irritation. The tick buries 

 its mouth parts in the dog's skin and sucks blood, and this loss of 



blood, a relatively unimportant 

 matter in a light infestation with 

 ticks, becomes a serious matter in 

 a heavy infestation. Certain 

 ticks are capable of causing a 

 rapidly fatal paralysis, and cases 

 of the sort have been reported in 

 dogs. Other ticks carry diseases 

 from one animal to another, as in 

 the case of the Texas-fever tick, 

 which carries Texas fever of cat- 

 tle in the Southern States. The 

 brown dog tick of this country 

 carries a disease — canine piro- 

 plasmosis — which is very similar 

 to Texas fever. 



Treatment. — The simplest con- 

 trol measure and one which is 

 usually applicable consists in the 

 removal of the ticks by means of 

 the fingers or with forceps. Oc- 

 casionally the mouth parts of the 

 tick will be left in the skin and 

 may form festering sores, but this 

 does not occur very often. The 

 application of turpentine or kero- 

 sene to the ticks aids in their 

 removal entire. Another control 

 measure consists in dipping the dog as often as necessary in a coal-tar 

 creosote dip, using the dilution recommended on the label for dogs. 

 The use of fatty oils or grease is also recommended ; cod-liver oil is 

 said to kill ticks, repel flies for from 10 to 18 hours, and favorably 

 influence the healing process. Dog owners in the South often dip 

 their dogs in arsenical dips in cattle-dipping vats when they are 

 dipping the cattle, but there is considerable danger of poisoning dogs 

 in this manner, as dogs are likely to lick off the arsenic. 



The kennels and runs should be kept clean and from time to time 

 washed or sprayed Avith a hot coal-tar ci-eosote dip to keep down 

 tick infestation. This is a control measure of the greatest im]Kn'- 

 tance. The use of some of the repellents recommended as ])rotective 

 against chiggers, such as oil of tar or fish oil, applied diluted with 

 alcohol, or the coal-tar creosote dips, is an aid in controlling tick 



I 



Fig. 0. — The brown dog tick. Hit i pice ph- 

 aliis sanguineus. Male, with terminal 

 portions of legs removed. Ventral 

 view. Enlarged 



