Living on Sydney’s Northern Beaches means sharing our beautiful bushland, parks, coastal areas and backyards with the Australian paralysis tick (Ixodes holocyclus).
At Allambie Vet, we regularly care for dogs and cats affected by tick paralysis. Some arrive with only subtle early signs; others need intensive hospital care.
If there is one thing we want every Northern Beaches pet owner to know, it is this:
You don’t need to be certain it’s tick paralysis before calling us.
You know your pet. If something suddenly doesn’t seem right, their back legs are wobbly, their bark or meow has changed, they’re vomiting or regurgitating, or their breathing looks different — please contact us.
When it comes to tick paralysis, we’d always prefer you to call early.
If your pet is weak, wobbly, vomiting or regurgitating, has a change in their bark or meow, is having difficulty swallowing or is breathing differently, they need urgent veterinary assessment.
1. Don’t offer food or water.
Tick paralysis can interfere with normal swallowing, increasing the risk of food or water entering the lungs.
2. Keep your pet calm and minimise activity.
Carry them where practical and avoid unnecessary exertion or excitement.
3. Remove an attached tick promptly if you can do so safely.
Use a tick-removal tool or fine-tipped tweezers. Don’t delay veterinary care trying to complete a full tick search at home.
4. Call Allambie Vet on (02) 9905 0505.
Tell our team you’re concerned about possible tick paralysis so we can advise you on the safest next step.
Difficulty breathing, collapse or rapid deterioration is an emergency.
Outside Allambie Vet’s opening hours, please seek care at a 24-hour emergency veterinary hospital.
Tick paralysis is caused by a toxin produced by the Australian paralysis tick, Ixodes holocyclus.
As the tick attaches and feeds, toxin in its saliva affects communication between the nerves and muscles. This can result in progressive weakness and paralysis and can also affect muscles involved in swallowing and breathing.
Both dogs and cats can develop tick paralysis, and without appropriate treatment it can become life-threatening.
One of the challenges is that the early signs don’t always look dramatic. Your pet doesn’t have to be collapsed or unable to walk to have tick paralysis.
Sometimes the first sign is simply that something isn’t quite right.
Recognising the early signs can make an important difference.
Signs of tick paralysis can include:
As paralysis progresses, pets may become increasingly weak, have difficulty standing or walking, develop significant breathing difficulties or collapse.
Don’t wait for your pet to become unable to walk before seeking help.
Yes. Sudden wobbliness or weakness in the back legs can be an early sign of tick paralysis.
There are several other medical conditions that can cause hind-leg weakness, which is why it isn’t something we recommend trying to diagnose at home.
Here on the Northern Beaches, tick paralysis is an important possibility that needs to be considered — even if you haven’t found a tick.
Ticks can be remarkably difficult to locate, particularly in dogs with thick or long coats.
If your dog is suddenly stumbling, swaying, having difficulty with stairs or doesn’t seem as strong on their back legs as usual, please call us.
Cats can also develop tick paralysis, although their early signs can sometimes be less obvious.
You may notice:
If your cat suddenly seems weak, unusually quiet or is breathing differently, contact a veterinarian urgently.
Paralysis ticks can be difficult to identify because their size and appearance change depending on their life stage and how long they have been feeding.
An engorged adult paralysis tick may have a pale grey to blue-grey body, but colour alone isn’t a reliable way to identify a tick. Other tick species can look similar.
If you find a tick:
Most importantly, don’t delay seeking veterinary care for an unwell pet while trying to work out what species of tick you have found.
A good tick search is much more than quickly running your hand over your pet’s back.
Use your fingertips to slowly work through the coat at skin level, feeling for anything that resembles a small lump, bump or scab.
Search from nose to tail, including:
Remove collars and harnesses while searching.
Finding one tick does not mean there isn’t another. Always continue searching the whole pet.
First, remove the tick as soon as you safely can.
Use a purpose-designed tick-removal tool or fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick close to the skin and remove it.
Don’t wait for a veterinary appointment before removing an attached tick if you are able to remove it safely.
Afterwards:
If you’re unsure, call us. You don’t have to make the decision about whether your pet needs to be seen on your own. Tell us what you’ve found and what you’re noticing, and our team can help you work out the safest next step.
If your pet is showing any signs consistent with tick paralysis, they need urgent veterinary assessment.
No. If your pet is showing signs of tick paralysis, don’t offer food or water until they have been assessed by a veterinarian.
This can feel counterintuitive, particularly if your pet seems thirsty.
However, tick paralysis can affect the muscles involved in swallowing and protecting the airway. Food, water or regurgitated material can then enter the lungs instead of travelling normally into the stomach.
This is called aspiration, and it can lead to aspiration pneumonia and serious respiratory complications.
If you’re unsure whether your pet’s symptoms could be related to a tick, call us for advice.
This is a very common worry.
If a small portion of the tick’s mouthparts remains in the skin after the body has been removed, it does not continue to inject paralysis toxin.
The site may become locally irritated, but digging deeply into the skin trying to remove tiny remaining pieces can cause more trauma.
The priority is removing the tick’s body promptly and paying close attention to how your pet is feeling.
If you’re worried about the site, we can check it for you.
Yes. Removing the tick doesn’t mean the danger has immediately passed.
The toxin already affecting your pet doesn’t disappear when the tick is removed, and clinical signs can continue to progress afterwards.
This is one of the most important things for pet owners to understand about tick paralysis.
A dog or cat that is only slightly wobbly when the tick is found can potentially become more affected later. This is why we don’t recommend simply removing a tick and waiting to see if a pet is already showing symptoms.
If your pet seems unwell, removing the tick is the first step — not the end of treatment.
Tick paralysis should always be taken seriously.
Seek urgent veterinary attention if your dog or cat has:
Difficulty breathing, collapse or rapidly worsening weakness is an emergency.
