‘Benny’ was covered in ticks when taken in by Cape Animal Protection Shelter. Photo: Supplied.
With another hot and wet few months to come on the Cape, tick prevention for dogs is becoming increasingly important to keep our furry friends healthy.
Claims made to PetSure, Australia’s leading pet insurer, showed a clear seasonal trend for tick paralysis cases, with October 2024 recording an 87 per cent rise in claims compared to the month prior.
With Cape York’s humid climate and vast bushland, Cape Animal Protection Shelter (CAPS) president Shayna Reeves said ticks were a year-round problem in the region.
“Ticks and fleas are common in Cape York all year round, especially because there’s so much bushland,” she said.
“Because we get so much rain, the ticks are then looking for somewhere else to live, because they generally live in the ground … they need to move, and that’s when they latch onto the host.”
Ms Reeves said the dogs taken in at CAPS were often in bad shape due to issues such as ticks, and treatment was costly.
“We have had several dogs that have come in severely anemic, and they’re in really poor condition,” she said.
“The ticks are drawing blood … they can also have heartworms that are also drawing blood, and that’s two and a half thousand dollars to treat.
“We’ve had to have dogs that [need] blood transfusions and all sorts of treatments, and it’s definitely costly.”
Prevention showed to be significantly cheaper than treatment after the fact, with PetSure reporting a $3320 average claim for tick paralysis and a $57,480 maximum claim.
Ms Reeves said CAPS had found tick, flea and worm protection Simpartica Trio to be an effective prevention measure.
“We’ve tried several different preventions, and Simpartica Trio has definitely been, by far, one of the better ones that we’ve used, just by shown results,” she said.
“That’s administered monthly, and roughly for the dogs that we have in here, we can spend anywhere between $500 to $700 (per month).”