If you’re looking at your pet and wondering, “Is their breathing normal?” or “Are they getting worse?”, please call.
We would much rather talk it through with you early than have you sitting at home worried about whether you should wait.
There isn’t a single treatment plan that fits every tick patient.
Treatment depends on how affected your pet is when they arrive and how their condition progresses.
Treatment may include:
Any remaining ticks need to be located and removed. Depending on the patient and their coat, clipping may be recommended to make a thorough search easier.
Tick antiserum helps neutralise tick toxin that is still circulating in the body. It cannot immediately reverse effects that have already developed, which is why careful monitoring and supportive care remain important after TAS has been administered.
Stress and unnecessary exertion are avoided. Sedation may be used when clinically appropriate to help keep affected patients calm and reduce distress.
Pets experiencing breathing difficulties may require supplemental oxygen and more intensive respiratory support.
In the most severely affected patients, tick paralysis can interfere with the ability to breathe adequately without assistance. These patients may require advanced critical care, including mechanical ventilation.
Good nursing care is a major part of treating tick paralysis.
Depending on the severity of the disease, patients may need close respiratory monitoring, careful positioning, bladder care, eye care, fluid management and management of other complications.
Because tick paralysis can interfere with normal swallowing, aspiration is an important concern.
Patients showing respiratory signs may require additional investigation and treatment depending on their clinical condition.
We know that arriving at the vet with a suddenly sick pet can be frightening.
Our first priority is to work out how affected your pet is and what they need right now.
Our team will assess their breathing, circulation, neurological function and overall clinical condition. We’ll look for and remove ticks, assess the severity of the paralysis and discuss the recommended treatment plan with you.
Depending on your pet’s condition, this may include tick antiserum, hospitalisation, sedation, oxygen therapy, intensive nursing and respiratory support.
For critically affected patients who cannot breathe adequately on their own, our hospital has two mechanical ventilators available for assisted ventilation.
Just as importantly, we’ll keep you informed.
Tick paralysis can change, and sometimes the level of care a patient needs changes with it. Where possible, we’ll discuss those possibilities with you before they are needed so that you understand what we’re watching for, what the options are and what they may mean for your pet.
We know these decisions can feel overwhelming when you’re worried about a much-loved member of your family.
Our job is to give you clear, honest information about your pet’s condition, treatment options, prognosis and expected costs — and work with you to make the decisions that are right for your pet and your family.
Every patient is different.
Some mildly affected pets begin improving relatively quickly after treatment, while more significantly affected animals may require several days of hospital care and a longer recovery afterwards.
Once your pet is ready to go home, we’ll provide a recovery plan tailored to them. This may include guidance about activity, feeding, medications and any follow-up care they require.
Continue to monitor your pet closely after discharge and contact us if you notice increasing weakness, wobbliness, vomiting or regurgitation, gagging, coughing, difficulty swallowing or changes in their breathing.
If you’re worried about your pet after they go home, please call us. You don’t need to wait until you’re certain something is wrong.
Paralysis ticks can be encountered throughout the year on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, including during winter.
While tick activity may increase during warmer and more humid periods, we don’t recommend relying on a traditional “tick season” when deciding when your pet needs protection.
For dogs and cats living on the Northern Beaches, we recommend year-round tick prevention together with regular physical tick searches.
Your pet also doesn’t need to go bushwalking to encounter a tick. Ticks may be found in bushland, parks, backyards and suburban vegetation.
Effective, correctly administered tick prevention is an important part of protecting your pet.
There are several prevention options available, and the right choice depends on your pet, their lifestyle and the other parasite protection they require.
For dogs, options include monthly and longer-acting preventatives as well as a once-yearly tick prevention injection. Effective topical tick prevention options are available for cats.
Make sure your pet’s prevention is given or applied on schedule.
Even when their tick prevention is up to date, we recommend regularly checking your pet from nose to tail for ticks.
If you’re unsure when your pet’s prevention is due, contact Allambie Vet. We can check their prevention history and help you choose an appropriate year-round prevention plan.
Yes. Ticks can be difficult to locate, particularly in pets with thick or long coats.
If your dog develops sudden weakness, wobbliness, vomiting or regurgitation, voice changes, difficulty swallowing or abnormal breathing, seek veterinary advice even if you haven’t found a tick.
Yes. Signs can continue to develop or worsen after the tick has been removed.
If your pet is showing signs of tick paralysis, removing the tick does not replace veterinary assessment and treatment.
If your pet is showing signs of tick paralysis, don’t offer food or water before veterinary assessment.
Tick paralysis can interfere with normal swallowing and increase the risk of aspiration.
Yes. Paralysis ticks can be encountered throughout the year in the Sydney region.
We recommend year-round tick prevention for dogs and cats living on the Northern Beaches.
Yes. Effective tick prevention significantly reduces the risk of tick paralysis, but we still recommend regularly checking your pet for ticks, even when their prevention is up to date.
Make sure prevention is given or applied on schedule and continue regular nose-to-tail tick searches.
Yes. Regular physical tick searches provide another layer of protection alongside effective year-round prevention.
Use your fingertips to search systematically from nose to tail, and don’t stop searching if you find one tick — there may be more.
You don’t need to be certain it’s tick paralysis before calling us.
If your dog or cat is weak or wobbly, vomiting or regurgitating, has a change in their bark or meow, is having difficulty swallowing or their breathing looks different, please contact Allambie Vet urgently.
Call Allambie Vet on (02) 9905 0505.
Difficulty breathing, collapse or rapid deterioration is an emergency.
Outside Allambie Vet’s opening hours, please seek care at a 24-hour emergency veterinary hospital.
For more information about the hospital care we provide, visit our Tick Paralysis Treatment service page.
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